Horseshoe Huddle

5 Lineup Changes the Colts Can Make to Avoid Spiraling

The Indianapolis Colts must consider some shake-ups to avoid spiraling early in the 2024 season.

Zach Hicks

Sep 17, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Indianapolis Colts tight end Will Mallory (86) catches a pass during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
Sep 17, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Indianapolis Colts tight end Will Mallory (86) catches a pass during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
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The Indianapolis Colts are off to a dreadful start in 2024, starting the season 0-2 following an embarrassing road loss to the Malik Willis-led Green Bay Packers. The Colts must find a way to right the ship before this season ends up lost before it ever really began.

Luckily for the team, there are some minor in-house adjustments that could be made that should yield better results. Some of these are a bit more obvious than others, but it's time for this team to strongly reconsider some aspects of their depth chart after an ugly two game stretch to open the season.

So, without further adieu, let's dive into five adjustments the Colts need to make to their roster going forward.

Make Taven Bryan a Healthy Scratch

Colts' Defensive Coordinator Gus Bradley said it perfectly this week; "You earn the opportunity to rush the passer by stopping the run." The Colts' front seven in its entirety hasn't earned that opportunity, but the one player that certainly hasn't earned it is defensie tackle Taven Bryan.

Pro Football Focus has 125 defensive tackles listed as playing at least 20 run snaps through two games this season. Bryan is graded out as 97th in run defense by their metrics, which is by far the lowest on the Colts. His struggles aren't limited to this season either, as he ranked 116th out of 146 in run defense grade last year among defensive tackles with at least 100 snaps played against the run.

Bryan is simply a liability against the run, and this has always been the case in his career. He is not good enough to warrant playing time and his presence on the field actively hurts the Colts' defense. For a team that has allowed over 400 yards rushing in the first two weeks of the season, starting Bryan in place of the injured DeForest Buckner could lead to one of the worst run defenses in NFL history.

There aren't many options on the roster that are exponentially better than Bryan, but starting Raekwon Davis, Adetomiwa Adebawore, or frankly any 300 pound free agent defensive tackle over Bryan is easily a better option for the team.

Give Will Mallory Some Run on Offense

Second year tight end Will Mallory has been a healthy scratch through two weeks for the team. This doesn't come as a major surprise with Mallory's lack of special teams prowess and his struggles as a blocker, but it might be time to give the young player some run on offense.

Mallory was a fantastic underneath target for the Colts last season, hauling in 90% of the catchable balls thrown his way in limited playing time. The Colts have struggled to find a quick game this season and a player like Mallory could be the key in adding more efficiency to the underneath passing game.

The Colts can still keep their beloved Kylen Granson active on Sunday, but working in a player like Mallory could add something that Granson has lacked this season; reliability in the pass game. The Colts need pass catchers that can stay upright and haul in difficult passes, and Granson has struggled to do that through two weeks this season.

More Tyler Goodson, Less Trey Sermon

This next change is a rather minor one, since we are splitting hairs over the RB2 role, but Trey Sermon just doesn't have the juice at backup running back. Shane Steichen prefers players with his stature to be the second running back, but Tyler Goodson's homerun ability is more valuable than anything Sermon can bring as the next man up.

Veteran starter Jonathan Taylor has been solid as a rusher this season, but even he appears to be lacking that next level speed that made him so dominant back in 2021. The only player in the running back room that truly has the ability to explode with speed at the next level is Goodson.

He doesn't need to be on the field for more than a dozen snaps a game, but maybe giving this young back a little bit more run could provide a spark in the Colts' backfield.

Grant Stuard Some Snaps at SAM

As mentioned above, the Colts' run defense is in a putrid place at the moment. They are by far and away the worst run defense in football, and things can hardly get any worse in that regard. While giving some defensive snaps to a player like Grant Stuard might hurt a bit in the pass game, he could be a key cog in fixing this Colts' run defense.

Stuard is a limited player but he will never lack in energy and in physicality. The special teams ace plays with his hair on fire on every snap, which is something that is desperately needed on this defense right now. Simply deploying this madman as a downhill thumper could be a way for the Colts to combat the amount of gap/power runs they have faced to start the season.

The Return of Josh Downs

This last one is a bit of a cheat, as Josh Downs being held out of play was due to an injury and not a coaching decision. Regardless, the mere insertion of him back into this starting offense should be the key in unlocking a lot of the underneath game.

Anthony Richardson currently leads the league in average depth of target by a wide margin. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the Colts need to make life easier for their young passer by installing some lay-ups for the playmaker. Getting back the quick-win ability that Downs has should be a massive boost to the offense.

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Zach Hicks
ZACH HICKS

Zach Hicks is the Lead Analyst for HorseshoeHuddle.com. Zach has been on the NFL beat since 2017. His works have appeared on SBNation.com, the Locked On Podcast Network, BleacherReport.com, MSN.com, & Yardbarker.com. 

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