NFL Fantasy Preview: Indianapolis Colts

In a 32-part series leading up to the start of the 2021 National Football League season, we will take a look at each NFL franchise from a fantasy perspective. The 14th team we will review is the Indianapolis Colts.

Over the last two decades, the Indianapolis Colts have been directly associated with their quarterback. First Peyton Manning, then Andrew Luck, and then this past season, Philip Rivers. However, now that Rivers has retired (or we think), Indianapolis went out and made a trade in the offseason in acquiring Carson Wentz from the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Wentz is going to be counted on significantly. That is a given since Indy gave up two top draft picks to acquire him. However, he only enters the 2021 NFL season as the 23rd ranked quarterback after an inconsistent 2020 NFL season with Philly. Last year he completed 251 passes in 437 attempts, for 2620 yards and 16 touchdowns. However, Wentz led the NFL with 15 interceptions and the number of times sacked (50), and only won three of 12 games in an abysmal season with the Eagles. To make matters worse, Wentz is questionable to start the season with Indianapolis as he is still recovering from a broken foot he suffered in a practice earlier this month.

Quite simply, if you are looking at drafting Colts, there are better options than Wentz. First, look at running back where Jonathan Taylor was solid a year ago as a rookie. In 2020, Taylor had 232 rushes for 1169 yards and 11 touchdowns, along with 36 catches for 299 yards, and another touchdown. He is fourth in my running back rankings, behind Derrick Henry, Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook.

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On defense, the Colts are ranked number five, behind Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore and Miami. Indianapolis has made some significant strides on defense over the last few seasons, and are led by Darius Leonard, who has had 416 tackles over the last three seasons, including a NFL-high 163 in 2018, and a Colts-high 132 tackles in 2020.

On kicker, Rodrigo Blakenship is ranked fifth, behind Jason Sanders of the Dolphins, Younghoe Koo of the Falcons, Greg Zuerlein of the Cowboys and Daniel Carlson of the Raiders. In his rookie season of 2020, Blankenship made 32 of 37 field goals for an impressive field goal percentage of 86.5%. Obviously the sports goggles he wore last year were working.

If you want to consider a receiver, T.Y. Hilton seems to be the best option. Last year he had 56 catches for 762 yards and five touchdowns. Even though he cracked the century mark in fantasy points (108.2), Hilton is on my second page of wide receivers.

The Colts will battle the Titans for the AFC South Division title. There is a gigantic gap between Indianapolis and Tennessee versus Houston and Jacksonville.

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