What we learned from Colts minicamp:

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Fully aware of the risk of injury, Indianapolis focused its energy on the mental side of the game, the task of tailoring the offense to new starting quarterback Matt Ryan and new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley installing an entirely new scheme.


“We’ve overloaded them, put a lot on their plate,” Bradley said. “Just to see what they can handle.”

The real physical work begins at Grand Park in six weeks. That’s when roster spots will be earned, when there will be enough work on the practice field to draw real conclusions.

But there are still a few takeaways from the five practices open to the media, conclusions that set the table for what will happen in Grand Park.


1. Reich compared Ryan’s accuracy to Philip Rivers and Peyton Manning in late May.

Even in 7-on-7 drills where the offense has the advantage, it was easy to see why.

Ryan rarely, if ever, missed on short throws, but that’s expected in a drill with no pass rush. The impressive throws were made down the field, particularly on the sideline and in traffic.


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There were plenty of highlights, particularly in the mandatory minicamp: A high throw over Stephon Gilmore to a leaping Michael Pittman Jr., a perfectly-placed wheel route to Nyheim Hines for 40 yards down the sideline, perfect corner routes on the sideline to Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce, another nice wheel route shot down the sideline to undrafted running back D’Vonte Price.

Indianapolis’s yards per attempt cratered last season to 6.9 — well below Reich’s target of 7.5 yards — and although downfield throws are one of the ways to improve that number, another way is to turn more throws into completions. Former Colts starter Carson Wentz finished the 2021 season at 62.4%, and he completed just 61.1% in December and January.


Ryan, on the other hand, is ninth in NFL history with a lifetime completion percentage of .655, and he’s been at 66% or better in eight of his last 10 seasons.

How will the Colts offense be different with Matt Ryan?

2. The ball is going to come out of the pocket much faster with Ryan at the helm.

Based on raw numbers alone, that might come as a surprise. Known for holding the ball, Wentz averaged 2.83 seconds from snap to throw, tied for 24th in the NFL; Ryan was 15th at 2.77 seconds.

But the Colts believe Ryan’s numbers have been inflated by Atlanta’s play-action-heavy scheme, and in Indianapolis, his number will likely come down significantly, similar to the way Andrew Luck’s time to throw dropped significantly under Reich in 2018. Luck finished ninth in the NFL at 2.63 seconds.


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With the right quarterback at the helm, Reich’s offense is designed to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quickly, both to limit the effects of the pass rush and to give Colts receivers room to run. Ryan’s quickness was evident on the practice fields this spring, quickly moving through progressions and firing the ball out to backs when they still had room to run.

3. The Colts have never wavered on Parris Campbell’s potential.

“I’ve always seen Parris, since the day we drafted him as a guy who can play every position and can really do it all,” Reich said. “I think he can play in the slot, he can play all that game: the shallows, the crosses, the option routes. He’s smart, he’s explosive, you can put him at the outside. He’s got speed to get deep, he’s got good footwork on the top of routes on the outside going vertical.”

All of that was on display during the Colts’ OTAs and mandatory minicamp.

Campbell caught more passes from Ryan than any other receiver, repeatedly working the underneath and the middle of the field, spots that Wentz didn’t emphasize last season when Campbell was healthy, preferring instead to look for the speedster to get deep.

The caveat with Campbell is obvious. He has to prove he can stay healthy, something the Colts have said all offseason. If he’s on the field, though, Campbell looks like a good fit with Ryan.

What did we learn about the Colts' receivers?

4. Drawing any conclusions about playing time at wide receiver is foolhardy at this point — Michael Strachan wasn’t available, and the Colts rotated at least six receivers with Ryan and the first-team group — but rookie wide receiver Alec Pierce appears to be off to a good start.

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For a wideout known for getting deep down the field, Pierce showed good concentration and toughness in the short passing game. The hands, the body control and the contested catch ability were all there, and although he hasn’t connected on a deep ball yet, Pierce’s speed was evident.

