The Indianapolis Colts offense is a much different unit heading into 2024 despite the familiarity that’s been retained. Although this offense is comprised of the same 11 starters that stood atop the depth chart heading into last season, unreasonably expected rookie campaigns and pesky contract holdouts are thankfully now a thing of the past. Well, aside from one (AD Mitchell).
Anthony Richardson’s rookie season may have been prematurely ended due to injury, yet he and his draft classmate WR Josh Downs proved to be pivotal pieces of head coach Shane Steichen’s offense for years to come.
Another massive development in 2023 that has since been swept under the rug due to past-established expectations is the revitalization of Indy’s offensive line. Longtime Colt C Ryan Kelly and LG Quenton Nelson seemingly returned to form last season after an uncharacteristic year in 2022.
The Colts are also back to their pre-2021 days, employing a now-elite tackle tandem in LT Bernhard Raimann and RT Braden Smith. Raimann blossomed into a top-tier blindside protector and while Braden Smith may have only played half of the season, whenever he’s on the field he remains in the Top 5 at his position.
Not to mention RG Will Fries stacked an impressive 2023 campaign to go with his flash-riddled 2022 season, proving to be more than serviceable with a chance to get paid big with another strong year. Shouts go out to OL Coach Tony Sparano Jr. for righting the ship across the O-Line.
With that being said, the same unit that was led by QB Gardner Minshew for 13 starts (and 4 with Richardson) ended up as Pro Football Focus’ 20th-ranked offense. Does a healthy Anthony Richardson turn this promising offense into a legit one? Many, myself included, believe he will but let’s take a brief look at PFF’s grading system to see how they believe 2023 unfolded.
These ‘team reports’ as they call them serve as a cumulative grade per team that takes all of its players’ respective grades and combines them for an overall performance grade.
Team Reports
Passing Grade – 25th
Pass Block Grade – 6th
Receiving Grade – 25th
Rush Grade – 28th
Run Block Grade – T-6th
Offense Grade – 20th
Once again, these rankings by PFF are not meant to serve as predictive grades for the 2024 season. The report in question is a season-based grade that covers the entire previous season, in this case for 2023, therefore it includes all offensive outputs as it attempts to quantify a unit’s overall performance compared to those across the league.
As for PFF’s grade for the Colts, a majority of it makes sense when you consider how much legroom Indy’s offensive line provided for Gardner Minshew and Co. The one grade that some fans and analysts alike may disagree with entirely is the Rushing Grade that Indy received. Jonathan Taylor didn’t play the entire season however Zack Moss’ efforts while he was out, and even when Taylor was back, were invaluable. Not to mention the spot starts that Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson provided were solid performances in their own right.
Regardless of how one feels about the film grading process PFF does, it at least attempts to provide an objective view of all 32 NFL teams — something fans of any team should try doing to help temper expectations because we’ve all drank our favorite team’s kool-aid a time or two and know how that typically goes.
The question to pose after seeing their report of Indy’s 2023 offense is whether or not Anthony Richardson in his first full season of starting in the NFL can move the needle to become a playoff contender. Colts general manager Chris Ballard certainly believes so, noting Richardson’s explosiveness within himself brings a whole different skillset to the table. Now we wait to see if the vision in place is put together as early as year two in the Shane Steichen era.