The Indianapolis Colts (2-2-1) came away with a 12-9 road win over the Denver Broncos (2-3) on Thursday night, remaining undefeated against the AFC West through the early season.
It wasn’t a fun game to watch from an offensive perspective. The Colts offensive line continues to struggle while quarterback Matt Ryan also made some costly decisions. The defense showed up in a big way, though, from the pass rush to the run defense en route to an overtime win.
Between performance and usage, we can gather a lot of information about a player’s stock. While we know the stock for the big-name players like Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr., it’s the other pieces on the roster whose stock is likely to change the most throughout the season.
It’s important to remember that the stock report is fluid. A player whose stock fell in one week can rise the following week, and vice versa. It’s more about spotting trends and potential for the future based on what we saw in the game that week.
Here’s the stock report for the Colts after the Week 5 win:
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The rookie safety continues to impress as the fill-in starter for Julian Blackmon. The seventh-round pick out of Yale had a nice pass breakup on a deep ball, an easy interception on an errant throw from Russell Wilson and nearly had another interception on a deep ball had the back judge not been in the way as Thomas was making a play on the ball. The emergence of the rookie has help the back end of the defense greatly, and he continues to be a pleasant surprise through five games.
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We should give Raimann some slack given that it was his first career start and the fact that they were coming off of a short week of preperation. However, we can’t fully absolve the rookie of his poor play. Raimann allowed five total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, and was charged with three penalties. One of the penalties was questionable but another was declined so it evens out. This isn’t to rag on the rookie but more to temper expectations of him coming in and providing an above-average option right away. He needs a lot of time to develop into a trustworthy option every week, but he may only get there by going through some growing pains.
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As you can see, the rookies got a lot of playing time in this one. Pierce was a monster when the Colts needed him to step up. He…
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