The Indianapolis Colts used the 2023 offseason to hit the reset button on the direction of the franchise after spinning its tires in the mud over the last handful of years.
Despite adding one of the more promising head coach candidates in Shane Steichen and the quarterback prospect with the highest upside in the 2023 class in Anthony Richardson, CBS Sports still remained unimpressed with their offseason moves.
In ranking the offseason moves for every team, the Colts came in at No. 23:
The Colts had started a different quarterback in each of their last six Week 1s. Indianapolis hopes it has finally broken the wheel with its fourth overall draft pick, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, the passer with the best athletic traits in the entire draft. However, Indy left his supporting cast nearly untouched from a season ago with the exception of signing former Buffalo Bills receiver Isaiah McKenzie, a player who never rose above being the third or fourth option in Buffalo, and drafting North Carolina’s Josh Downs in the third round. A lot of faith is being placed in rebounding from a depressing 2022 when it comes to their offensive line. Quenton Nelson, a regular All-Pro, seemed a step slow and unsure in 2022 after dealing with ankle and foot injuries at the tail end of the 2021 season.
Protecting Richardson’s blind side is second-year left tackle Bernhard Raimann, a player who suited up at tight end in his first two years at Central Michigan in 2018-2019. That’s a lot of faith and perhaps the weight of the franchise’s future being placed in Raimann’s hands. On the other side of the ball, there are more question marks with Stephon Gilmore now a member of the Dallas Cowboys. Rookie Julius Brents, the Kansas State cornerback who was Indy’s second-round pick, will likely be asked to start right away on the outside, so more will be required out of its pass-rush, whose 30% quarterback pressure rate ranked was the fourth lowest in the entire league. The Colts snagged the 49ers’ second-leading sack artist from a year ago, Samson Ebukam (5.0 sacks in 2022), on a three-year, $24 million deal as a result. He’s a nice complementary piece, but there’s a chance he struggles without reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa drawing most of opposing offensive lines’ attention.
The additions the Colts made this offseason could help be a turning point for the franchise. It all comes down to how the development of Richardson goes. If all goes well, this would have been a great offseason.
There are some major question marks the Colts will face during the 2023 season, but they also made some intriguing additions on both sides of the ball.
We’ll see how we feel about the offseason moves once December and January roll around as that will give us a better idea of whether the critiques are warranted.
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