Summer Camp Time for Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are reporting for camp that officially starts today. No, Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney are not checking in to Camp Anawanna to bunk with Eddie “Donkeylips” C. Gelfen nor is Andrew Luck hanging out with your kid at YMCA day camp. This is the actual start of training camp. It doesn’t feel like football season should be here yet but it is. So as all the players file into Anderson, here are a few things I am looking for during the preseason.
First, is the new #1 pick Andrew Luck himself. As everyone had anticipated since late September of last year (as you could tell from all the Colts Luck jerseys being worn to games last October), Luck was drafted by the Colts with the first pick in the draft. Luck will be stepping into the shoes left by the legendary Peyton Manning. It will be interesting to see how Luck performs early and how quickly he shows improvement. Quarterbacks the past few years have had success in their rookie season throughout the league. Luck will be under much scrutiny as he slides in under center replacing Manning and as the first overall pick. He has been touted for having all the tools needed to be a successful player in this league. Luck’s early season performance will be a key for this team.
The next thing I will be keeping tabs on is the defense. Coach Chuck Pagano is implementing his 3-4 defense that he used in Baltimore. This calls for some players to learn new positions and bringing in some new personnel on that side of the ball. It will be interesting to see how Mathis and Freeney adapt to playing an outside linebacker position. I expect both will be utilized more similarly to James Harrison (Pittsburgh) or Terrell Suggs (Baltimore) as predominately pass rushers. They will still be coming after the quarterback off the end, but doing so from a standing position rather than having a hand in the dirt.
The linebacking corps along with the defensive backfield will also be some units to keep track of. Will Pat Angerer be able to play as well as he did last season in this new system? I think he will still be a solid player, but moving to the inside will be a learning process for him early in the year. The defensive backs were a weak spot last year for the Horseshoes. Antoine Bethea has proven he is a high level safety, but he did not have a lot of support last year both from injuries and lack of talent. Adding Tom Zbikowski at the other safety spot and getting Jerraud Powers healthy will help improve the backfield. The new defensive scheme that will include more blitzing should allow some big plays to be made by both the linebackers and defensive backs.
The last thing I will hope to get a feel and sense of is the overall vibe of the team. This may be hard to gauge in training camp or the pre-season, but this will go along way to the team winning some games this season. With all of the new players and coaches joining the organization, training camp will be key to bond everyone together. The other thing that will help that is winning some games early because as we all know winning cures all.
This is a brand new team for the fans of Indy to get to know. Lots of changes and lots of new faces around the organization, including my man Matt Taylor in radio communications. Newness can sometimes revive organizations and fan bases and we will wait to see how all of this shakes out this season for the Colts.
Follow me on Twitter @thadvandeventer.
