As the Indianapolis Colts approach the 2025 offseason, the theme for Chris Ballard and this sputtering organization over the coming months needs to be on adding more competition to the roster.
As DeForest Buckner recently described when meeting with reporters, the issues that the Colts are experiencing on the defensive side of the football go beyond the play that we are seeing on the field. Buckner mentioned egos and comfortability being a problem as well.
One way to combat those issues is with competition.
Coming into the 2024 season, the Colts had missed the playoffs three straight years at that point. This stretch included a loss to the two-win Jaguars in Week 18 of the 2021 season, where a win would have clinched a playoff spot. It included a four-win season in 2022 and then a Week 18 defeat against Houston with a playoff spot on the line in 2023.
No division titles, no playoff wins, and no playoff berths during those three seasons. Yet, in 2024, GM Chris Ballard opted to go with continuity–re-signing his own players and barely bringing in any outside additions.
Even in the defensive backfield, where the Colts were picked apart during the 2023 season, Ballard didn’t add any competition to the mix.
As Nate Atkins of the Indy Star highlighted, the only sort of competition that unfolded last summer was at safety, where Gus Bradley mixed and matched different combinations of players between the free and strong safety roles. Perhaps, not coincidentally, Nick Cross ended up taking a pretty big step forward this season.
The way the Colts have operated in recent seasons is of a team that has had playoff success an engrained starters throughout their lineup. When in reality, they’ve continually come up short, but continue to rely heavily on those same players.
Competition is good. It can help players grow and develop at accelerated rates because there is the added pressure and because they are being pushed. That is what this team and, particularly this defense needs.
Now, accomplishing that will require Ballard to go outside of his usual comfort zone and dabble in free agency. This also doesn’t mean that every high-priced player has to be brought in, but bolstering the depth, raising the floor of some of these position groups, and most importantly, creating a sense of urgency can hopefully provide a spark.
If not, and Ballard continues down the same path, then as we’ve seen, things aren’t going to change. Any sort of hope for the upcoming season begins with what Ballard does in the coming months where each and every day he asks himself: how can I create more competition on this roster?
