Indianapolis Colts: Darrius Heyward-Bey Provides Crucial WR Depth When Healthy


Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey possesses scary speed and flashed NFL starting-caliber at times with the Oakland Raiders, but the Indianapolis Colts offense is hardly leaning on his production. Their heavy use of two-tight end sets of Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener along with receivers Reggie Wayne and TY Hilton already provides a good set of primary pass-catchers, especially when you throw tailback Ahmad Bradshaw in the starting mix.

So when news came out of Heyward-Bey suffering a knee injury, followed by Colts PR assuring that it’s not serious, it came as little surprise that their franchise quarterback kept his cool about it. This type of reaction is fairly typical, but in this case it also probably mirrors the reaction of the fanbase. Heyward-Bey could prove an amazing contributor after escaping Oakland, but his signing was the franchise taking a flyer.

“Yeah, it stinks when a guy goes down but it is the nature of football and hopefully it is not too serious, I don’t think it is,” quarterback Andrew Luck said, via The Associated Press. “I feel very comfortable with all those guys, they do the right things, they run the right routes at the right time, they know how to get to the spot.”

I’m wishing Heyward-Bey all the best on his sprained left knee, as he could provide a valuable deep target if playing like the 2011 form that saw him nearly hit the 1,000-yard receiving mark. Hilton is really the only other player on the team that stretches defenses quite like Heyward-Bey can, so his ability to recover for the regular season is a storyline worth attention.

Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google


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