We're back with another edition of The Colts Show Mailbag, where I'll answer listener questions both on the podcast and here on Colts.com every Thursday.
You can submit your questions to me a few ways: At Colts.com/Mailbag, on social media (like X and Instagram) and in the YouTube comments for the podcast. Get your questions in, since next week's episode will be a full season preview – and I'll probably answer more than one on the podcast.
For this week's podcast mailbag question, I answered one from Ray Queen about preseason power rankings, and where the Colts rank in those. For the answer, check out this week's episode of The Colts Show – I was also joined by quarterback Daniel Jones – wherever you get your podcasts, including on:
Let's dive into the rest of this week's batch of questions:
Matthew Phillips (Plainfield, Ind.): Long time reader, first time asking a question. After having some time, I am feeling better about the decision to start Daniel Jones. My question is about overall scheme. Do you see us having to dial back the downfield throws now that AR is not in? And does that having to dial back do any damage to the overall scheme?
JJ Stankevitz: It probably will be different, but my guess is that would've been the case no matter who was behind center for the Colts this year. When Richardson played in 2024, 18.9 percent of his passes traveled at least 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage – easily the highest rate in the NFL and about 7.5 percent over the league average.
The Colts' offense in 2023 didn't put the ball downfield nearly as much – 10.4 percent of Richardson and Gardner Minshew's throws traveled 20+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage, tied for 24th in the NFL (and Richardson's deep passing rate was actually bottom five before his season-ending injury).
In 2025, the Colts believe Daniel Jones can and will push the ball downfield more than he did with the New York Giants, but their offense may not be built so heavily around those deep shots. Shot plays are always going to be a part of Steichen's playbook – they have been dating back to his days with Norv Turner and the San Diego Chargers – but somewhere around league average might be a decent starting point for the percentage of throws that are targeted downfield. We'll see.
This isn't a stat, by the way, that's necessarily correlated with offensive success. The bottom six teams in 2024 in percentage of passes thrown 20+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage were the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles – five very-good-to-great offenses and another (Miami) that was excellent when Tua Tagovailoa was behind center.
@jonharris2135: QB discussion has been the focus at the start of the season, and I get that, but through the last 3 seasons the team really struggled with playing a full game/finishing. How do you get the team to believe when you're on a new QB, new D and a history (known for losing the season opener)? I would love for the team to do well, but what gets the entire team motivated to fight to that final whistle, and then do it again next week after a tough loss? There's undeniable talent, but it's a long season and a lot to overcome.
JJ Stankevitz: The Colts put a major emphasis during training camp on working to finish games, with plenty of physical practices throughout July and August. Steichen said the Colts had about 400 more practice reps in 2025 than they had during training camp in 2024, which he believes can pay off over the last few minutes of close games during the regular season.
"All these games come down to the fourth quarter and you've got to have an edge in the fourth quarter, and you create that in training camp on how you practice and how you prepare," Steichen said. "I thought our guys attacked it the right way all through training camp and then finishing the preseason the right way. I was very pleased with that."
As for the Week 1 losing streak, it's a thing, sure, but not something on the respective minds of guys in the Colts' locker room. It's funny you mention it, because I was talking to safety Cam Bynum in the locker room on Wednesday for something unrelated, and I thought to myself – this guy has had absolutely nothing to do with that losing streak, so it'd be sort of pointless to get his perspective on it. The same goes for cornerback Charvarius Ward, tight end Tyler Warren and Jones, among others.
Having said that, Steichen has publicly acknowledged the Colts' winless streak, which began in 2014 and includes a tie with the Houston Texans in 2022. But beyond that quick nod to it, it's not something anyone on this team – whether they've been a part of several of those winless openers or not – is thinking much about heading into Sunday.
"Obviously, we want to break that streak that we've had here for a long time," Steichen said. "I think it's important for all teams to start off 1-0, and I just told the guys too, start fast and finish strong. I talked about creating an edge. We've got to play with an edge come Sunday."
