"NFL Total Access" kicked off its 32 teams in 32 days series Monday with the Indianapolis Colts. As the new kids on the NFL.com block, we decided to score some brownie points by writing an accompanying post each night. We'll focus on one goal that each team needs to accomplish before Week 1.
Colts still need running back depth
Here's a quote from Colts running backs coach David Walker that should scare the team's fans: "Donald (Brown) deserves to be the No. 1 back right now as we go through offseason training. But we'll see how that unfolds as we get to camp and start hitting, playing against other people in the preseason. Everybody wants to be that guy, and we'll give everybody that opportunity to show us he can be that guy."
Brown's career has been up and down, to put it nicely. It ended on an up last season, but is he really an NFL starting running back? The Colts have a new offensive scheme and different needs.
It's not like there are great options behind Brown. Delone Carter, Darren Evans and late-round draft pick Vick Ballard are the only other players on the Colts' depth chart.
Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton are recent rookie quarterbacks who greatly benefited from a strong running game. It's hard to see the Colts doing Andrew Luck the same favor.
New Colts coach Chuck Pagano needs to find some running back depth he can trust. If not, new general manager Ryan Grigson might want to give a veteran running back like Cedric Benson a call in August.
