Rick McGlothlin, Drafttek.com Senior Writer

The Colts did what they had to do in the 2009 NFL draft last April, but have still taken a lot of heat for allowing Marvin Harrison to go and not picking up a top free agent wideout or draftpick in either of the last two off-seasons. This while knowing full well that Marvin Harrison was on the final lap or two of his career. When Marvin went out most of the 2008 campaign with his injury, the writing was plainly evident to see on the wall.

Or so it seemed.

It didn’t actually become real clear until Marvin refused to budge from the salary he felt he was owed, while the Colts front office just couldn’t accept the numbers and decided to allow Harrison to try his hand at free agency. With that, the Colts were faced with having but a single #1 wideout, a top pass catching TE, a wideout just finishing up his rookie year, and two or three unknown, untested commodities that were making a living on the practice squad or special teams.

With all that swirling around inside the heads of Bill Polian and the Colts braintrust, and knowing the middle front of the Colt defense needed serious upgrading, Indy tagged BYU’s Austin Collie late in the ‘09 NFL Draft. Not quite the explosive offensive weapon one would consider to be a difference maker for the once vaunted Indianapolis passing attack. Pundits and fans alike scratched their collective heads and wondered aloud “Just who is Peyton going to get to catch any of his passes other than Clark or Wayne?”

Too many new faces and little to no experience doesn’t bode well for the guy who equates years of rapport and working together to a flatbed truckload of Oreo cookies, er, I mean gold bars. The coaching staff, much to the dismay and amazement of said pundits and fans, thought that perhaps a raw talent like Garcon, along with this new rookie wideout, would ultimately be a fitting cure for the Colts passing game. And so, with many a mouth open wide, jaws hitting floors and web forum GM’s blasting away at the folly of it all, training camp 2009 began. Some 6-9 weeks later, what do the Colts have with the present offense?

First of all, a lot of retired web forum GM’s.

First, it really helps to have a future Hall of Famer at the helm and dedicated to helping the newcomers polish their trade. In the early portion of the 2009 NFL season, we’ve witnessed the emergence of both Pierre Garcon, and to a lesser extent rookie Austin Collie, after 2nd year player Anthony Gonzales went down with a knee injury on opening day. What remains to be seen is if Garcon and Collie can rise to and maintain the level of productivity associated with playing with Peyton Manning. How quickly Anthony Gonzales can return and be an effective part of the game plan once again is crucial as well.

Playing the “what if” game, imagine if the newer of Indy receivers live up to their individual potential and continue top make significant contributions game in and game out. That would mean four receivers are likely to be interchangeable for the Colts offense at any given time, with the primary wideout being Reggie Wayne. Once Anthony Gonzales returns from his knee injury, Gonzo would be the #2 wideout. Along with Gonzo, Pierre Garcon has lit the imagination of wide-open, offensive-minded Colts fans, who may finally have the threat to get deep that simultaneously draw attention away from Reggie Wayne.

Rookie Austin Collie is still on the learning curve but has shown great promise, giving the Colts four true wideouts along with the hybrid TE pass receiving machine that is Dallas Clark. Which to my untrained mathmatical mind gives Indy a total of 5 offensive passing weapons, each a threat on any given down. Then you toss in two of the better pass-receiving RB’s who rotate in and out of the backfield, and you can see now how deadly a spread formation for the Indianapolis Colts offense can look to opposing defenses.

In the interim (read: now, present time) Manning is helping bring along a raw wideout in his second year (Garcon) a rookie receiver from BYU (Collie) while utilizing a TE and a #1 wideout that the opponent figures will be gettng the bulk of the throws. And they do. All the while Peyton Manning is working behind an offensive line that has seen it’s own share of injuries and newcomers moving into the fold and creating additonal time for learning curves to be established and overcome. Add all that together with the two young, inexperienced wideouts and “most” quarterbacks would fear suiting up, let along throwing for the majority of the plays in a single game.

Not Manning.

He’s helped turn Garcon into a mini-media phenom (and adding mock French accents to many a sports analyst or reporter when mentioning his name) whenever they talk about the 4-0 Colts newest wideout. Austin Collie has been on the receiving end of some good, productive receptions from Manning, including his first TD of his pro career in the game vs Seattle. And he’s still been able to find Reggie and Dallas at critical moments – even though the defense knows it’s most likely going to one of the two – to help secure first downs and touchdowns. Except when he doesn’t throw it to either of those veterans and instead throws to the more inexperienced Garcon or Collie. It is utterly amazing to witness the phenomena that is Peyton Manning at work on the field and drives defenses bloody mad trying to determine who is going to get the ball next.

The offensive line, with Johnson on the left side, is pretty solid at pass protection. The depth is there on the O-line, but the overall run-blocking, well, it’s still a work in progress that has seen improvements each of the last 3 games. The focus there will be to just continue to get better and be solid enough to keep the chains moving late in the game (especially on 3rd and short yardage) and allow Indy to keep hold of the lead in tight games.

And we haven’t even mentioned the supposed obstacles or frustrations associated with coaching changes. There haven’t been any – another indicator of the veteran leadership and maturity on this ballclub, as well as the capability of the front office and coaching staff to rise to the level necessary to maintain the status quo for one of the winningest franchises of the past decade.

Nor have we touched on the defensive turnaround since the “Debacle in the desert” in the game with Arizona. A defense which still has some exceptional talent nursing injuries and are on the mend for a little while longer. Even so, they have created enough chaos up front with the power DE’s of Freeney and Mathis that it has forced enough turnovers to offset the occassional 3 and outs the offense provides each game. Once the defense is fully healthy and Anthony Gonzales returns healthy as well, there aren’t too many teams that can match the offensive firepower or the defensive quickness of Indy. Now whether all of this is enough to get them to a second Super Bowl within the last 5 years is up for debate.

In fact, after the bye week, the Colts will be put to the test in games against San Francisco, New England and Baltimore, bracketed by division games with Tennessee and Houston, with a December 10th matchup against surprising Denver. So anything is possible and all this can be rose-colored glasses obscuring the truer image of a team that lacks size and run-stopping power on defense.

But the way it appears presently, this team is starting off the season with wins while utilizing younger, more inexperienced players at the skill positions. It has afforded them a better start to the season and thus, a better opportunity long-term than one year ago, when the wildcard playoff Colts were just a play or two away from advancing to the second round of the playoff picture.