​Indianapolis Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward Sr. (7) reacts to a penalty Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, during a game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. | Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images There is no perfect team in the NFL. No matter how good a team is, it will always have holes. Fielding a 53-man roster that is competent across the board is tough, and that’s assuming everyone stays healthy. The Indianapolis Colts have holes and are leaving themselves open to some major issues as they choose to cross their fingers and hope everything works out. Let’s start with Daniel Jones. He isn’t healthy, might miss the start of the season, and even when he is at his best, is he good enough? The Colts are expecting him to play like he did to start last year, but that is a major roll of the dice. He isn’t the only player coming back from injury. DeForest Buckner missed time and isn’t getting any younger. At cornerback, the Colts are banking on Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward. After what we saw last year, the over/under on them appearing in games together might be eight if we’re lucky. Oh, and how about Alec Pierce? What is his ankle looking like?Those are some premier players at premier positions. What is the depth behind them? Just the thought probably makes you shiver. The roster has depth, but not at every position. If Jones doesn’t perform or Pierce misses time, the drop-off is severe. This isn’t to say other teams survive losing their best players, but some, like Jones, are overly susceptible to missing time. Ward is one concussion away from calling it quits, and Buckner sounds like he is year-to-year anyway. Another season of injuries could be enough to push him into retirement.The Colts are banking a lot of their hopes on players who either missed extensive time during the season and/or will miss parts of the offseason. That is playing with fire. While the core group of players is essential to all teams, walking into the season with your core on crutches or recovering from so much missed time makes for an uncomfortable gamble.