On the eve of the Colts’ final pre-season game against the Bungles on Thursday night, I feel the need to review The State of the Team, injury-wise, by position. I said last time that I thought the Colts were sandbagging about Manning, which appears to be the case. However, there’s a host of reasons to be concerned.
Before I start, I would like to restate my belief that irreconcilable differences exist between the game of American football and the human knee. If there were a way to keep players’ knees healthy—if monkeys were suddenly to fly out of my you-know-where—the game would change for the better. As it is, it brings to mind the word “slaughterhouse.” On that happy note, let’s go:
On Offense
• QB—Peyton will be 95% on opening night. (At 95%, he is 50% better than our Boiler Kyle Orton.) Sorgi seems injured, not hurt. Lorenzen can’t play the position at 285 pounds. And Gray’s inability to read the Bills’ backup defense is a dealbreaker. The main concern is the increased risk of injury to Manning from his lack of mobility combined with injury problems on the O-line.
• RB—Joe Addai is going to the Pro Bowl. Dominic Rhodes is going to get pressed by Mike Hart for the backup spot. Keith is 4th. We suspect that Addai, who didn’t fumble once in 2007, will keep the memory of watching McGee taking his fumble to the house in the Buffalo game, and will hold on to the ball again this year.
• WR—Harrison is back, but has become a possession receiver. Reggie Wayne is now the #1 deep option, and Gonzalez is a player. Roby, Garcon, Hall and Aromashodu are the other contenders. Lots of special teamers.
• OL—Here’s the problem. Knee injuries/surgeries include the Ryans (Diem and Lilja), Saturday and Pollak. Bad news for the Colts. Good news for the backup linemen, at least for now. If they open against the Bears without Diem, Lilja and Saturday they will get beat. They will cut at least 2 OL reserves before the season starts unless they put someone on IR.
• TE/HB—Clark is going to the Pro Bowl. Tamme is going to be very good, plus he’s a long snapper. I hear everyone raving about Robinson, but I haven’t seen it. Herold is on IR. I like Reid at H-back.
On Defense
• DL—6 players hurt, 5 with knees. Still, plenty of Dungy linemen—skinny, and fast as linebackers. Freeney looks comfortable. Mathis, Brock and Dawson figure to start, assuming they heal in time. Reserves look to include Thomas, Ed Johnson and Reid. Ferrell, Howard or Curtis “Interruptus” Johnson could make this team if their knees/shoulders hold up.
• LB—Other than Hagler, who is out until October, there are plenty of candidates to join Brackett and Keiaho, including Session and Guzman, who are locks. Worsley, Wheeler, Shotwell and Senn will fight for maybe 2 spots.
• DB—Locked and loaded, although Rushing is gone for the year. Sanders looks ready, as do Bethea, Jackson (Pro Bowl this year) and Hayden, who has a problem with his heel. Don’t know how badly Giordano hurt himself against Buffalo. Jennings gets picked on, but can play, as can my main man Keiwan Ratliff. Condren had two picks against Atlanta. Hughes, Foster and Silva fighting for maybe 1 spot.
On Special Teams
• Hunter the Punter is okay, since they cut Crossett. Vinatieri is going to the Pro Bowl. Snow is still the snapper. Roby has the inside track as the return guy, but that job is wide open amongst the WRs.
I said I thought the Colts could go 12-4 this year. If they happen to start 0-2, by playing second stringers against the Bears and the Vikings, they are 11-5 or even 10-6. I don’t expect them to start 0-2, nor do I expect them to run the table again this year in September and October. When they get healthy they will be formidable. How long that takes will determine if they can keep their “12+ win seasons” streak intact in 2008.