5. Second-year tight end Kylen Granson has flown under the radar a little bit, in part because the Colts picked up Jelani Woods and Andrew Ogletree in the draft and in part because he caught just 11 passes for 106 yards as a rookie.

But Granson is the team's only true "F" tight end, the move tight end used mostly as a receiver, on the roster, and the amount of action he got in the team's mandatory minicamp indicates he's going to have an opportunity to cement himself in the role.

He has to prove he can be consistent enough to handle it.

Granson made several catches during the minicamp, but he also had two drops, including a wide-open throw in the end zone that Ryan put right between the numbers. Indianapolis is willing to live with a few drops if a player can make enough plays; Granson's job in training camp is to prove he can handle the role.

6. The headlining battle at training camp should be Michael Pittman Jr. vs. Stephon Gilmore.

Those two are going to be fun to watch at Grand Park.

At one point in Wednesday’s minicamp practice, Pittman Jr. elevated up over Gilmore to grab a perfectly thrown ball from Ryan, and then two plays later Gilmore undercut a Pittman Jr. route, got his hands on the ball, stayed with it, focused throughout and made an impressive interception as he fell, all while Pittman Jr. tried to rip the ball out of his hands.

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Gilmore’s veteran status might give him a few extra days off during training camp, but when he’s on the field, it’s must-see viewing any time he’s lined up across from Pittman Jr.

Who will play left tackle for the Colts?

7. A handful of the biggest questions surrounding the Colts are on the line of scrimmage.

Will Matt Pryor be able to hold off Bernhard Raimann for the starting left tackle job? Does Danny Pinter move seamlessly into the lineup as the starting right guard? Are Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo, the team’s top two picks in 2021, ready to take the next step and be impact players in their second season?

Those answers are going to have to wait until training camp.

Indianapolis did not go full-speed on the line of scrimmage this summer, either in 11-on-11 drills or individual work, making it difficult to draw any conclusions.

“This is more of a passing camp,” Reich acknowledged.

From the sounds of it, even the shuffling the Colts did on the offensive line at times should be taken with a grain of salt, or an entire salt shaker. For example, Pinter shifted inside to center at times during mandatory minicamp, pushing Ryan Kelly out to right guard, but Reich shot down any speculation about Kelly making a big positional move.

“No, there is really no plan for that at this point,” Reich said. “You’ve got to cross-train everybody. One thing you need to learn in this business is you have to have guys that can play center, so a lot of that is just getting other guys on the o-line work at center, and putting Ryan at that next default position.”


In addition to Pinter, who has been Kelly’s backup the past two seasons, the Colts also gave second-year offensive lineman Will Fries some chances at center this spring.

8. Backup quarterback Nick Foles threw a couple of interceptions in his first extended action in an organized team activity, a practice that came roughly 10 days after his signing, but he looked much more comfortable at the team’s mandatory minicamp.

Foles, who fired a bunch of completions in to Ashton Dulin and Dezmon Patmon, isn’t afraid to drive the ball down the field, and even though he was picked off on one of those throws in the OTA, Foles also turned in a gorgeous deep ball, hitting Dulin in stride behind a cornerback for a big throw during mandatory minicamp.

Will an undrafted free agent make the Colts' roster?

9. A 22-year streak of an undrafted free agent making the Colts’ opening-day roster was snapped last year, in part because of an overall draft pool that was much smaller due to the havoc COVID-19 wrought on the 2020 college football season, but it looks like several players might be able to make a push this season.

Price, a big, powerful back, displayed good hands and downfield ability as a receiving option. Undrafted linebacker JoJo Domann played with the first team at strong-side linebacker in Zaire Franklin’s absence Tuesday and made an athletic interception, fellow undrafted linebacker Sterling Weatherford picked off Foles on a deflection in an OTA and undrafted cornerback Dallis Flowers made an impressive interception of Jack Coan during the minicamp.

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