27-year old Antoine Bethea is one of the better free safeties in the NFL.  He played in all 16 games for the Colts last year and he had 139 tackles, 7 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 2 tackles for a loss.  Bethea has now played in 91 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 596 tackles, 12 interceptions, 34 passes defensed, 9 tackles for a loss, 1/2 a sack, 5 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.  24-year old Joe Lefeged will be Bethea’s top backup in 2012.  He played in all 16 games as a rookie for the Colts last year and he had 34 tackles, 4 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  24-year old Mike Newton is #3 in line at FS for the Colts.  He played in 12 games as a rookie for the Colts last year and he had 6 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.

Strong safety is going to have competition in training camp.  27-year old Tom Zbikowski has the edge coming into training camp as he played for new head coach Chuck Pagano in Baltimore.  Tom Zbikowski played in 14 games for the Ravens last year and he had 23 tackles and 1 sack.  He has now played in 53 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 88 tackles, 2 interceptions, 4 passes defensed, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 sack.  25-year old David Caldwell is going to challenge Zbikowski for the starting gig at SS in 2012.  Caldwell played in all 16 games for the Colts last year and he had 67 tackles, 4 passes defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SAFETIES IN 2012:  B

The Colts are going really young at CB this year.  24-year old Jerraud Powers is going to start at one corner spot, but the other side will be an open competition in training camp.  Powers played in 12 games for the Colts last year and he had 51 tackles, 2 interceptions (one returned for a TD), 6 passes defensed and 4 tackles for a loss.  Powers has now played in 34 games in his first three years with the Colts and he has 170 tackles, 25 passes defensed, 5 interceptions (one returned for a TD), 10 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.  25-year old Kevin Thomas will try to win the other starting job in training camp.  He played in 9 games for the Colts as a rookie last year and he had 33 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.  23-year old Chris Tucker will also be in on the competition.  Rucker played in 15 games for the Colts as a rookie last year and he has 36 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  24-year old Cassius Vaughn is more likely to help the Colts on special teams than he is on defense.  Vaughn played in 9 games for the Broncos last year and he had 20 tackles, 1 interception (he returned it for a TD), 4 passes defensed, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 22 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has 28 tackles, 1 interception (it was returned for a TD), 4 passes defensed, 3 fumble recoveries and 1 tackle for a loss.  25-year old Justin King has the most experience of the corners on the Colts’ roster.  He played in 12 games for the Rams last year and he had 58 tackles, 1 interception, 5 passes defensed, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 3 tackles for a loss.  King has now played in 35 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 113 tackles, 9 passes defensed, 1 interception, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CORNERBACKS IN 2012:  D+

The Colts have signed 29-year old RB Mewelde Moore.  Moore played in 12 games for the Steelers last year in which he carried the ball 22 times for 157 yards (7.1 ypc).  He also caught 11 passes for 104 yards (9.5 avg) with 1 TD grab last season.  Moore has now played in 113 games in his first 8 years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 494 times for 2,247 yards (4.5 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He has also caught 214 passes for 1,875 yards (8.8 avg) with 7 TD grabs in his career so far.  This was an excellent signing for the Colts as Moore is a solid all around back.

The Colts are going to have the same kicker (Adam Vinatieri) and punter (Pat McAfee) in 2012.  But, they are going to have an all out battle royal for the punt and kickoff return jobs in training camp.  39-year old Adam Vinatieri has been a money kicker so far in his long NFL career.  He played in all 16 games for the Colts last year and he made 23 of 27 field goals (85.2%).  He also connected on all 24 of his extra points as he scored 93 points for the Colts last year.  Vinatieri has now played in 83 games in his first six years with the Colts and he has made 124 of 146 field goals (84.9%).  He has also made 222 of 225 extra points for the Colts as he has scored 594 points for them.  Vinatieri has now played in 243 games in his first 16 years in the NFL and he has connected on 387 of 467 (82.9%) field goals.  He also also made 589 of 599 extra points as he has now scored 1,750 points in his NFL career.  He likely has a couple of more really solid years left in that leg of his.  25-year old punter Pat McAfee played in all 16 games for the Colts last year and he punted the ball 88 times for 4,098 yards (46.6 avg).  He had only 3 touchbacks (3.4%) last year and he pinned the opposition inside their own 20 yard line 21 times (23.9%) last year.  McAfee has now played in 47 games in his first three years with the Colts and he has punted the ball 217 times for 9,666 yards (44.5 avg).  He has also had 16 touchbacks (7.4%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 63 times (29%) so far in his NFL career.

It’s going to be a free for all in training camp for the return man jobs.  The Colts dealt for 24-year old CB Cassius Vaughn and I think he will be the leader for kickoff returns heading into camp.  He returned 7 kickoffs for 210 yards (30.0 avg) for the Broncos last year.  He has now returned 9 kickoffs for 335 yards (37.2 avg) with 1 TD return so far in his NFL career.  29-year old WR Quan Cosby will also have a decent shot of winning the job.  He returned 17 kickoffs for 457 yards (26.9 avg) last year for the Broncos.  He has now returned 33 kickoffs for 740 yards (22.4 avg) so far in his NFL career.  25-year old RB Deji Karim handled kickoffs for the rival Jaguars last year.  He returned 27 kickoffs for 652 yards (24.1 avg) for the Jaguars last year.  He has now returned 77 kickoffs for 1,900 yards (24.7 avg) so far in his NFL career.  Rookie 3rd round pick T.Y. Hilton (a WR out of Florida International) has speed to burn.  He returned 105 kickoffs for 2,855 yards (27.2 avg) with 4 TD returns in college.  He has the speed and the moves to go the distance any time his hands touch the football.  24-year old safety Joe Legefed is a big time longshot here.  He returned 31 kickoffs for 578 yards (18.6 avg) last year for the Colts.

The Colts drafted two rookies (T.Y. Hilton and LaVon Brazill) who are outstanding punt return men.  Hilton returned 49 punts for 614 yards (12.5 avg) with 2 TD returns at Florida International.  LaVon Brazill (WR) was a sixth round pick out of Ohio U.  Brazill returned 62 punts for 668 yards (10.8 avg) with 4 TD returns in college.  29-year old WR Quan Cosby will also try to win the punt return job.  He returned 27 punts for 269 yards (10.0 avg) for the Broncos last year.  He has returned 97 punts for 968 yards (10.0 avg) so far in his NFL career.  Safety Joe Legefed is a big time longshot here too.  He returned 9 punts for only 42 yards (4.7 avg) for the Colts last year.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SPECIAL TEAMS IN 2012:  B

The Colts have signed 25-year old CB Justin King.  King played in 12 games for the Rams last year and he had 58 tackles, 5 passes defensed, 1 interception, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 3 tackles for a loss.  King has now played in 35 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 113 tackles, 9 passes defensed, 1 interception, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.    King will help the Colts with the depth in the secondary in 2012.