No team in the NFL may have been limited by injuries more than the Indianapolis Colts. In a span of a few weeks, running back Joseph Addai hurt his shoulder, tight end Dallas Clark had season-ending surgery on his wrist, and Austin Collie had surgery on his hand. That’s on top of backup running back Donald Brown who’s been out with a hamstring problem and Anthony Gonzalez and Bob Sanders who got hurt week one. But you know the bottom line? As long as nobody on the injury report is named Peyton Manning, the Colts’ offense will be fine.
With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to Jacob Tamme and re-introduce Anthony Gonzalez. Those two men, along with Blair White will fill in for Clark and Collie in the passing game. Tamme is in his third year from Kentucky and he only has six catches and 47 yards in his career. He may not have accumulated any stats so far this season, but he had two touchdown catches in the preseason and he wouldn’t be on Indy’s roster if he couldn’t play. He won’t see 10 targets a game like Dallas Clark, but six is reasonable enough to make him a good fantasy option at tight end, especially with bye weeks and injuries.
Anthony Gonzalez and Blair White are likely to share slot duties replacing Collie who could miss a month. Collie was a monster for Indianapolis, so it’s reasonable to suggest Gonzalez and White will put up stats. White has six receptions on the year and caught a touchdown in week three, so he can do something. Over the longer term, I’m expecting more out of Gonzalez.
Gonzalez may have missed all of last year and half of this season with injuries, but once upon a time he was a first-round pick for Indianapolis and he’s been in the offense for four years, so he knows the system and how to work with Peyton. At some point he’ll start to produce, maybe now is that time. And if you have Reggie Wayne or Pierre Garcon in fantasy, you’re in the best shape of all — Manning will lean heavily on the duo, though he won’t force things if it’s not there.
