Source: Justin Casterline / Getty
INDIANAPOLIS – Award season is here for the 2023 Indianapolis Colts.
The annual award season brings some very deserving hardware going to a variety of Colts players.
Here are a handful of Colts awards for the 2023 season:
MVP: Michael Pittman Jr.
-Again, picking an MVP award winner can joggle between “best player” or the actual acronym “most valuable player.” I’ll go with Michael Pittman Jr. as the slight winner over Zaire Franklin. This was a close race, but seeing how the Colts performed without MPJ in that Atlanta game was the difference in me. Honestly, co-MVPs is probably a route I could have explored here, but Pittman’s consistency and reliability was too much not to give him the nod, while still handing out some hardware to Franklin later.
Others receiving votes: Zaire Franklin
Offensive Player of the Year: Quenton Nelson
-I’m not a fan of giving one player multiple awards, so how about Nelson takes home the OPOY honor. For me, Jonathan Taylor didn’t log enough playing time to garner serious consideration. Nelson got back to his Pro Bowl-playing self and helped the Colts offensive line return to playing at a necessary level.
Others receiving votes: Jonathan Taylor, Braden Smith
Defensive Player of the Year: Zaire Franklin
-When you are the leading tackler in the entire NFL, some hardware comes your way. While the Colts defense had some individual resumes worth looking at, nothing compared to the level of Franklin. As the quarterback and signal caller of the Colts defense, Franklin handles that talking by backing it up with high-level linebacker play, too.
Others receiving votes: DeForest Buckner, Kenny Moore, Julian Blackmon
Rookie of the Year: Josh Downs
-Who would have thought 7th round pick Jaylon Jones as a legit threat to win Rookie of the Year? Credit to Jones, but also an indication of the injury-ridden seasons for Anthony Richardson and JuJu Brents. Downs was a pretty darn consistent performer, finishing his rookie campaign with 68 catches for 771 yards.
Others receiving votes: Jaylon Jones
Breakout Player: Dayo Odeyingbo
-It was a big year for former 2nd round pick Dayo Odeyingbo. He finished his third NFL season with 8.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and a total of 17 quarterback hits. This debate was a good one with some other candidates worthy of consideration, but we will go with the versatile Odeyingbo who has also played in every game each of the last two seasons, after tearing his Achilles leading into the 2021 Draft.
Others receiving votes: Bernhard Raimann, E.J. Speed
Most Disappointing: Scoring Defense
-When you look offensively and defensively, the Colts hovered right around the middle of the pack in many categories. The one glaring negative is 28th in points allowed. For a second straight season, the Colts were in the basement of the NFL in scoring defense. And this year’s poor result in that area didn’t come from an offense putting the defense in awful situations with the slew of turnovers we saw in 2022, and it also came against a very non-descript slate of quarterbacks. Chris Ballard took the blame for the defensive scoring issues in 2023, blaming himself for the youth movement adopted in the secondary.
Others receiving votes: Passing Offense
