Perhaps Colts general manager Chris Ballard knows best, but he’s currently taking a major leap of faith regarding trusting a very young Indy secondary to hold up all season.
Despite the Horseshoe faithful’s fair share of concern right now, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard remains confident in his young secondary on training camp’s eve (via ESPN’s Stephen Holder):
The full quote, transcribed:
“We like our young players. And I’m not saying we won’t do something. We definitely could. But I want to see these young guys get after it and compete.”
Is that a wee bit more open ended than earlier? Perhaps. Up to the individual.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) July 24, 2024
Clearly, Ballard hasn’t completely ruled out the idea of bringing in a late veteran reinforcement to what otherwise looks like a very ‘green’ group at both cornerback and safety—with the latter appearing to be even in a more questionable state comparatively.
There’s a number of veteran free agent options still available at either safety: Justin Simmons or Quandre Diggs for instance, or at corner such as former Colt Stephon Gilmore.
Perhaps Ballard wants to take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach regarding his younger defensive backs during the early stages of training camp before otherwise committing to a veteran stopgap—should his inexperienced secondary initially, yet consistently struggle.
For instance, both Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas II are set to battle it out for the starting safety spot next to Julian Blackmon on the backend, while both Dallis Flowers and Jaylon Jones should have a healthy competition for the outside corner spot opposite JuJu Brents.
It’s quite possible that some of these young players could impress and run away with the jobs outright, but in an AFC South that also features C.J. Stroud and Trevor Lawrence as rivals, Indianapolis doesn’t want to have their secondary be a sieve all season in coverage.
That’s the type of ‘Death Star’ engineering deficiency that can doom a season—and any playoff hopes before they start, particularly in a passing league that is today’s NFL game.
Ballard is admittedly bullish on his young secondary, and he may very well look like a genius if ultimately proven right by year-end.
However, if this turns out to being a critical problem position like wide receiver, left tackle, and right guard have been in more recent seasons’ past, and he’ll be rightfully criticized—as it’s a potential roster deficiency that many Colts fans have already anticipated a mile away.