Each season, Indianapolis Colts fans look up and down at the roster to see if there are players who could take a big step forward, or guys that could take a step back.
Going into the 2020 season there is a lot of optimism that the Colts will get a few players to step up and lead the team to the playoffs, and possibly further.
Let’s look at five Colts that should take a major step forward heading into the 2020 NFL season. (This is not a ranking, just five Colts that should take a step up)
RB Nyheim Hines
Everyone saw Hines take a step forward in the second half of the 2019 season when he took over Chester Rogers’ role as the punt returner. In only nine returns, Hines was third in the NFL in return yards, and back in Week 16 against the Panthers, he had the two punt return touchdowns, the first time that has happened since 2012.
Expect Hines to take a jump in offensive production this year. Frank Reich said in the offseason, ” It wouldn’t surprise me if there is a game this year that Nyheim Hines has 10 catches. Nyheim will be very much integrated into the gameplan on all three downs.” While I wouldn’t expect Hines to have 10 catches in a game—his average per game so far in his career is three—I wouldn’t be shocked if that bumps up to five or six.
Darren Sproles, Danny Woodhead, and Austin Ekeler have all had productive receiving seasons with Philip Rivers as the quarterback. Here’s a quick chart on the notable pass catchers for Rivers:
| Player | Seasons | Games | Targets | Rec. | Yards | TDs |
| Darren Sproles | 2008-2010 | 48 | 166 | 133 | 1359 | 11 |
| Danny Woodhead | 2013 & 2015 | 32 | 194 | 156 | 1,360 | 12 |
| Austin Ekeler | 2019 | 16 | 108 | 92 | 993 | 8 |
How much of a target share Hines will have remains to be seen but as the primary pass-catcher in the backfield, he’s likely to see a strong share of targets thanks to Rivers.
DE Kemoko Turay
Going into his second season, Turay was expected to make a big jump in production and early on, he was doing so. He wasn’t the every-down defensive end that Justin Houston is but when he came in on pass downs he was a threat. Reich offered some praise to Turay saying, “I mean we lost a big piece.”
In the four games Turay played in 2019, before suffering the season-ending ankle injury, he had a sack and a half, plus a forced fumble and was really showing the flash on the outside. Turay was second in the NFL in pressure rate (22.9%), and pass-rush grade (91 out of 100), per Pro Football Focus. With the addition of Buckner, if Turay is fully healthy as Reich has said, expect a big jump for Turay this season.
LB Bobby Okereke
Another young Colts defensive stud makes this list in 2020. Okereke was a third-round pick of the Colts in the 2019 draft. Early on it seemed it would be a while before Okereke would see significant snaps at linebacker with Darius Leonard and Anthony Walker having those spots solidifed, but once he got on the field he produced. His 2019 season included 65 tackles, an interception returned for two points, a sack and a forced fumble.
Okereke showed flashes last year as both the MIKE and SAM linebacker on defense, and was graded out by PFF at 77.3, which was the highest among all rookie linebackers in 2019.
What will be interesting is Okereke and Walker’s snap counts. Okereke is best as a coverage linebacker, but with Anthony Walker as the starting MIKE linebacker, and typcially the Colts only run two linebackers on defense at once, Okereke could see a big jump in snaps, and a big jump in production this year.
