According to the Pro Football Focus’ college win share draft metric, the Indianapolis Colts had the fifth-best draft performance of any team in the NFL this year.
There are many reasons for Colts fans to be excited about the 2020 NFL Draft.
Indianapolis’s impressive second day of the draft stole the show, as they drafted both Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor among others.
Pro Football Focus, which recently ranked Colts defensive end Justin Houston as No. 46 on the PFF All-Decade Team, agrees about the draft performance:
“Running backs matter a little bit in college. And that is how Jonathan Taylor (0.54 WAA), the team’s second pick, was worth more to Wisconsin a season ago than first pick Michael Pittman (0.42) was to USC.”
The Colts drafted Pittman, Taylor, Julian Blackmon, Jacob Eason, Danny Pinter, Robert Windsor, Isaiah Rodgers, Dezmon Patmon, and Jordan Glasgow.
Their combined college win shares were the fifth-most for one team in the draft.
Both Pittman and Taylor will look to be a part of the 2020s All-Decade Team after Peyton Manning and Houston headlined the top 50 of the 2010s All-Decade Team for the Colts:
Four players with ties to the #Colts made an appearance on our All-Decade Top-101:
No. 18 – Peyton Manning
No. 46 – Justin Houston
No. 49 – Andre Johnson
No. 64 – Philip Rivershttps://t.co/iJsia3SEAT— PFF IND Colts (@PFF_Colts) May 15, 2020
Johnson played just one season with the Colts in 2015, while Rivers is entering his first season with the team.
Four players with ties to the #Colts made an appearance on our All-Decade Top-101:
No. 18 – Peyton Manning
No. 46 – Justin Houston
No. 49 – Andre Johnson
No. 64 – Philip Rivershttps://t.co/iJsia3SEAT— PFF IND Colts (@PFF_Colts) May 15, 2020
Rivers, who is all set for his post-football occupation, will be looking to lead the Colts offense in 2020 and possibly longer.
He will be the main veteran on the offense, as he brings a mostly-young core together for a season that is the final one on T.Y. Hilton’s current contract.
Rivers, Hilton, and Marlon Mack will be mentoring the rookies heading into this season.
Michael Pittman Jr.
Before the draft, Pro Football Focus described Pittman as the “perfect fit” for Indianapolis.
Pittman, whom Colts owner Jim Irsay has compared to Reggie Wayne, could go on to be one of the best wide receivers in franchise history.
His father Michael Pittman was the starting running back for the Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Pittman Jr., the No. 34 overall selection in the draft, chose USC over the University of Oregon.
His younger brother Mycah is interestingly a rising sophomore wide receiver at Oregon.
Meanwhile, Michael became a star receiver at USC with many accolades in the Pac-12.
Pittman led the conference in receptions (101) and receiving yards (1,275) in 2019.
Both of those statistics ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA last season.
He had two First Team All-Pac-12 selections and was a 2019 Second Team All-American during his collegiate career.
In Pittman’s senior season, he also won the Pop Warner Award for the nation’s best college senior on and off the field.
Jonathan Taylor
Although Indianapolis traded away its first-round selection for defensive lineman DeForest Buckner, the team impressed in the second round.
The Colts continued to make huge improvements on the offensive side of the football, as they drafted Taylor seven picks after Pittman.
At the 2020 NFL Combine, Taylor owned the best 40-yard dash time for any 2020 rookie running back at 4.39 seconds.
Even with Mack returning as the starting running back, offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni thinks Mack and Taylor can be a “one-one punch” this year.
Mack has missed some games during the early part of his NFL career.
Taylor will be able to help Mack stay fresh.
Fortunately, Colts fans will be able to see the one-one punch plenty of times in 2020 because Taylor is arguably the most talented back in this draft.
He was one of the NCAA’s best yards-after-contact players during the last three years.
The Colts will be in store for an impressive offensive season in 2020.
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