2022 Offseason Assessment Tournament: 1st-Round (IND v. HOU)

Same intro everyday: Our annual series taking a look at each NFL team’s offseason (free agency, draft, trades) moves and assessing their impact for the upcoming season – simply speaking, 'did all of the offseason moves, en masse, project to make the team better or worse for just the upcoming campaign (not worried about the long-term effect)'?

We’ll list the key adds and losses for each team competing and then comment on them and anoint a winner that will move on to the next round, until we get down to the final two (the 'Super Bowl') and we name a winner for the top offseason (to date). Our way to review and judge what each of these teams have done halfway through the offseason.

1st-Round Matchup…

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Key Adds:

QB Matt Ryan (trade), DE Yannick Ngakoue (trade), CB Stephon Gilmore (FA)

WR Alec Pierce (pick #53), TE Jelani Woods (pick #73), OL Bernhard Raimann (pick #77), SAF Nick Cross (pick #96), DT Eric Johnson (pick #159)

Key Losses:

CB Rock Ya-Sin (trade), QB Carson Wentz (trade), OG Mark Glowinski (FA), SAF George Odum (FA), DT Al-Quadin Muhammad, OG Chris Reed (FA)

vs.

HOUSTON TEXANS

Key Adds:

CB Steven Nelson (FA), OG A.J. Cann (FA), LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin (FA), DE Rasheem Green (FA), LB Blake Cashman (trade), RB Marlon Mack (FA)

CB Derek Stingley (pick #3), OL Kenyon Green (pick #15), SAF Jalen Pitre (pick #37), WR John Metchie (pick #44), LB Christian Harris (#75), RB Dameon Pierce (pick #107)

Key Losses:

QB Deshaun Watson (trade), SAF Justin Reid (FA)

For the Colts… I’m one of the rare few who thinks the move from Wentz to Matt Ryan is a downgrade, not some magical carpet ride upward. Yannick Ngakoue is one of my least favorite players in the NFL…overrated, overpaid, and every team that gets him can’t wait to be rid of him. I also fear Stephon Gilmore may be ‘spent’ while we assume he’s still ‘that guy’ from a couple years ago for NE. If I’m right, then those three big moves for Indy this offseason are a sign of trouble looming.

I loved Indy’s draft, but for 2022 impact to the bottom line…it might not be ready to shine so bright.  

Houston, you’d think, would have little to lose and all to gain. So, what happened? They sold off their best offensive player (Deshaun) and then let their (arguably) best defensive player (Reid) leave in free agency – they found a way to try and get worse. But maybe they’d use all that space to fill up with a ton of good-great-useful free agents and draft picks?

Well, Houston has become a pariah that free agents don’t want to go to…so they didn’t get squat in free agency and then needing to have a big draft, they got suckered into Derek Stingley over Ahmad Gardner, which will/should haunt them for years to come and then they added a few decent and good rookies otherwise. With all their moves incoming vs. what they lost, they got a bit better/deeper overall…but not so much for 2022 as it was good for the future (and even that’s a bit questionable).

Indy had the draft that Houston needed to have, and Indy had nothing near the pick levels and amounts of draft opportunity Houston had. You have to award this victory to the Colts, for the better 2022 and better future impact -- which is embarrassing to the Texans organization, which is making a career of embarrassing itself.

WINNER = Indianapolis, who goes on to face Jacksonville for the AFC South title in the next round.

1ST-ROUND RESULTS:

NYG defeats DAL

PHI defeats WSH

LAR defeats SEA

SF defeats ARI

DET defeats GB

MIN defeats CHI

ATL defeats NO

TB defeats CAR

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NYJ defeats BUF

MIA defeats NE

DEN defeats KC

LAC defeats LV

CIN defeats BAL

CLE defeats PIT

JAX defeats TEN

IND defeats HOU

End of 1st-round