The Indianapolis Colts have spent the last few years under general manager Chris Ballard doing everything they can to build the roster depth from the ground up.
Entering his fourth season leading the charge, Ballard has seemingly done that on both sides of the ball. NFL.com’s Adam Schein ranked the Colts as having the ninth-most complete team in the league.
Yes, over their AFC South foes in Tennessee. I love this team. Indy has the best offensive lineman in football in Quenton Nelson — and there’s a solid argument for the O-line as a whole being the NFL’s best. RB Jonathan Taylor and WR Michael Pittman Jr. were draft steals. Neither was selected in the first round, but both made Lance Zierlein’s list of the top 10 Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates. Philip Rivers is coming off of a down year, but the future Hall of Famer is an upgrade for the Colts at quarterback.
The defense wasn’t bad last season, but the unit should take a step forward after the trade for DeForest Buckner. He’s a game-wrecking force up front, the kind of menacing defender who’ll make life easier for Indy’s supreme linebacking corps. Darius Leonard is one of the best defensive players in football, while Bobby Okereke showed plenty as a rookie and Anthony Walker was stout as always.
Even despite the depth of the roster, the Colts still made plenty of changes this offseason. The additions of Rivers and Buckner provide the Colts with an upgrade at two premier starting positions while it also gives the unit better depth behind them.
The Colts will be looking to sit atop the AFC South for the first time since 2014, and they are hoping the depth across the roster will help them achieve that goal.
