2014 Review

Quarterback Andrew Luck certainly paid off for those who swooped him up in earlier draft rounds last season. Luck finished the 2014 fantasy season as the second-highest ranked quarterback under Aaron Rodgers. Had Luck not thrown 16 interceptions to Rodgers’ five, he would have surpassed in ranking.

Luck was responsible for the second-highest passing yards and most touchdowns of all quarterbacks last season. With his excellent corps of wide receivers and tight ends, it’s no wonder the third-year quarterback went off the charts for his fantasy owners last season. There’s no reason to believe that Luck’s productivity will decline anytime soon.

Regarding the Colts’ ground attack, their former running back Trent Richardson was a complete fantasy failure. Anyone who took a flier on him and drafted Richardson after his poor 2013 season when he joined the Colts, certainly learned their lesson with him in 2014. The running back to own last season was surprisingly Ahmad Bradshaw, until he broke his leg in Week 11. Bradshaw especially rewarded those who drafted him in PPR leagues by putting up 300 receiving yards and six receiving scores.

After Bradshaw departed, the run game was mainly led by Dan Herron otherwise known as “Boom” Herron. Herron made a decent flex fill-in for those in deep need of a running back towards the later part of the season.

Luck was stocked to the brim with a deep group of wide receivers and tight ends in 2014. Wideout T.Y. Hilton did not disappoint those who drafted him as a trusty TE2. In overall fantasy points, Hilton ranked 12th posting 82 receptions, 1,345 yards and seven touchdowns.

As for the former and legendary Reggie Wayne, 2014 was unfortunately a sad fantasy season for him. He finished the year ranked 56th in fantasy points resulting from 779 receiving yards and only two touchdowns.

Second-year wide receiver Donte Moncrief began to emerge throughout the season, but did not make a realistic fantasy option based on his total 32 catches for the year. As for Hakeem Nicks, his one-year experiment in Indianapolis did not pay off. Nicks was used sporadically but not enough to count on as a fantasy option.

Worth owning and probably drafted in later rounds was tight end Coby Fleener. Fleener had an incredible fantasy season and ranked sixth among his fellow tight ends. Targeted by Luck 92 times, Fleener tallied 51 catches for 774 yards and eight touchdowns.

Tight end Dwayne Allen proved his worth too and made for a decent fill-in tight end providing we could pick the right games to play him. Allen did not produce a lot of yardage – just 395, however, he turned his limited opportunities into eight touchdowns. For this, Allen ranked 13th overall in tight end fantasy points.

Veteran Additions

The Colts were mighty busy during the free-agency period this year. They took in two awesome veterans who were no longer wanted by their former teams. Wide receiver Andre Johnson will be added to the many hungry hands that Luck will pass to this season. It will be interesting to see how much of Hilton’s targets he eats into. Johnson slipped in fantasy ranking last season to 41st but he’s bound to be more valuable this season due to a major upgrade in quarterback.

Running back Frank Gore was also added to the Colts’ mix. He should be a shoe-in top running back option for the Colts’ this season and make a serviceable RB2 for fantasy drafters. Gore comes from 10 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers where he posted over 1,000-plus yards in eight of those seasons. The Colts will certainly look for trend to continue with their new, veteran addition.

NFL Draft

The Colts surprised a bit in selecting wide receiver Phillip Dorsett out of Miami with their first-overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Already quite staffed in the position, the Colts felt the need to deepen the roster more for some reason.

Dorsett is coming from a 2014 college season where he posted 36 receptions, 871 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was excellent in long-yardage plays, averaging 24.2 yards per catch. Perhaps this is something the Colts are going to utilize him for this season. If so, he could steal some touchdowns from the Colts’ other key playmakers.

Potential Breakout Star

Moncrief could be up for a larger role this season. He was impressive during playoffs making some long yardage plays. He turned five catches into 86 yards and scored once during his limited time post season. At this time, however, Moncrief makes for a late-round stash who could be called to fill in should Hilton or Johnson suffer an injury.

Potential Disappointment

Hilton may suffer the fantasy consequences of the Colts adding Johnson and drafting Dorsett to the squad for this year. Luck fires a ton of passes, however, there will be so many capable hands out there that Hilton’s targets could be scaled back. Due to Hilton’s abundantly productive season, he will be on the radar to draw more coverage this year. This in turn will make things more difficult for Hilton’s occasionally interception-prone quarterback to successfully get him the ball at times.