Alan McDonald (Columbus, Ohio): I just finished watching the season preview episode and really enjoyed the "5 most important players" segment. my question is this. Outside of Jonathon Taylor, Tyler Warren, Charvarius Ward, and Laiatu Latu, would you consider Tanor Bortolini and/or Matt Goncalves to be players of a top-5 importance on the team? In my opinion, I think they play just as big of a role in our success this season as the aforementioned guys above. If they play solid then I think they really helps the Colts to achieve that success of winning the division but if those two are playing below average or even bad then that could create a really huge problem for the Colts' offense, especially when running the ball between the tackles.
JJ Stankevitz: Really good question here, because I thought about including both those guys on the list Larra Overton and I discussed on last week's episode of The Colts Show. I decided against it, though, because both Goncalves and Bortolini are talented – and offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. has a track record of developing young offensive linemen.
Just look at how much money the Colts and Minnesota Vikings paid to left tackle Bernhard Raimann and right guard Will Fries, respectively, this offseason. Both those players earned their significant contracts, and both players developed into rock-solid offensive linemen under Sparano in 2023 and 2024.
If you think about offensive lines as a weak link system – where one weak link will be attacked over and over by opposing defensive coordinators – then having Bortolini and Goncalves be at least reliable players on the interior is critically important for the Colts' offense. But that's a baseline both players certainly can reach.
Disclaimer before continuing here: I like to think about Pro Football Focus grades for offensive linemen as a guide, not a hyper-specific indicator of a player's performance. But since I'm not Brandon Thorn and don't pretend to be, they're – again – a decent guide for talking about this stuff.
In 2023, the Colts' offensive line finished 6th in PFF pass blocking and 9th in PFF run blocking. That was, collectively, a good offensive line – but within it, Fries earned a 61.2 PFF overall grade over 1,125 snaps. He ranked 29th out of 58 guards that year with at least 600 snaps – perfectly average, and in the ecosystem of that offensive line, it worked just fine.
Also looking at 2023, since I had it pulled up: Among PFF's top five offensive lines (Lions, Eagles, Falcons, Broncos, Raiders), the lowest-graded linemen with 600+ snaps on each team earned grades of 59.1, 59.7, 60.4, 61.5 and 63.0.
The three lowest-graded linemen that year, for what it's worth, all played for the New York Giants.
So this is all to say the baseline for what to look for from Bortolini and Goncalves should be somewhere in the high 50's or low 60's in terms of PFF grade (which, again, take it for what you will). From the eye test, if the Colts can get workable play out of both, their line – which features stalwarts like Raimann, Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith – should be once again one of the strongest in the NFL. And I wouldn't doubt Bortolini and Goncalves can be better than just workable this season.
Again, because of their talent – and because of the person coaching them.
joeroche7337: Just wondering who you see as main backup to Kenny Moore since the injury to Justin Walley. Was feeling really worried about that role and thought Walley would have been a security fall back. Hope one of these recent pickups can step up and not much of a drop off. Think Kenny is so underrated for the value of that position until you don't have it. A pro's pro if you will!
JJ Stankevitz: You're right, the backup would've been Walley, even if he were starting on the outside. His injury had a cascading effect on the Colts' cornerback room, with veteran Xavien Howard signed after it and 2023 third-round pick Mekhi Blackmon acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings later in August.
To answer your question, Blackmon looks to be the Colts' backup slot behind Moore.
"We think he can play a few different roles," general manager Chris Ballard said. "He can play both inside and outside. He's a good cover guy. He's aggressive. So, we're excited about getting him and that depth."
While Blackmon didn't play much in the slot during 2023, his rookie year, he played the majority of his preseason snaps this year in the slot (73, versus 44 outside). Blackmon missed the entire 2024 season due to a torn ACL.
Notable here is Blackmon, over 434 snaps in 2023, earned the highest Pro Football Focus tackling grade (90.3) among all NFL cornerbacks that season. Only one cornerback over the last three seasons has earned a higher tackling grade – and that's Blackmon's new teammate, Charvarius Ward, who hit 90.9 in 2022 with the San Francisco 49ers.
