The last 48 hours on the NFL quarterback carousel has been bananas.
Aaron Rodgers contract drama between Pat McAfee and Ian Rapoport, Russell Wilson to the AFC and the Denver Broncos, and now, it’s a little closer to home. Carson Wentz is a Washington Commander. Not only back in the NFC East, but there will potentially be an Indianapolis homecoming for him.
Yes, Washington is supposed to play at Lucas Oil Stadium this year.
That will be must watch if Wentz plays. So okay, the Wentz Era of the Indianapolis Colts is over; And it doesn’t seem like it will be remembered very positively. At least not in Jim Irsay’s eyes.
For the fifth consecutive year, the question becomes – Who’s next?
Yikes.
The names being tossed around feature those we have heard about for months. Jimmy G, Mitch Trubisky, Jameis Winston. Sounds like a lot of…
There is one option that makes a whole lot of sense. The thing about it though is Chris Ballard and the Colts are going to have to do some work around the team to make it work.
Not like last year. Not just banking on the fact that Frank Reich was supposedly Wentz’s version of Yoda. Not running it back with the same skill position players. If Ballard is serious about building a winner, there is work to do in the draft and free agency; Maybe even some trades.
Kirk Cousins should be a real option for the Colts at QB.
Now before you run after me down Meridian Street with pitchforks, take into account what Cousins does and who he is. Realistically as a quarterback, he’s basic and boring. That’s exactly what I’m begging for on the Colts.
Give me somebody that can feed Jonathan Taylor, make every checkdown count, and convert the easy stuff. For example, getting the ball to T.Y. Hilton when he’s alone on the left side of the field and simply completing a pass would’ve meant a touchdown and probably a playoff berth.
But here we are.
Cousins checks all of those boxes. But again, you’re going to have to give him weapons. Hell, look at what he has with the Minnesota Vikings. Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, K.J. Osborn, Tyler Conklin, and of course Dalvin Cook at running back.
There’s one big difference on what Cousins is missing with the Vikings compared to what he would have in Indy; The offensive line depth.
I don’t think anybody around here is happy on what happened with the Colts offensive line last year. Nobody could stay healthy and rarely did you find a time that all five guys were together consistently. Now, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it doesn’t look like Eric Fisher is coming back. Still, the O-Line ranked number 12 in the league per Pro Football Focus.
Minnesota’s offensive line? 23rd.
Interestingly, both of Minnesota’s offensive tackles, the first round stud Christian Darrisaw and the monstrous Brian O’Neill, were their top ranked lineman. On the interior, they were atrocious. Kind of the opposite from what we watched at Lucas Oil Stadium. Fisher couldn’t pass block and Braden Smith was up-and-down.
Getting Cousins would of course require a trade. But as we learned in Field of Dreams, if you build it, he will come. Invest in the skill positions and Cousins will work here.
It’s simple. You need a game manager, not a guy firing off shovel passes at the 1-yard-line.
