Anthony Gonzales is a wide receiver (WR) out of Ohio State that has played for the Indianapolis Colts for the past three years now. Over the course of his three year career, Gonzales has been the #3 WR on the roster behind veterans Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. Now that Harrison is no longer on the roster, the Colts are forced to make a decision. Do they take Gonzales and convert him into a #2 WR opposite of Wayne, or do they put someone else in that position and leave Gonzales in is normal #3/slot WR position?
Typically the #2 WR on the roster is taller and more of a deep threat for a team than Gonzales is. Anthony Gonzales makes a wonderful slot WR, and he has the potential to be a great slot WR. Unfortunately no one normally remembers the #3 guy. A team traditionally looks for a smaller framed, speedy, light weight WR with outstanding hands to play the slot WR position. That is the definition of Anthony Gonzales. The problem that arises from leaving him at the #3 position is that the Colts really don’t have anybody on their roster to fill the #2 position nicely.
The Colts do have Gonzales’ teammate from Ohio State, Roy Hall, on their roster. They have also drafted Austin Collie out of BYU and they still have Pierre Garcon, a two year veteran out of Mount Union that are waiting in the wings. The traditional thing would be to leave Gonzales in the #3 spot and hope that Collie (with his build and ability) can learn quickly. Meanwhile He, Hall and Gacon can all fill in at that #2 spot. However, when have the Colts ever done anything in the “traditional” manor?
What is my opinion? I think that the Colts would be better off by simply leaving Reggie Wayne as their primary #1 WR, then filling in the rest of their WR needs by mixing it up a little bit. This will allow many different formation and game plan problems for their opponents. I feel that with Peyton Manning’s ability he makes the players around him better than they really are anyway. Therefore, have younger players step in to fill a role is perfect for the Colts. They are not very well known, so Manning should be able to utilize that in a good way for the Colts.
Justin Stephens
