Last season, the Indianapolis Colts finished 8-8 and placed 2nd in the AFC South Division. They didn’t qualify for the playoffs and it was almost a sure thing that Chuck Pagano would lose his job (if he had been fired, I would have automatically disagreed). Their record is a far cry from their 3 consecutive 11-5 seasons and it was the first time that they missed the playoffs since 2011.

Also, their crown jewel was injured last season, Andrew Luck. He had a lacerated kidney and the cartilage in his ribs was damaged. Here’s a report from Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star:

Luck missed Weeks 4 and 5 with a ribs injury. Details are coming to light of how severe the issue was, and Luck had to take pain-killing injections to make the Weeks 6-9 starts before going down with a lacerated kidney. It’s been popular to pile on Luck for his bad season, but it’s pretty evident he was playing through significant pain behind a thoroughly-awful offensive line. For Dynasty players, it’s a chance to buy low on the 26-year-old.

He would miss the Colts’ final seven games. Since then, he has recovered and that poses to be great news for Indianapolis. Luck also managed to sign a six-year, $140 million deal. Luck will be the Colts’ quarterback for the foreseeable future.

They also had a litany of other banged up players by the time of Week 17:

PLAYER	POS	INJURY	GAME STATUS
Mike Adams	S	ankle	Probable
Colt Anderson	S	ankle	Questionable
Darius Butler	CB	hip, knee	Probable
Anthony Castonzo	T	right knee	Day-to-Day
Trent Cole	LB	concussion	Out
Jack Doyle	TE	toe	Probable
Winston Guy	S	hamstring, shoulder	Probable
Matt Hasselbeck	QB	right shoulder, ribs, back	Out
Daniel Herron	RB	shoulder	Day-to-Day
T.Y. Hilton	WR	calf	Probable
Andrew Luck	QB	abdomen, kidney	Out
Jack Mewhort	T	illness	Probable
Donte Moncrief	WR	toe	Probable
Sio Moore	LB	knee	Questionable
Patrick Robinson	CB	calf, not injury related	Probable
Erik Walden	LB	foot	Probable

(Courtesy of Fox Sports)

2016 NFL Draft

The Colts addressed their offensive line heavily in this draft and plugged other players at much needed positions.

2016 Indianapolis Colts Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	18	Ryan Kelly	Center	Alabama
2	57	T. J. Green	Free safety	Clemson
3	82	Le’Raven Clark	Offensive Tackle	Texas Tech
4	116	Hassan Ridgeway	Nose Tackle	Texas
4	125	Antonio Morrison	Middle Linebacker	Florida
5	155	Joe Haeg	Offensive Tackle	North Dakota State
7	239	Trevor Bates	Outside Linebacker	Maine
7	248	Austin Blythe	Center	Iowa

I believe that Ryan Kelly is one heck of a pickup for the Colts. He had a great deal of success as Barrett Jones’ replacement at Alabama. That’s the kind of pedigree that the Colts need to protect Luck. As well as the smart grab of Kelly, the Colts selected T.J. Green in the second round. He has blazing speed and the hands of a receiver. He’ll be a perfect fit in the Colts’ secondary.

Free Agents

This section will be painful for Colts fans and especially Andrew Luck, who lost his favorite target in Coby Fleener:

Position	Player	Tag	2016 Team	Notes
TE	Coby Fleener	UFA	New Orleans Saints	Signed 5-year/$36 million deal
TE	Dwayne Allen	UFA	Indianapolis Colts	Signed 4-year/$29.4 million deal
TE	Jack Doyle	RFA	Indianapolis Colts	Signed 1-year/$1.67 million tender
QB	Charlie Whitehurst	UFA	TBA
QB	Matt Hasselbeck	UFA	Retired
RB	Ahmad Bradshaw	UFA	TBA
RB	Dan Herron	RFA	TBA
K	Adam Vinatieri	UFA	Indianapolis Colts	Signed 2-year/$6 million deal
G	Lance Louis	UFA	TBA
S	Akeem Davis	ERFA	Indianapolis Colts	Signed 1-year/$600,000 tender
S	Dwight Lowery	UFA	San Diego Chargers	Signed 3-year/$7.2 million deal
S	Colt Anderson	UFA	Buffalo Bills	Signed 1-year/$840,000 deal
CB	Greg Toler	UFA	Washington Redskins	Signed 1-year/$840,000 deal
DE	Billy Winn	UFA	TBA
ILB	Jerrell Freeman	UFA	Chicago Bears	Signed 3-year/$12 million deal

Let’s look at the Indianapolis Colts schedule via Colts.com:

1. SEP 11 4:25PM EDT ) LIONS
2. SEP 18 4:25PM EDT * AT BRONCOS
3. SEP 25 4:25PM EDT * CHARGERS
4. OCT 2 09:30AM EDT * AT JAGUARS
5. OCT 9 1:00PM EDT ) BEARS
6. OCT 16 8:30PM EDT ‘ AT TEXANS
7. OCT 23 1:00PM EDT * AT TITANS
8. OCT 30 1:00PM EDT * CHIEFS
9. NOV 6 4:25PM EST * AT PACKERS
10. BYE
11. NOV 20 1:00PM EST * TITANS
12. NOV 24 8:30PM EST ‘ STEELERS
13. DEC 5 8:30PM EST + AT JETS
14. DEC 11 1:00PM EST * TEXANS
15. DEC 18 1:00PM EST * AT VIKINGS
16. DEC 24 4:05PM EST * AT RAIDERS
17. JAN 1 1:00PM EST * JAGUARS

 

Season Prediction

To finish up, I don’t see how the Colts have done much to improve (besides their offensive line) in a division that has gotten better since last season. The Jaguars will be trouble for the Colts especially and the Texans have a quarterback now. They could prove me wrong, but as of right now, I foresee another 8-8 season by the Indianapolis Colts.