A season ago, the Colts finished a game shy of making the playoffs and winning the AFC South after dropping their last game of the season to the Houston Texans. This year they hope to have a healthy Anthony Richardson to lead the way for success in 2024.
Indianapolis only saw a couple games of their rookie quarterback in 2023 before he eventually suffered a season-ending injury. Learning to be more cautious while running the football was a big part of Richardson's journey back from injury and is hoping to play a full seventeen games this season.
The Colts did not make a lot of new acquisitions this offseason, rather they made the effort to re-sign a lot of their notable pieces on both sides of the football. Indy was able to extend key guys like Michael Pittman, Zaire Franklin, DeForest Buckner, and Kenny Moore, keeping these core players intact. Extending Jonathan Taylor last season took a lot of pressure off the Colts this offseason to get that deal done as well.
Aside from locking down a lot of their core players, the Colts had one of the better draft classes in 2024 as well. With the 15th pick the Colts were able to scoop up Laiatu Latu, one of my favorite defensive players in all of college football in 2023. In the second round, they were able to give AR15 some more help when they drafted a receiver, Adonai Mitchell.
Mitchell is now added to a receiver core headlined by Michael Pittman and can easily work his way up the Colts depth chart. Latu will now be working with Kwity Paye in the defensive ends room as Indianapolis looks to cause even more havoc on their opposing offenses.
The key for the Colts in 2024 will be to stay healthy. With Anthony Richardson being out most of the season, Jonathan Taylor also missed seven games last season. Even with the injuries a season ago, the Colts were still able to finish 9-8, just a game out of the playoffs. With the AFC South improving mightily all around the Colts, staying healthy is a must for Indy in 2024.
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