Monday’s decision to waive cornerback Dallis Flowers confirmed what everybody suspected: the Colts have a cornerback problem.
That is, everyone but Colts general manager Chris Ballard.
When finalizing the Colts’ 53-man roster back in August, Ballard remained stubbornly certain in his selections at cornerback, banking on healthy seasons from them all.
“They don’t become players without playing,” he said.
But that hasn’t been the case.
Between the five players he named to the initial depth chart, only Kenny Moore II and Jaylon Jones remain active, while JuJu Brents is on injured reserve.
Ballard had hoped Flowers would take a step forward, citing his return from an Achilles injury as a main reason why he didn’t do more to address the position in the offseason.
“We’re hoping to get [Flowers] back healthy,” he said back in April. “I think getting [him] back will help.”
It hasn’t helped.
The passing defense has plummeted to the bottom five of nearly every relevant statistic: 29th in passing yards allowed per game (262.2), 28th in completion percentage allowed (71.69%) and 31st in opponent yards per pass attempt (7.9).
Whatever Ballard’s plan was, it’s been a big swing and a miss. The injury to Brents was a big blow, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of quality depth behind him.
Luckily for Ballard, he still has time to correct his mistakes. The team has already signed David Long Jr. up from its practice squad and the NFL’s trade deadline isn’t until Nov. 5.
But, considering Ballard typically doesn’t dip into the trade market midseason, signing an outside free agent seems like the most likely solution for the Colts.
Even then, the Colts have been reluctant in recent years to bring in big-name players in the middle of the season. Even with plenty of established veterans available, such as Xavien Howard, Patrick Peterson and Marcus Peters, Ballard tends to preserve continuity in his locker room.
Besides elevating Long Jr. from the practice squad, the amount of effort to add new names to the room has been slim. The team worked out former sixth-round pick Tariq Castro-Fields, but nothing came of it. It’s still not a sign of immediate intent, as Castro-Fields appeared in only eight games in 2023 and is yet to play in 2024.
However he decides to address this positional turmoil, Ballard is running out of time to find a solution.
The amount of change he creates will be indicative of just how serious he is about bringing the Colts back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
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