CANTON, Ohio — Conventional wisdom suggests a Colts team without Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders will not get far.
Conventional wisdom is right of course.
But in the dog days of summer, the Colts are actually being well served with their superstars on the mend.
With the prognosis for each promising for the regular season, the team has focused its attention on a roster mixed with savvy veterans and inexperienced but talented youth.
The Colts offered fans their first opportunity to examine the team’s depth on the national stage last weekend, kicking off the NFL preseason in Canton, Ohio, for the Hall of Fame Game.
For those concerned with meaningless stats, the Colts suffered a 30-16 loss to the Washington Redskins on a night where two legendary Skins, Darrell Green and Art Monk were honored as part of the 2008 Hall of Fame Class.
More importantly, the game offered indication the Colts may in fact be as deep as ever at many positions.
The final score notwithstanding, Colts head coach Tony Dungy is excited about evaluating the talent available this summer.
“There were a lot of good individual performances,” he said. “All in all there were some things to be encouraged about. Outside of the final score I thought there were a lot of things to be pleased about.”
A competition that appears most pleasing from Dungy’s perspective may be at the running back position. With Joseph Addai poised for another 1,000-yard season, and Dominic Rhodes back in Colts camp, opportunities are limited for the remaining backs to round out the position.
Second year backs Kenton Keith and Clifton Dawson; and rookies Mike Hart and Chad Simpson are each making strong cases for roster spots.
“It’s going to be very competitive; it has been that way in camp,” Dungy said of his backfield. “They followed that up with a good performance (in the Hall of Fame Game).”
Despite what is shaping up to be one of the most compelling competitions in Colts’ camp this summer, Keith said the backs are each approaching the challenge with support for each other and the team. Importantly, he asserts no one has illusions they are guaranteed to be Colts come September.
“We all got our head in the right place right now,” said Keith, who enjoyed a degree of success last year as Addai’s primary back up. “We know it’s a competition thing, but we all help each other and everything. Basically, whenever we’re out there our coaches tell us to play like a starter. We’ve all been playing football for our whole lives so we all know what to do when we get in there.”
As intriguing as the backfield battle should play out throughout the course of training camp, the role of Manning’s backup also may not be a forgone conclusion.
With the two-time MVP likely out the entire preseason, fifth year backup Jim Sorgi has the obvious inside track, having the most familiarity with the intricacies of the Colts offense.
But in backing up one of the most durable quarterbacks in this generation, Sorgi has been untested, making this preseason a critical gauge.
Enter Quinn Gray. In his fifth year out of Florida A&M, the former Jacksonville Jaguar has not only played in critical games, he has familiarity with the toughest division in the NFL. Admittedly, Gray said his perception of the Colts has evolved from a “strong dislike” to great respect for the way the team is run.
“It’s been great. I’m learning a pretty sophisticated offense,” he said. “Being able to get a grasp on it and get a hold of it before Peyton gets back and get everything moving, it’s great. I’m able to come in and learn the system at a steady pace.”
“I’m here to compete,” he added. “They brought me here to go out and compete and play football. Hopefully things will work out. I’m just going to continue to do the things I do, just work out and play hard and apply those things to the game.”
As position competitions heat up, the many plots left to unfold will provide more than enough to pique fans’ interest. The Colts preseason continues this weekend against the Carolina Panthers, whose training camp has already involved a more literal kind of fight, complete with punches thrown by receiver Steve Smith.
