Colts Fans and Stampede Blue Community Q&A – Week 2 ANSWERS

Colts fans and Stampede Blue readers can submit their Colts questions to have a chance of them being answered in our Q&A. Missed out this time? Don’t worry, you can get involved next time by submitting a question when the Q&A post goes up in the comments section, in the Twitter replies, or on the Facebook post comments.

Let’s jump straight into this week’s questions:

Miami’s Jester (Stampede Blue) Comments: For one, why the hell are we having Willis cover anyone except maybe a TE…

Where was Marlon Mack? We used him heavily in Preseason, were we maybe trying to use that as bait for a trade?

Answer: Khari Willis was in Zone coverage as the Colts rarely ask their safeties to be in man coverage so it’s not like he was in one on one man coverage with Tyler Lockett, the play turned out that Lockett was in Willis zone who he made a spectacular catch against.

Marlon Mack was active on Sunday but received no snaps on the day. It was interesting to see the Colts not even have him in for a single snap all game but it might have been more to do with how the game went and with them trailing for most of it. The Colts will have a hard time finding Mack snaps especially with Taylor and Hines warranting a big chunk of the running back snaps. I think if the Colts go run heavy with a lead you will see more of Mack but it is going to be hard to find him consistent snaps.

FTWayneFan (Stampede Blue Comments): The question no one can answer why does Chris Ballard who believes in the trenches never draft a tackle in the early rounds, Smith was drafted to be a guard and due to injuries he turned into a tackle.

Answer: The Colts have drafted 7 offensive linemen under Chris Ballard, 2 offensive tackle (Zach Banner and Jackson Barton), 4 offensive guards (Quenton Nelson, Braden Smith, Danny Pinter and Will Fries) and 1 center (Javon Patterson). If you look at the early rounds (1 and 2) yes the Colts have never drafted a offensive tackle but during Chris Ballard’s tenure with the Colts they had Anthony Castonzo and drafted Braden Smith in 2018 (Ballard’s second year) so there wasn’t an immediate need to draft one so highly. Ballard openly admitted after this years draft they had offensive tackle targets but it didn’t play out like they had hoped. I do this offensive tackle is a position they will look at again in next years draft and moving forward though.

BuddhaBri (Stampede Blue Comments): How many sacks will Aaron Donald get if Q can’t play? If Q can play how many pancakes does he get on Donald?

Answer: If Quenton Nelson doesn’t play Sunday then its going to be a LONG day for the Colts on offense. I could see Donald getting 3+ sacks if Nelson doesn’t play. However, if Nelson does play and they line up regularly against each other then they might be able to keep Donald quiet enough to get some points on the board.

Clydesdales (Stampede Blue Comments): Just how doom and gloomy do you expect things to get out in Colts Nation, should the Colts lay an egg at home to go 0 – 2?

Answer: I think Colts Nation will be extremely doom and gloomy if the Colts lose on Sunday and go 0-2. However, with 15 games still left in the season it isn’t time to be too doom and gloomy as there is a lot of football to be played. There are a lot of winnbale games still and if the Colts can turn things around and get healthier in the process then this season is far from over.

Jimsorgi4pres (Stampede Blue Comments): If Nelson does indeed have a back injury does it make sense to sit him for a week or two until he is feeling better? We are in the toughest part of our schedule and will likely lose the next 3 to 4 games especially if Nelson plays like he did last week. My opinion is sit him and get him healthy.

Answer: I understand the thought of shutting Nelson down for a few weeks to let his back injury settle down, however if he can still play and play well like he did last week then there is no real need as long as there is a good treatment plan in place for him. Nelson played 76 snaps against the Seahawks and allowed 0 sacks, 0 hits and 0 hurries so he was very good in pass blocking especially, his run blocking like the rest of the offensive line wasn’t great. I think Nelson was the only bright spot on the offensive line last week and that was with a back injury.