When players go from the college level to the pro level, they might get excited that they no longer have to worry about their school grades.
Unless, of course, they elect to continue their education in their post-college career. But that is far from the case. Their position coach, head coach, and the front office are always grading their practice and game performance.
In this exercise, I am going to give out a grade for each position group from the Indianapolis Colts.
Here is how they fared in 2022:
Quarterback
Grade: F
In a season that was supposed to bring some stability at the quarterback position, the Colts went very south at the most important position in football. Matt Ryan failed to protect the ball. He turned the ball over 18 times in his 12 appearances. Ryan fumbled the ball 15 times, which was the second-highest mark in the NFL, despite not playing in all 17 games. It didn’t get much better with Sam Ehlinger and Nick Foles in the lineup. This position was a complete failure for Indianapolis in 2022.
Running Back
Grade: C+
The running back position for the Colts had a major drop-off from the 2021 season that Jonathan Taylor had. The star running back’s 2022 was marred by injuries and poor play from his offensive line. But he wasn’t perfect as well, he fumbled the ball three times, losing two of them.
Taylor now has seven fumbles over the last two seasons. The reason why I give the backs a C+ is that I thought Zack Moss and Deon Jackson did a fine job when they had their opportunity in the lineup. Moss finished the season strong in his final appearance with his first game over 100 rushing yards in his career.
With a hopeful improvement by the offensive line and a nice stable between the three backs, Indianapolis should see a higher grade in 2023.
Wide Receivers
Grade: C-
Honestly, I wanted to give a much lower grade to the receivers but I don’t know if their performance was more on them over the inadequate play from the quarterbacks that were throwing them the ball.
Despite getting 99 receptions, Micheal Pittman Jr. still couldn’t get over 1,000 receiving yards. MPJ had his struggles as well with some untimely drops during games throughout the year. A couple of positive things from the group were that Parris Campbell played in all 17 games and the rookie, Alec Pierce, was able to flash his talent at times.
With that being said, nobody from the receiving corps had a dominant stretch throughout the season and none of the role players were able to step up like Chris Ballard hoped they would.
Tight End
Grade: D+
Tight end was supposed to be a strength in Frank Reich’s offensive scheme and with the addition of Jelani Woods, it looked like the trio between the rookie, Mo Alie-Cox, and Kylen Granson could make an impact on the passing attack.
But that was another forethought for the Colts prior to the season that ended up being completely wrong. Despite signing a three-year deal, Alie-Cox failed to go over 200 receiving yards. Granson did go over 300 yards in his 13 games as well as Woods in his 15 games. The problem with Woods was that he would disappear throughout the year because the coaching staff would have him on the sidelines for spurts.
I wanted to give a slightly higher grade for the flashes of Woods and Granson but when three players in the same position can’t generate over 1,000 receiving yards as a group, then that is a negative mark for the tight ends.
Offensive Tackle
Grade: C
The first half of the season was an F for the tackles. Matt Pryor was a turnstile at left and right tackle, letting Matt Ryan get abused in his stint with the team. Braden Smith was having some slight struggles in his own right as well.
Then things did start to get better in the second half of the year when Bernhard Raimann took over as the starting left tackle. He had his bumps as a rookie but steadily got better as he got more playing time. My question is, why did they have to wait to throw him into the fire to help his development?
Smith was much improved in the second half in shutting down some of the best edge rushers, including T.J. Watt. There is much to desire from the offensive line but it does appear Indianapolis has their bookend tackles for 2023.
Interior Offensive Line
Grade: C-
The one major disappointment from the Colts’ offensive line was the interior of it. There wasn’t much of a surprise that the tackles struggled to start the year with Matt Pryor at left tackle. But the interior was supposed to be a strength with Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly. The staples of the unit.
Nelson had a down year—even he acknowledge it after the season. Kelly was inconsistent throughout the year and now people wonder whether should he have a future with the team with how much he is getting paid.
Even with Danny Pinter, who started the season at right guard, there was a level of expectation with Pinter but he struggled with stronger defensive linemen and showed he was more suited as a center in the NFL over a guard.
Will Fries eventually took the right guard spot and brought some slight stability to the position. Nelson will be there for 2023 but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Kelly in a new uniform and a veteran or rookie brought in to compete with Fries for the right guard spot.
Edge Rushers
Grade: C+
The edge rushers from the Colts put together a solid season but nobody from the group really had a dominant stretch. In his first season as a Colt, Yannick Ngakoue did lead the team with 9.5 sacks in his 15 games. He also had eight tackles for loss and forced a fumble.
