The Indianapolis Colts (2-2-1) came away with a 12-9 road win over the Denver Broncos (2-3) on Thursday night, remaining undefeated against the AFC West through the early season.
It wasn’t a fun game to watch from an offensive perspective. The Colts offensive line continues to struggle while quarterback Matt Ryan also made some costly decisions. The defense showed up in a big way, though, from the pass rush to the run defense en route to an overtime win.
Between performance and usage, we can gather a lot of information about a player’s stock. While we know the stock for the big-name players like Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr., it’s the other pieces on the roster whose stock is likely to change the most throughout the season.
It’s important to remember that the stock report is fluid. A player whose stock fell in one week can rise the following week, and vice versa. It’s more about spotting trends and potential for the future based on what we saw in the game that week.
Here’s the stock report for the Colts after the Week 5 win:
Stock Up: S Rodney Thomas II
The rookie safety continues to impress as the fill-in starter for Julian Blackmon. The seventh-round pick out of Yale had a nice pass breakup on a deep ball, an easy interception on an errant throw from Russell Wilson and nearly had another interception on a deep ball had the back judge not been in the way as Thomas was making a play on the ball. The emergence of the rookie has help the back end of the defense greatly, and he continues to be a pleasant surprise through five games.
Stock Down: LT Bernhard Raimann
We should give Raimann some slack given that it was his first career start and the fact that they were coming off of a short week of preperation. However, we can’t fully absolve the rookie of his poor play. Raimann allowed five total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, and was charged with three penalties. One of the penalties was questionable but another was declined so it evens out. This isn’t to rag on the rookie but more to temper expectations of him coming in and providing an above-average option right away. He needs a lot of time to develop into a trustworthy option every week, but he may only get there by going through some growing pains.
Stock Up: WR Alec Pierce
As you can see, the rookies got a lot of playing time in this one. Pierce was a monster when the Colts needed him to step up. He continues to ascend as the No. 2 option in the passing game and needs to be officially handling that kind of workload moving forward. Pierce led the Colts offense in targets (nine), receptions (eight) and receiving yards (81) despite ranking third in wide receiver snaps. Pierce was one of the few reliable targets for Matt Ryan when he did get the ball out, and he shouldn’t be far from handling a No. 2 wide receiver workload.
Stock Down: QB Matt Ryan
Through five games, it doesn’t look pretty for the veteran quarterback. Yes, his offensive line has been one of the worst units in football. But a chunk of the pressures allowed and sacks taken fall on Ryan’s shoulders between failing to identify where the pressure is coming from while holding the ball too long. Ryan threw two interceptions and fumbled the ball twice again. He now has 11 fumbles on the season, which is one shy of his career-high. It’s tough to gauge Ryan’s play given how poorly the offensive line has played, but this has to be one of the worst starts of his career.
Stock Up: RG Braden Smith
There was at least one positive development on the offensive line. As Smith moved from right tackle to right guard, he had one of his best games yet this season. According to Pro Football Focus, Smith allowed just one pressure on 53 pass-blocking snaps. It was encouraging to see him thrive at the position he was originally drafted at, and it will be interesting to see if this will be a permanent switch.
Stock Up: CB Kenny Moore II
After a rough start to the season, Moore finally looked like himself in prime time. According to Pro Football Focus, Moore was targeted six times but allowed just two receptions for 13 yards, and he had a beautiful pass breakup near the end zone on Broncos tight end Andrew Beck. The Colts need this Moore to show up on a consistent basis if the defense is going to continue thriving.
