INDIANAPOLIS - The Indianapolis Colts face a 2024 regular-season schedule dotted with premier quarterback and wide-receiver talent.
When they aren't facing the Houston Texans' second-year phenom quarterback C.J. Stroud (twice), they'll be bracing for passers like Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets.
When they aren't covering Minnesota Vikings superstar wideout Justin Jefferson, they'll be trying to keep up with Miami Dolphins speedster Tyreek Hill or contend with Chicago Bears trio Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and Rome Odunze.
And the Colts are likely to be doing all of this with a lineup of defensive backs that includes three major question marks among their five starters. No player in that trio has started a full season, two are merely in their second seasons and all of them are still trying to prove they belong.
Cornerbacks JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones and safety Nick Cross seem likely to wind up in the starting lineup, alongside talented veteran safety Julian Blackmon and slot cornerback Kenny Moore II, the NFL's highest-paid player at his position.
Can that group put together an effort against the aforementioned slate that improves on last season's late struggles? In the final six games of 2023, the Colts defense was among the worst in the league in allowing explosive passes, completion percentage allowed and passing yards (it ranked 24th in each metric).
Despite those realities, the Colts resisted the idea of acquiring outside help in the secondary. For better or worse, the Colts are banking on growth from this unproven unit.
"The mistakes that they've made over the course of camp or even the type of ball that they played last year, we're not really [expecting] to see them make those mistakes anymore," Moore said. "I think that's the best [sign] of growth. Whenever you're hit with a certain play or mistake or mental error, or whatever it is, the next play ... you can be better at it.
"If we can be better in that aspect, I think we will be better in the back end."
Mistakes in the secondary cost the Colts dearly last season. Case in point: In the season finale against Houston, a game in which the winner would claim the AFC South title, the Colts yielded a 75-yard touchdown pass from Stroud to Nico Collins that was the result of a communication gaffe. The Texans went on to win 23-19 and went to the postseason.
Jones has felt a discernible difference in his comfort level in Year 2. The 2023 seventh-round pick unexpectedly started 10 games last season. It was a brutal stretch of on-the-job training that he says he ultimately benefited from.
This season, Jones said, he is "coming in having a year under my belt, just being more comfortable with the defense. More comfortable being an NFL football player. Because you come in as a rookie and are kind of dazed and confused a little bit."
Still, this secondary is no finished product. Take, for instance, what's playing out at safety. The Colts, one year after moving Blackmon to strong safety full time -- a position at which he thrived -- are still tinkering with the free safety/strong safety combination with him and Cross.
The pair has flip-flopped back and forth as coaches continue to seek the best possible lineup with just more than two weeks until opening day.
Earlier this month, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said he's like to resolve the situation "as soon as someone consistently steps up." Cross does seem to have carved out a starting role, but the Colts' hesitance to lock in roles at safety suggests at least some uncertainty even weeks later.
In a defense that tends to use a single deep safety (while the strong safety plays near the line of scrimmage), the Colts have to have a high level of trust in Cross.
"The other 10 guys have got to look back there and trust that [the free safety] is going to be where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there," Bradley said.
And then there's Brents, who has pedigree -- evidenced by his status as a 2023 second-round pick - but has been consistently injured and, thus, remains a bit of an enigma. Brents sustained another injury -- an unspecified issue with his nose -- in Saturday night's preseason game against Arizona and didn't practice this week. Brents missed eight games as a rookie last season.
The Colts seem to be counting on him nonetheless. Behind Brents, there are even more questions at cornerback. The depth consists of Dallis Flowers, a third-year player who is still trying to regain his form after an Achilles tear last season, and rookies Micah Abraham and Jaylin Simpson, depending on who makes the final roster.
And it is with this group the Colts plan to take on some of the top offensive talent in the NFL this season, beginning with a Week 1 matchup with Stroud and the division rival Texans. Young secondary or not, the expectations aren't being lowered.
The goal, according to Brents, is simple: "Be the best in the AFC South and then go to the playoffs."