Coming into the 2024 season, the cornerback position was already one of the great unknowns for this Indianapolis Colts team. Now, without JuJu Brents for potentially the remainder of the season, those question marks have only grown.
Dealing with some injuries in 2023, the Colts had to rely heavily on several inexperienced players in the secondary. As can be the case when leaning on young players, the play on the back end was quite inconsistent.
In short, the Colts gave up too many big plays while not making enough plays on the football. They finished 2023 ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in explosive pass plays surrendered and in the bottom third in yards per pass attempt and passes defensed.
However, even with the uncertainty that surrounded the cornerback room entering the offseason, GM Chris Ballard did not make any significant additions. In fact, the only new faces at the cornerback position came on Day 3 of the draft, and now, Micah Abraham isn’t on the team, and Jaylin Simpson is on the practice squad.
When the initial 53-man roster was set following cutdowns, the only difference between the 2023 cornerback room and the 2024 cornerback room was that the Colts swapped out Darrell Baker for Samuel Womack, who was released by San Francisco and the Colts claimed on waivers.
It’s been clear since April’s draft, the Colts were banking heavily on the internal development of their young players, specifically Brents and Jaylon Jones.
For a team under Ballard that values draft picks and believes in the draft and develop approach, this just comes with the territory. The development component cannot happen without time and reps. Of course, that doesn’t mean that things always pan out either, but whether you agree or not, Ballard has a process and he’s sticking to it.
“Either you believe in something or you believe nothing,” Ballard said after training camp, via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. “It’s easy to vacillate and go with what the world wants you to do. You either believe in something or you don’t. This is what we believe. It gets me fired, so be it.”
Where there absolutely needed to be an emphasis at cornerback was with the depth. The margin for error at the cornerback position has been razor thin this entire offseason.
If Ballard wanted to give Brents and Jones the opportunity to make a Year 2 leap, that’s understandable, given the organizational philosophy. But there wasn’t a true contingency plan in place in case an injury happened or if either player struggled.
Ballard is relying on Dallis Flowers, who is coming off an Achilles injury and didn’t look like himself during the preseason, and Womack, who has just over 200 snaps on defense in his career to provide the backup presence.
Who knows, maybe one or both of them is able to rise to the occasion and provide some much-needed stability at the position. But if not, a secondary that already faced a ton of questions could be in store for another tough season.