Where do we stand at midseason?

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by Kray007

WR). In Pittman and Downs, the Colts have two quality pieces at Wide Receiver, The third WR, Pierce remains something of a mystery largely because he has a Quarterback who A...isn't able to buy time enough for vertical passing routes to develop and B)...doesn't have the arm talent to task a Defense. The bottom line is that the team has no one who can stretch a Defense, get open deep, and make opposing Defensive Coordinators lose sleep, searching for ways to stop him. It's a major need, and one you'd hope to see Ballard address before the end of the draft.

This is somewhat contradictory. We don't know what the Colts have in Pierce because Minshew can't throw a deep ball, but also the Colts don't have anyone who can stretch the field deep? How can you declaritively state the second statement after the first? Wouldn't you need to at least question the capabilities of the WRs if you don't think it's an assessable thing due to limitations at the QB position?

I also have to disagree with your assessment that the Colts don't have anyone who can stretch the field deep. With the right QB, I think the Colts actually have 3 WRs who can stretch the field deep. Pierce has elite deep speed, and IMO Pittman and Downs have shown at least functional deep speed, as evidenced by long TDs by each that were mostly RAC yards. Then there's the other important part of the deep passing game: winning 50/50 balls. I believe both Pittman and Downs were at least top 5, and possibly each best in their draft class at contested catch rate, and it was also one of Pierce's most touted skillsets coming out of college, though it has yet to fully translate to the NFL for him.

WR is a position that could be upgraded for this team, Pierce could be improved upon, but the upgrade there, even by getting an elite player, would be marginal compared to a comparable upgrade at DE or CB.