Chuck Pagano wasn’t set up for success as Indianapolis Colts head coach. Sure, he had Andrew Luck as his quarterback. But asking him to replicate the success he had in Baltimore with the collection of talent provided to him by then-general manager Ryan Grison was a fool’s errand.



Grigson dedicated just one first-round pick to defense over the first five years of his tenure: defensive end Bjoern Werner in 2013, who was ineffective and retired in 2017. But Pagano did what he could with a one-sided roster. Over his first three years, the Colts went 33-15 in the regular season, earning playoff berths each year. They progressed from wild-card knockout, to divisional round knockout before losing to the Patriots in the 2014 AFC Championship game that spawned the “Deflategate” saga.



In 2015, the Colts’ luck ran out, literally and figuratively. The hits Luck took in the pocket started adding up. From his shoulder to his kidney and abdominal...