INDIANAPOLIS – Argue all you want, but finding a more competitive 2014 Colts position battle than the wide receiver is nearly impossible.
The givens come in the form of a triplet 1,000-yard receivers (Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks and T.Y. Hilton).
Another trio is nipping at their heels, all under the age of 25 (LaVon Brazill, Da'Rick Rogers and Griff Whalen), and Colts fans watched them grow and produce in the final month of the 2013 season.
Throw in a 20-year old third-round draft pick (Donte Moncrief), with elite measureables, and that complicates numbers for those fighting for a position that normally carries five or six spots on a 53-man roster.
The focus of this piece centers on Brazill, Rogers and Whalen, all who have concrete evidence of performing at a high level during the stretch of the Colts 2013 playoff run.
LaVon Brazill* *(23 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns in 25 career games)
The Colts sixth-round pick in 2012 has made some very, very important catches for the Colts over the last two years.
He rides plenty of momentum into 2014 with his seven-catch, 144-yard and two-touchdown postseason.
Special teams is without a doubt a requirement for the final few receiver spots and Brazill's 110 special teams snaps last year nearly double that of Whalen and is 109 more than Rogers.
Brazill has put on 10 pounds this offseason and has played some gunner for the Colts, along with serving as a punt and kick returner.
"Special teams definitely is how you make the team," Brazill says. "We only travel four receivers and the fifth receiver, you will play special teams. Special teams means a lot to the receiver corps. All the other guys that want to make the team have to play special teams."Da'Rick Rogers(14 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns in five career games)
Fans were begging to see Rogers get a chance last season and he eventually did.
His 46-yard catch against the Chiefs was an unsung play in the historic comeback.
The special teams question is something Rogers will in all likelihood have to address in 2014.
He played just one special teams snap last season.
Offensively, Rogers has tried to become a more consistent route runner during the offseason.
"Really just repetitions," Rogers says on how he has improved his route running.
"Work, work, work, keep running the same routes over and over again and cone drills."Griff Whalen(24 catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns in nine career games)
After missing all of 2012 with a foot injury, Whalen showed why the Colts coveted him as an undrafted free agent two years ago.
His consistency comes in handy with the uncertainty of an NFL roster from week-to-week.
Whalen acknowledges the importance of special teams in finding a roster spot and he returned eight punts for the Colts last season.
"A huge role. I think that's pretty much what it will come down to unless somebody is clearly impacting the offense more," Whalen says of special teams.
"Who can contribute more and who can fill more roles on special teams is who will decide it."
