Colts position review: Clayton Geathers on the move?
INDIANAPOLIS – Help wanted: The Indianapolis Colts are in need of individuals capable of playing the inside linebacker position.
Pay: Above average.
Availability: Immediate.
As of Valentine’s Day 2017, the Colts' depth at the spot in question – inside linebacker – is darn near nonexistent. This is a product of their own doing: The Colts let tackling machine Jerrell Freeman walk last year in free agency (a Ryan Grigson move) and they released D’Qwell Jackson a week ago (a Chris Ballard move). And so, at this juncture, there are just four players on the roster set to return in 2017.
Their names? Edwin Jackson, Antonio Morrison, Deon King and Luke Rhodes.
Not exactly a murderer’s row.
That won’t be the case come July when the team gathers for training camp. That’s what free agency is for. That’s what the draft is for. While Edwin Jackson and Morrison offered slivers of promise late in the season, filling in for D’Qwell Jackson while he sat out the final four games due to a PED suspension, it’d be a substantial leap to slot both in the starting lineup for 16 games. They remain raw and inconsistent, especially Morrison.
The Colts don’t have a choice about this particular unit. They have to upgrade. They have to bolster the depth. And they don’t just need bodies, they need talent. They need playmakers. Throwing in the outside linebackers from 2016, and the unit as a whole was the weakest on the roster.
That can’t happen again in 2017.
How it went
It was a disaster from start to finish. The Colts let Freeman walk in free agency last March, almost encouraging him to take a near-identical offer with the Chicago Bears (which he did), instead investing in a high-priced No. 2 cornerback (Patrick Robinson) who failed to live up to the hype and battled injuries all year long.
Nate Irving, a former starter in Denver, was penciled in to replace Freeman as the starter alongside D'Qwell Jackson but was surprisingly cut at the conclusion of training camp. Enter Sio Moore, the former Oakland Raider. He lasted all of four games before being cut. Josh McNary tried to fill the void. He lasted three games. And so it went.
By season’s end, D'Qwell Jackson had been popped for PEDs. That left Edwin “Pound Cake” Jackson and Morrison, the rookie out of Florida, as the last men standing. The unit was routinely the weakest spot on an already-weak defense; D’Qwell Jackson’s absence was especially damning in a Christmas Eve beatdown in Oakland in which the Colts defense yielded five consecutive touchdown drives mid-game.
The Colts allowed the sixth-most passing yards, the eighth-most rushing yards and the third-most points in football last fall. All phases of the defense contributed. The defensive line was mediocre at best, the secondary soft. But the linebackers, especially on the inside, were never even close to good enough.
What we learned
Perhaps reversing course – keeping Freeman last spring and releasing D'Qwell Jackson instead – would have proven to be the prudent decision long term. But Jackson in 2015 was among the league leaders in tackles, a highly-respected locker-room leader and one of the few consistencies on an inconsistent defense. Yet he was 33. Freeman – who is 30 – also violated the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs in 2016 and was suspended four games.
No matter now. Both are gone.
The Colts are left with little to build upon.
Edwin Jackson undoubtedly grew as the season wore on – remember that punishing hit on "Monday Night Football"? – and very well could earn a starting spot with this team in training camp. Morrison, on the other end, struggled. Thrown into the fire at such an early point in his career, it’s no surprise. But that doesn’t mean he will in 2017. Another year in coordinator Ted Monachino’s system, and a full offseason as a pro, should do nothing but make Morrison better.
King spent the end of the year on the Colts’ active roster after being picked up midseason while Rhodes spent a good chunk of the season on the practice squad.
What’s next
The Colts figure to address the glaring need at inside linebacker via free agency, or the draft, or both.
And, perhaps, via their own roster.
Don’t be stunned if the Colts experiment a little in early on-field practices by bringing Clayton Geathers, the third-year safety, into the box for a spot with the linebackers. It’s something the team employed more than once in 2016, especially in an upset win over the Packers in Green Bay in early November. Geathers was tremendous that night.
He's a hard-hitting, 220-pound weapon the coaches are constantly seeking to get more involved. Perhaps a position change is in order.
For those unsure if Geathers has the mettle needed to survive at linebacker, you're forgetting his fourth-and-1 stick of Titans running back DeMarco Murray in mid-November. It was a flawless tackle with the game on the line.
Asked about a permanent move for Geathers to the linebacker spot this past season, defensive coordinator Ted Monachino hinted that it would be a possibility the staff weighs long and hard in the offseason.
“That’s an excellent question,” Monachino said in November. “Is he a guy that we grow into a full-time linebacker at some point down the road?”
Regardless of whichever position Geathers lines up at, Monachino stressed throughout the year the desire to get the team’s playmakers in a spot to make plays. There aren’t many of them. Geathers is one. They want – and need – him to become a difference-maker in the future.
Maybe a move closer to the line of scrimmage is what allows that to happen.
“Based on what he is, we’ve got to try to find ways to use his skill based on the situation as often as we can,” Monachino added.
D’Qwell Jackson’s departure last week does free up $5.5 million in salary cap space, giving the Colts north of $56 million to spend if they so choose. The priority if the Colts do decide to dabble in free agency remains on an edge rusher, but that doesn’t mean Ballard won’t be sniffing around for a run-stopper. There is talent on the market, but it remains unlikely the Colts dish out a substantial deal for this particular position.
Call IndyStar reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134. Follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.
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