With Daniel Jones at least looking healthy enough to be the Colts starting QB when the season starts, it does eliminate the biggest question mark for the offense. There are others that include Pierce’s recovery time and the 3rd WR, but I’m allowing myself to feel good about the offense to this point. I also see Westbrook-Ikhine showing as capable and Warren picking up right where he left off. We may also see a possible Robin to Taylor’s Batman in the backfield, as factors for the offense to click
along at 28 points a game, even if they can’t match the “historic” run from last year’s first eight games.
The defense comes into the season with their own question marks. Who gets most of the snaps opposite Latu? Do we have an NFL caliber LB on the squad? Can our cornerbacks stay healthy? We may not know the answers to the first two questions, but what we have seen or have been reported to have seen, is a tandem in Ward and Gardner that are drawing attention in a good way.
We invested heavily, very heavily, into the combo. Mooney will account for nearly 20 million this year and we can have him for 24.7 next year, if things go well this year. Sauce will still be a very affordable 9.5 this year, before the bigger 21 million number next year and 26.2 in 2028. This doesn’t even add the investment of two first round picks into the mix.
Both are proven alphas, with their only negative being last year’s injuries. Those injuries have been the source of most of the angst about the position group. But what if you allow yourself to see them as the Pro Bowl caliber players that they have been? Just how positively can they effect the defense? Most of us have witnessed defenses that have one of those “Shutdown Corners” that take away half of the field. I don’t recall many with two such players.
One thing that I think we will see, is opponents trying to rely on timing routes. A QB is going to have trust his WR to be where he is supposed to be, at the time he is supposed to be there. If QBs are surveying the field, looking for the open target, they are not going to be risking throwing toward that combo as they will not appear to be open. Those extra beats that QBs have to hold the ball, will give our subpar pass rush a fighting chance, or hopefully a leg up.
Two guys do not make a defense, but if our duo stays on the field and shows the same ability to lock up their man that they have shown throughout their careers and are currently showing in camp, it is going to have a trickle down effect that has to be a positive.
