Film Room: RB Jordan Wilkins vs Baltimore Ravens Indianapolis Colts Womens Hoodie , preseason week two season the running back position is very much a question mark. Because of this, I thought it would make sense to do some film breakdown of the performance of the running backs from the Colts’ second preseason game against the Ravens. We’ll take a look at Christine Michael, Nyheim Hines, and Jordan Wilkins, and compare their performances and abilities as we prepare for the contest with the 49ers that will likely have a big impact on who gets the lion’s share of the carries once the regular season arrives. Jordan Wilkins – 6’1”, 216lbsJordan Wilkins is, in my opinion, the best back of these three. Given time to develop he might be the best running back on the roster. I’m not ready to write off Marlon Mack, because I believe that he offers a skill set Wilkins doesn’t, however, there are some undeniably great things Wilkins does that none of the others do. This play is a prime example of what there is to love about Wilkins’ ability. On this play the offensive line gets manhandled. Wilkins is hit 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage. His response is to stay balanced, get skinny, and take the ball for a 7-yard gain. We have watched so many backs over the years who have failed to be able to get yards when hit in the backfield that watching Wilkins consistently do this is refreshing.Here we see one of the keys to Wilkins’ success. After the handoff, he has just a moment’s hesitation before he hits the hole. In this case, that hesitation is enough time for Ryan Kelly to hand off his defender to Quenton Nelson and get his hands on the linebacker at the next level. Then it is just a matter of keeping low and keeping his legs churning, and Wilkins is pushing the pile for another 8 yards.Sometimes patience can be a problem, but here, it simply allows all the proper blocks to develop. It makes the difference between a two yard gain and an 8 yard gain. Maybe over time we will see issues arise because of this hesitation, but they aren’t showing up here.On second and short and in the red zone, Wilkins demonstrates the ability to forgo his patient style and hit the hole when it is there. He manages to get a decent gain as well as a first down, putting the team right on the doorstep of scoring.The biggest issue with backs who hesitate and wait for blocks to develop is that sometimes they do that to a fault. Trent Richardson probably considered himself patient Womens Customized Indianapolis Colts Jerseys , but mostly he just danced around in the backfield and then slammed into the pile. Here, Wilkins shows that when the pathway is clear, he can be decisive and go.Fumbles are always a concern, and it is definitely something Wilkins has to fix. Despite the outcome being a positive one, running backs coach Tom Rathman will have had some things to say about this play in the meeting room, and you could tell watching Wilkins’ face as he walked off the field that he was pretty irritated about it. This happens, especially with rookies, but it can’t become a trend. It won’t matter much if he gets ten yards every time he runs the ball if he can’t hold on to it. It doesn’t take long to lose the trust of the coaching staff and fumbling is a quick way to do it. Hopefully this is the worst we see of fumbles for Wilkins.This play represents some improvement over last week. Wilkins struggled in pass protection in his first game, and while this wasn’t great, it was better. Wilkins needs to pick up the defender coming off the edge to buy Brissett some time to step up in the pocket and throw. He is a bit out of position and gets beat, but quickly recovers, and along with a nice move by Brissett, is able to get a block that gets Brissett free. That’s better than Braden Smith can say, since he has to hold his man and gets flagged. Pass protection is something a lot of rookie running backs struggle with. It will be critical that Wilkins develops here, and already we are seeing him do better. With Rathman coaching him up, he should only get better.ConclusionBased on the film we have seen so far, Jordan Wilkins is the hands down best back of these three we have looked at.We have seen him repeat his solid performance two weeks in a row. The only thing left is to see it repeated against top competition. My takeaway from this exercise is that when Robert Turbin returns from suspension and Marlon Mack is healthy, this could be a very impressive running back group, and I expect these rookies to have prominent roles in it. The Colts come out of the bye week 3-5 and with a critical stretch of games ahead. All but one of their divisional games lie before them, and if they can get on a run, they have a chance in the division. However www.coltscheapshop.com , it won’t be easy to suddenly develop consistency where none has existed before. Offensively this team is getting healthy and starting to click. Defensively, though, they are struggling to find themselves and battle through injuries. Can they put together a streak and chip away at the early deficit they created for themselves? That remains to be seen. A lot depends on how the other teams in the AFC South do. With that in mind, let’s take a look around the division and see where the other teams in the South stand.Houston TexansPhoto by Bob Levey/Getty ImagesThe Houston Texans have an interesting thing going this season. They have only 1 game this year that was decided by more than 1 score. That was their blowout win over the Dolphins two weeks ago. Despite starting the season 0-3, they have now rattled off 6 consecutive wins, and they don’t have a game on their remaining schedule where they won’t be considered right in the mix, or outright favored. Deshaun Watson has looked great despite terrible offensive line play. J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney are leading a defense that is top ten in yards per game, points per game, and just outside the top ten in sacks. There are some reasons for concern, however. The Texans don’t have a great defensive backfield. Teams with talented quarterbacks (Colts) can exploit that weakness and move the ball well against them. They are also 5th in the league in sacks allowed, with 30. Despite their flaws, this team keeps winning games and finding ways to come out on the right side of things, even if it is via luck or poor coaching (Looking at you Vance Joseph).If the Texans keep playing as they have been, there just might not be anything the Colts or anyone else in the division can do to catch them. Tennessee TitansPhoto by Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesThe Titans snapped their 3 game skid with a win over the Cowboys on the road last night. At 4-4, they are definitely still in play for the division, but it won’t be an easy road to get there. They have been well coached for much of the season, but the team has not been able to consistently perform and injuries have been a factor for them. They have scored more than 20 points on just two occasions this season. In an offense-driven league, that is not sustainable for a winning team. The Titans have a good defense, but they’ll face the Patriots, Colts, and Texans over the next three weeks Indianapolis Colts T-Shirt , and all three of those teams will almost certainly score more than 20 points, which makes it pretty likely that this team will be staring at a 4-7 record unless they can find a way to get better and more consistent production from Derrick Henry, and keep Marcus Mariota healthy. On a related note: can Mariota feel his fingers yet?Jacksonville JaguarsPhoto by Sam Greenwood/Getty ImagesThe Jaguars have struggled mightily to replicate the kind of defensive dominance they showed last season. Their inability to put up points on offense has left them spiraling, dropping 5 of their last 6 games. Like the Titans, they have struggled to break that 20 point marker, which they’ve done just twice this season. They don’t have an impossible schedule ahead of them, but they face the Colts and Steelers in consecutive weeks, and both teams have proven offenses. With so little room for error in a tight division race, it will be tough for the Jaguars to get back into the race. However, they do have some encouraging things to note. Leonard Fournette, the team’s 2nd year star running back, is set to return to action after missing time with a hamstring injury. If the Jaguars can take pressure off Blake Bortles to win games for them, they can get going in the right direction again. Additionally, the Colts’ defense hasn’t exactly provided a tough challenge for quarterbacks, and they have been specifically generous to Bortles, allowing him to put up pretty solid numbers against them with regularity. ConclusionEssentially, the AFC South is still wide open. The Texans have been very fortunate to win several games they probably should have lost (or tied). A slip up by them could allow any team to capitalize and move up. The Colts have the ability to take things under their control by winning the next three weeks at home. If they are able to do that, they put themselves in prime position to make a run at the playoffs in the final weeks of the season. It won’t be easy, but this team might be getting things firing at just the right time to make it happen.