Peyton Manning is the A-Rod of QBs. He’s the best QB in the NFL and if he stays healthy he will pass Brett Favre on the all-time passing lists in the future. No man means more to his football team than Peyton Manning does. The Colts have no one behind him that can lead the team so if he went down…the Colts season would be over. Manning finally got the monkey off of his back by playing well against New England in the AFC Championship and against the Bears in the Super Bowl. No QB on the planet is smarter than Manning or has as fast of a release as he does as he always seems to be throwing the football to the right guy. Manning started all 16 games last season and he completed 362 of 557 passes (65%) for 4,397 yards with 31 TD passes and 9 interceptions (101.0 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 23 times for 36 yards (1.6 ypc) with 4 TD runs. Manning is as tough as nails as he’s started every game for 9 straight seasons. He even played with a broken jaw and that is insane! Manning has played in 144 games (all starts) and he’s completed 3,131 of 4,890 passes (64%) for 37.586 yards with 275 TD passes and 139 interceptions (94.4 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 269 times for 701 yards (2.6 ypc) with 13 TD runs.

Jim Sorgi will be the #2 QB for the Colts again this season. He is nowhere near Manning’s class at anything, but he has played pretty well when given the chance in his career. Sorgi has played in 10 games (0 starts) with the Colts in his career and he’s completed 59 of 90 (65.6%) passes for 619 yards with 5 TD passes and 1 interception (99.3 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 20 times for -4 yards (-0.2 ypc). Sorgi’s running numbers look bad but most of those were kneel downs at the end of games.

The Colts brought in John Navarre to assume the #3 QB job with the Colts. He doesn’t have much experience in the NFL but he does have a nice arm. He has only played in 2 games (1 start) in his NFL career and he’s completed 32 of 64 (50%) passes for 342 yards with 2 TD passes and 5 interceptions (43.9 QB Rating).

The Colts have acquired Antonio Perkins off of waivers from the Cleveland Browns. Perkins will likely compete for the kickoff return job and also for a reserve CB job. Perkins played two seasons in Cleveland and he played in only 6 games and made 2 tackles. He also returned 3 kickoffs for 82 yards (27.3 avg).Â

Despite being a good college football player many experts didn’t think Dawson would get drafted. But the Colts selected him in the 7th round and believe he can help them as a pass rusher. Dawson is 6′1″, 272 pounds and he can run a 4.72 40 which is very fast for a man his size. He has an explosive first step off of the ball which often locates him in the opposing backfield. Dawson can be pushed around a bit in the running game but the Colts will work with him to improve that part of his game. Dawson played in 50 games (26 starts) for Texas Tech and he made 167 tackles, 27.5 tackles for a loss, had 19.5 sacks, forced 5 fumbles, recovered 5 fumbles and batted down 3 passes.

Michael Coe was projected to be drafted in the 2nd or 3rd round by many draft “experts” so you can imagine how happy the Colts were to see him available in the 5th round. He was a WR when he entered college at Arkansas but he switched to defense in his freshman season. He then transferred to Alabama State after he was injured early on at Arkansas and fell down the depth chart. Coe was a dominant player at Alabama State but one has to wonder if he will be able to handle the gigantic step up in competiton or not. He also is a good special teams player which should add value to this selection. At Alabama State, Coe played in 43 games (25 starts) and he made 101 tackles, broke up 25 passes, had 7 interceptions, forced 1 fumble and recovered 1 fumble. This was a good pick by the Colts.

The Colts made a surprising pick here with Roy Hall. Most experts had him going undrafted but the Colts see a lot of potential in Hall. He was a WR at Ohio State but the Colts might be looking at him as a tight end because of his size. Hall is 6′2″, 229 pounds and he runs a 4.38 40 which is very fast for a player his size. Safeties would have huge problems dealing with Hall because of his size/speed combo. In 47 games (7 starts) at Ohio State, Hall caught 52 passes for 580 yards (11.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs.