INDIANAPOLIS – When you return 18 starters from a playoff team the year prior, expectations are going to be high.
That’s definitely the case for the 2021 Indianapolis Colts.
Individually, there are several Colts players that should be feeling some pressure, to varying degrees, heading into this season.
Who are the Colts with the most to prove in 2021?
-Carson Wentz: This is, rather, obvious. If you made such a list for the entire NFL, Wentz would rank pretty high. That’s what happens when a former MVP-caliber QB struggles to a point where the franchise that once thought he was their guy by giving him a mega second contract trades him for two draft picks. The Colts are happy to give Wentz another chance. The goal for Frank Reich and company is to lessen the pressure on Wentz’s shoulders. Personnel and coaching wise, the Colts have the horses to do that. But, inevitably, there’s individual pressure on Wentz. If his 2020-self shows up again, his days as a starting QB in the NFL will be numbered.
-Parris Campbell/Kemoko Turay: Whenever making such a list, a guy having to prove himself coming off an injury is often reason for selection. That’s certainly the case for both Parris Campbell and Kemoko Turay. Another reason for their inclusion is because they could mean so much to this team having a higher ceiling. For Turay, he enters a contract year having played in 25 NFL games and missed 23. He’s had just 1 sack (in 7 games) since tearing up his ankle in October 2019. For Campbell, he enters Year 3 of a 4-year rookie contract having played in just 5 of the last 28 games the Colts have had. Individually, and team wise, these unique talents within their position groups mean a whole lot.
-Eric Fisher: When a former No. 1 overall pick, who has Pro Bowls on his resume was just cut by the team that drafted him, it was for a reason. The health of Eric Fisher (and some financial questions) was a big reason why the Chiefs cut the 30-year-old in the spring. Fisher has pressure to prove that the torn Achilles he suffered in January will not lead to a drop in his play. There’s also team pressure for Fisher to try and play at the level that the retired Anthony Castonzo gave the Colts for so many years.
-Ben Banogu: This is a player who could have zero bearing on the Colts win/loss record in 2021. I mean, we have to point out that Ben Banogu, a second-round pick in 2019, was a healthy scratch for half of last season. So this pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Banogu proving that he can be somebody for the Colts. Internally, the Colts think a jolt of confidence can have Banogu go down a path of a slower developing rusher. But this is a guy who enters camp nowhere close to the top of the defensive end depth chart and is in a fight just to make the football team.
-Darius Leonard: This is a separate category of ‘pressure’ for a guy like Leonard. He has more than proven himself as a top player in the NFL and is going to receive a well-deserved second contract from the Colts. He’s on this list because that second contract is coming and his good buddy is no longer starting next to him. With Anthony Walker now in Cleveland, more ‘dirty’ work falls to Leonard. That means tougher conversations with some linebackers about being accountable and being a pro. That means even more of a commitment in the run game, to round out the tremendous skillset he brings to the linebacker position. Will it be Leonard in charge of pre-game huddle breakdown duties, something that Justin Houston used to handle?