Kwity Paye showed some development but unfortunate injuries limited him to only 12 games and in one of the games he left very early with an injury. The second-year edge rusher had 6.0 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
One promising thing about this group was how Dayo Odeyingbo finished his season. 3.5 of his 5.0 sacks came in the last four weeks of the year. He also had five tackles for loss. There should be a level of excitement about what Paye and Odeyingbo will bring to the team in 2023.
Interior Defensive Line
Grade: A
To no discredit to the depth of the interior of the defensive line, 2022 was all about how Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner anchored the Colts’ defensive front. Big Grove put together the best season of his six-year career. He finished with 70 tackles (44 solo), nine tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits, 4.0 sacks, three pass deflections, and a fumble recovery. All of those marks are career highs for Stewart.
Buckner put together a very solid quiet season for Indianapolis. He finished with 74 tackles (44 solo), 11 tackles for loss, 22 quarterback hits, 8.0 sacks, three pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. The tackles were the most he had in his seven-year career. The tandem was a strength of the Indy defense in 2022.
Linebacker
Grade: A
If there is another position group for the Colts that deserves a gold star, it is the linebackers. This is a surprise considering they basically played the entire season without Shaquille Leonard.
The group was led by Zaire Franklin who broke Leonard’s franchise record for the most tackles in a season (167), which was the fourth most in the NFL. His effort was also supported by Bobby Okereke who had the best year in his career as well as E.J. Speed.
The trio combined for 381 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits, 4.0 sacks, 13 pass deflections, six forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. This was a great performance by the three in what could be their final time being on the same team as Okereke and Speed head into free agency.
Cornerback
Grade: B
If this grade was only dependent on Stephon Gilmore, it would be an easy A+. The veteran cornerback proved to be a solid free-agency signing for the Colts. He finished his first year with the team with 66 tackles (53 solo), two interceptions, and 11 pass deflections.
Outside of Gilmore, it wasn’t the best year for the rest of the group. Kenny Moore II had a down year and wasn’t the playmaker that he was in recent seasons. Brandon Facyson was given plenty of opportunity as the starter but never showed any consistency with his play. Then there was the very puzzling use of Isaiah Rodgers Sr., the third-year corner who was set to have a breakout season but never got a chance to show what he can do as a full-time starter.
Lastly, even though he didn’t play much as a corner, Dallis Flowers did wonders when he took over as the kick returner and made an impact on field position with his returns. It will be interesting to see how the new head coach takes this group that is filled with veterans and young guys.
Safety
Grade: A
I recently named the tandem of Rodney McLeod and Rodney Thomas II as a surprise of the Colts’ 2022 season. The pair had six of the 10 interceptions and accounted for 22.5% of the team’s pass deflections this past season. McLeod was a veteran leader for the backend of the defense and helped hold things together.
Thomas II was able to showcase his range with his ability to track down balls as a safety. Their effort was also supported by Julian Blackmon, who started the season as one of the starting safeties and ended it as the nickel corner when Kenny Moore II’s season ended due to injury.
He finished with 50 tackles (36 solo), two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit, one sack, two pass deflections, one interception, and a fumble recovery. McLeod, Thomas II, and Blackmon formed a solid safety trio for Gus Bradley this past season.
Kicker
Grade: B+
Sometimes it can take kickers to find a place in the league and that might have happened for Chase McLaughlin in 2022. His 83.3% field goal percentage was the 21st-best in the NFL and he was perfect on all of his extra-point attempts. His kickoff average of 65.0 yards per kick was the sixth highest but had a 52.8% touchback percentage.
One of the more impressive things he brought to the team was making 50+ yard field goals. He went 9-of-12 in that area and his nine conversions were tied for the second-most in the league. He is set to be a free agent but in my opinion, he showed enough to be brought back as the Colts’ kicker in 2023.
Punter
Grade: C
Due to an unfortunate injury to Rigoberto Sanchez in the preseason, Matt Haack took over duties as the Colts’ punter for 2022. His 44.8 yards per punt, ranked 27th in the NFL but it was the second-highest average in his six-year career.
40% of his punts finished inside the 20-yard line and that was the 14th-highest mark in the NFL. That was also the second-best mark of his career. It wasn’t often but Haack did have some games where he was giving the opposing team great field position due to some poor punts.
Sanchez is expected to be back in 2023 and should hopefully bring back some stability to the position, assuming he will be fully healthy.
