Colts position breakdown: It all starts with Vontae Davis

Buried beneath the headlines Ryan Grigson’s 2012 draft haul generated that fall — welcome to town, Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton and friends — was the best trade the Indianapolis Colts have made in a decade. Maybe longer.

It came months after the draft, amidst the doldrums of training camp, when Grigson acquired a lockdown cornerback who’d worn out his welcome with the Miami Dolphins. Three years later, consider what little the Colts had to give up to lure Vontae Davis to town: A second-round draft pick. That looks like chump change weighed against the value Davis has brought to their defense.

In the three seasons that have followed, Davis hasn’t just become one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. He’s become of its best players, period.

“The trade made me look at the NFL as an opportunity I had,” Davis confessed last season. “And I didn’t want to let that opportunity slip through my fingers. I had all the talent in the world to be the best player I could be, and I wanted to take ownership and make the most of my experience in the NFL. You only get one of them.”

If Davis’ career has undergone a renaissance in Indianapolis, last season was his Mona Lisa. Over the course of 1,038 snaps, Davis held opposing quarterbacks targeting his receiver to a passer rating of just 38.8. That’s better than Richard Sherman, better than Darrelle Revis. Davis didn’t allow a touchdown in coverage all season — and hasn’t going all the way back to Week 15 of the 2013 season.

That’s no touchdowns allowed in more than 1,320 snaps. That’s why the phrase “lockdown corner” was invented.

So superb was Davis’ coverage of Tennessee’s receivers in a Week 4 meeting that two Titans quarterbacks — Charlie Whitehurst and Zach Mettenberger — elected not to throw his way a single time. Not once. All afternoon. In 43 snaps.

“They went straight Richard Sherman on him,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said with a smile later that week.

In December, Davis earned his first Pro Bowl nod, deservedly, and became the first Colts cornerback to earn the distinction since 1968. It marked the culmination of his climb. From forgotten man in Miami — just three years prior, Davis was the third cornerback on the Dolphins’ depth chart — to one of the best of the league.

That trade is what saved his career.

He was at his best for the Colts in January, putting on a clinic in Indy’s divisional playoff upset over the Denver Broncos. Davis, a relentlessly physical corner who detests giving his receiver much in the way of breathing room, defended five passes that day, tied for the third-most in a playoff game dating back to 1994. What Davis proved that afternoon, facing off against future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and a slew of talented Denver receivers: When he’s at his best, he’s every bit as good as the Shermans and Revises of the world.

“His preparation is better than it’s ever been,” Pagano said midseason. “Practice habits, in the meeting room, walkthroughs, just the detail of his game. You see the results on Sunday because of what he’s doing throughout the course of the week and I think that’s where he’s taken his game.”

Lining up opposite Davis this fall will be Greg Toler, entering the last of the three-year deal he signed with the Colts in 2013. Toler often gets overshadowed by his more talented teammate, and is subsequently picked on by quarterbacks aiming to avoid Davis’ side of the field. It’s cost the Colts on more than one occasion: Elite offenses had their way with Toler far too often last season. He allowed 118 receiving yards and two touchdowns in that massacre in Pittsburgh in October, then yielded 81 yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys in December.

If that doesn’t change, offenses will continue ignoring Davis and looking Toler’s way.

There’s good news on the safety front: Pro Bowler Mike Adams is back. And LaRon Landry is not. Adams tied for the NFL lead with seven takeaways in 2014, the most of his 11 seasons in the league. He also had 93 tackles, another career-high. He was one of the Colts’ most pleasant surprises.

Landry never bought into the team concept in Indianapolis, instead alienating himself in the locker room and earning a four-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy. A solid tackler but a liability in coverage, his release was one of the easiest decisions Grigson made this past offseason.

New Colt Dwight Lowery, a former Atlanta Falcon, figures to slide into Landry’s vacant spot at free safety. He said this spring he is confident the concussion problem that has trailed him in recent seasons (he missed most of the 2013 campaign in Jacksonville with head trauma, then suffered another with the Falcons during training camp last August) is behind him. But it’s the NFL. There are no guarantees. Darius Butler, the Colts’ go-to cornerback in nickel situations, will need to be ready.

That’s one of the reasons the Colts added depth to their secondary in the draft, swiping corner D’Joun Smith out of Florida Atlantic with the first pick in the third round and Clayton Geathers, a safety out of Central Florida, in the fourth.

The Colts are high on both. Smith says he was thrown at just 11 times during his entire senior season.

“I can fit any scheme,” he boasted in May.

Watching Davis work everyday will be a good start.

Who’s back: CB Vontae Davis (1,038 snaps, 13 passes defended, 0 TDs allowed); CB Greg Toler (1,188 snaps, 10 passes defended, 9 TDs allowed); CB Darius Butler (758 snaps, 7 passes defended, 3 TDs allowed); S Mike Adams (1,246 snaps, 47 tackles, 5 INTs); S Colt Anderson (38 snaps, 2 tackles, 0 INT); S Dewey McDonald (8 snaps, 0 tackles, 0 INTs); CB Jalil Brown (6 snaps, 1 pass defended, 0 TDs allowed); Sheldon Price (spent most of 2014 season on Colts’ practice squad); S Winston Guy (spent most of 2014 season on the Colts’ practice squad).

Who’s new: S Dwight Lowery (1,050 snaps, 79 tackles, 1 INT); CB D’Joun Smith (rookie out Florida Atlantic); S Clayton Geathers (rookie out of Central Florida); CB Deveron Carr (last played for Tampa Bay in 2013); CB Chance Casey (61 snaps, 0 passes defended, 0 TDs allowed for Oakland last season); CB Donald Celiscar (rookie out of Western Michigan); S Robert Smith (rookie out of Clemson).

Who’s gone: S LaRon Landry (616 snaps, 48 tackles, 0 INTs); S Sergio Brown (26 tackles, 0 INTs); CB Loucheiz Purifoy (48 snaps, 1 pass defended, 1 TD allowed); CB Josh Gordy (292 snaps, 3 passes defended, 4 TDs allowed).

Projected starters: Davis at right cornerback, Toler at left cornerback, Adams at strong safety, Lowery at free safety.

Most to prove: Toler. He must perform better in big games, otherwise elite offenses will continue to target him.

X-factor: Geathers. Pagano raved about his versatility after seeing him in action this spring. He remains a player to keep an eye on during training camp.

Stat to chew on: 43.7. That’s the completion percentage for quarterbacks targeting Vontae Davis’ receiver in 2014, the lowest in the league for cornerbacks who saw more than 50 snaps.

Quotable:

"Under the right coach who is going to make my technique even better, I'll probably be the best cornerback to play the game. I'm not even trying to talk arrogant. My passion to be the greatest, my passion to win is (greater) than anybody because I hate losing more than people like to win. I like to compete." – third round pick D’Joun Smith

“He's been really impressive as far as picking things up… He's going to be one of those guys that in today's football you can play inside as a dime backer and get faster, get more speed on the field and match up with the tight ends that we've got to cover now." – Chuck Pagano on Clayton Geathers

Call Star reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134 and follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.