Every day seems to bring a new rosy story about an Indianapolis Colts running back. Marlon Mack was affected by a shoulder injury last year. Fifth-rounder Jordan Wilkins is getting first-team reps. The team has big offensive plans for fourth-rounder Nyheim Hines. And my favorite: Robert Turbin is an important piece!
Hey, they've even got longtime fantasy tease Christine Michael on the roster.
What's certain, though, is that all of these players can't possibly contribute at a usable fantasy level. You have to go back more than a decade, to 2006 (remember Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes?) to even find two noteworthy backs on the Colts roster at the same time. So probably only one of these players, if he wins the main back job, will be worthy of a roster spot in typical leagues. And even then he's leading the way on what's been steadily one of the league's worst ground games.
In the last five years, the highest the Colts offense has ranked in rushing has been 20th. Not a lot of there there.
| TEAM RUSHING RANKS, 2013-2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| Jacksonville | 31 | 21 | 27 | 22 | 1 |
| Dallas | 24 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 3 |
| Carolina | 11 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
| New Orleans | 25 | 13 | 24 | 16 | 5 |
| Buffalo | 2 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 8 | 14 | 4 | 32 | 7 |
| LA Rams | 19 | 20 | 7 | 31 | 8 |
| Kansas City | 10 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 9 |
| New England | 9 | 18 | 30 | 7 | 10 |
| Baltimore | 30 | 8 | 26 | 28 | 11 |
| Denver | 15 | 15 | 17 | 27 | 12 |
| Atlanta | 32 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 13 |
| Houston | 20t | 5 | 15 | 8 | 14 |
| Tennessee | 14 | 26 | 25 | 3 | 15 |
| Chicago | 16 | 27 | 11 | 17 | 16 |
| Green Bay | 7 | 11 | 12 | 20 | 17 |
| Cleveland | 27t | 17 | 22 | 19 | 18 |
| NY Jets | 6 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 19 |
| Pittsburgh | 27t | 16 | 16 | 14 | 20 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 4 | 21 | 4 | 21 |
| Indianapolis | 20t | 22 | 29 | 23 | 22 |
| Seattle | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 23 |
| LA Chargers | 13 | 30 | 31 | 26 | 24 |
| Oakland | 12 | 32 | 28 | 6 | 25 |
| NY Giants | 29 | 23 | 18 | 29 | 26 |
| Tampa Bay | 22 | 29 | 5 | 24 | 27 |
| Washington | 5 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 28 |
| Miami | 26 | 12 | 23 | 9 | 29 |
| Arizona | 23 | 31 | 8 | 18 | 30 |
| Cincinnati | 18 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 31 |
| Detroit | 17 | 28 | 32 | 30 | 32 |
One of these backs could make a big impact as a receiver, of course. That would help make them more fantasy-viable, especially in PPR leagues. Mack and perhaps Hines are the favorites in that regard (although Turbin might have the edge in pass protection, key with Andrew Luck needing to stay intact).
And Frank Reich is now running things, and he comes over from Philadelphia, which ranked 3rd in rushing last year. But that's a team with a much better line and all-around more talented offense than the Colts.
Bottom line, it will be difficult for Reich to turn things around, and even more difficult for more than one (if that) of this team's running backs to be a significant fantasy contributor. If it's a two- or three-back committee? Even less likely.
--Andy Richardson