As Rick Pitino once masterfully said, “Larry Bird is not walking through that door.”
For the Indianapolis Colts, the start of the 2020 schedule is not walking through the Lucas Oil Stadium door.
The Jaguars, Vikings, and Jets? You wish. How about the Seahawks, Rams, and Titans? Yeah that’s concerning.
After a training camp filled with injuries, positive tests, and massive uncertainty, what’s next?
Hopefully from a Colts perspective it’s a solid introduction. There’s one major problem when you look at the start of the schedule and one particular position on the new 53-man roster.
Cornerback.
Now don’t get me wrong. Kenny Moore and Xavier Rhodes are studs. Talented, vicious, and glowing. That pair will give wide receivers problems all season long. It’s when you peel back the onion though that the tears start to flow.
Do the Colts really expect to compete when Moore and Rhodes need to come off the field?
Chris Ballard’s batting average on drafting DB’s hasn’t been too hot. Julian Blackmon and Khari Willis are great. But he just was forced to waive 2021 5th-round pick Shawn Davis after an awful camp.
Marvell Tell is out too. Plus, the guy who had maybe the best camp out of everyone mentioned here Andre Chachere didn’t even get a sniff at the regular season.
Now that leads us to Rock Ya-Sin.
Yikes.
I will say this. Ya-Sin really impressed me on the first day of joint practice against the Carolina Panthers. The former 2nd-rounder looked exponentially sharp against D.J. Moore. It was a terrific day out of Rock.
Then the sun set on Grand Park and the next day everything changed. Since then, Ya-Sin has been back to looking ordinary. Getting burned in a pre-season game against the LIONS when you’re not even set for the play can leave a pretty bad impression.
And it has. A Bishop Sycamore player might’ve had a better effort on that sequence.
If Ballard seriously expects his cornerback depth to play a major role this year, the mediocrity can’t continue. To add one more thing, T.J. Carrie is still hurt.
On waivers today, the front office made it clear that they are throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks.
Two 7th-round picks. That’s supposed to make Colts fans feel better?
When Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford come to town, there is absolutely no chance this turns out well if Moore and Rhodes don’t get off to pro-bowl level starts.
