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Are they mentally mature enough?

The Colts had a very successful season in large part due to the influx of young talent they got. They were hungry and had a chip on their shoulder and took a lot of teams by surprise as a result. This season will be different however, as the element of surprise will no longer be there. The Colts do have guys like Luck and T.Y. Hilton, who have been contenders before and know what it takes, but the Colts are still a very young team for the most part. It’s possible that they might backslide if they get too caught up on their own hype. In fact, a situation similar to this happened pretty recently with the Jacksonville Jaguars. After shocking the world by going 10-6 and coming a couple plays short of a super bowl, they entered last year with high expectations, but fell apart and went 5-11. Doing it once can be easy, but being consistently good is much harder, and the Colts need to prove have the maturity and right mindset to do so.

Who Will Step Up as the WR2?

The Colts had a solid receiving core last year, with T.Y. Hilton and Eric Ebron leading the charge. Still, one thing the Colts could use is a bonafide WR2 to pair opposite of Hilton. They have a couple intriguing options, such as Devin Funchess and rookie Parris Campbell, but none of them are really proven. As long as Hilton and Ebron can play at the level they were at last season, the Colts passing game should still be solid. That being said, if a true WR2 can emerge, it could take the Colts offense from good to great. The Colts seem to have no true weaknesses offensively except a lack of wide receiver depth, so if one of them can develop into a star receiver, that would seemingly fix their only hole on offense. As it stands right now, Funchess appears to be the most likely to do so.

Can They Improve Their Pass Defense?

The Colts were a solid 11th in yards allowed last year, and the main reason was their stout running defense. Their pass defense however, only ranked 16th. While that’s by no means horrible, it isn’t ideal considering who they’ll have to face if they plan on making noise in the playoffs. It’s highly likely they’ll have to deal with quarterbacks such as Phillip Rivers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and others if they plan on making a run. Against those types of players, having a mediocre pass defense likely won’t cut it. They did make some moves to try and help, like drafting cornerback Rock Ya-Sin with the 34th pick. Just like on offense, the Colts don’t really have one fatal flaw, just a couple of things they could be better at. Their ability to stop the pass is one of them, and it’s something that’ll grow in importance in the playoffs.