The Colts went into the draft needing to improve their offensive line and finding a pass-rusher. They shied away from pass-rushers, instead using half of their eight draft picks on offensive linemen. And two of them -- Ryan Kelly and Joe Haeg -- have been fixtures in the starting lineup for all or most of the season.
That's not too bad.
Grade: B
Best rookie: Center Ryan Kelly has been the starter since the moment his name was announced as the No. 18 pick in the draft. Kelly has solidified a position in which there were five different starters during Andrew Luck’s first four NFL seasons. Luck has often praised Kelly for his toughness and ability to control the line of scrimmage.
Most improved rookie: Talk about versatile. That’s what offensive lineman Joe Haeg, the team’s fifth-round choice, has been. He has started at three positions -- right guard, left guard and right tackle -- along the offensive line. He has spent the majority of the time starting at right tackle.
Most disappointing rookie: You’re not supposed to use a third-round pick on a project player. But that has been the case with offensive lineman Le’Raven Clark. The Colts have dealt with offensive line problems for a significant part of the season and Clark still hasn’t been good enough to crack the rotation. This season has basically been a redshirt year for the former Texas Tech lineman.
The jury is still out on ... : Antonio Morrison. The linebacker out of Florida was given the opportunity to get snaps early in the season, but he struggled and ended up relegated to special teams. Morrison, who had back-to-back 100-tackle seasons while at Florida, is getting another shot at playing time as he’ll be the starting middle linebacker for the time being while veteran D’Qwell Jackson serves his four-game suspension for using performance-enhancement drugs.
Undrafted rookie check in: Receiver Chester Rogers has been the top undrafted rookie basically by default. Josh Ferguson failed at being the team’s third-down running back behind Frank Gore. Linebacker Curt Maggitt went into Sunday’s game with seven tackles this season. That brings us back to Rogers. He took over as the team’s punt returner after Quan Bray was lost for the season with an ankle injury. Rogers has settled into that role after getting off to a rocky start by often fielding punts inside the 10-yard line.