One The Colts’ running back room is up in the air with a hamstring injury sidelining Marlon Mack and Robert Turbin suffering an ankle injury in the first preseason game Youth Darius Leonard Jersey , they have a lot to sort out before the regular season begins. Running backs coach Tom Rathman talked as though any new signing would need to get up to speed and plan to play against the Ravens, then the Colts signed Branden Oliver. That means we should probably expect that he will play in week two of the preseason. Christine Michael and Nyheim Hines will likely see increased carries as well. However, Those aren’t the guys I’m looking forward to seeing. After breaking down Jordan Wilkins’ first game, I was even more impressed than I was with him in real time. I think he has shown some real potential, and that he will be provided the perfect opportunity to showcase it in the next couple weeks. Let’s go snap by snap and take a look at how Wilkins played in his Colts debut to see if we can spot any traits or trends that might give us a clue as to what to expect from this young back going forward.Wilkins made a heads up play right away when Phillip Walker fumbled the snap and what could have been a turnover resulted in a short gain. I’d personally rather see Wilkins fall on that ball because the risk of bobbling it and having a turnover are high, but he saved a turnover, so he definitely gets credit for being quick to get after the ball.On his next play Wilkins has very little to work with. Without the benefit of the coaches’ film for the preseason, you can see very little in the way of holes opening up, and you can be nearly certain that Marlon Mack last season was taking this ball to the outside. However, Wilkins sticks patiently, waiting for something to open up, and then slithers in between the left guard and tackle for a 6-yard gain. This isn’t a sexy play, but it is one that should be exciting to Colts fans who are used to seeing blocking like that yield a loss.Another run where the blocking is subpar, #94 Rasheem Green is in the backfield and in position to make a stop for a loss. Wilkins just plants his right foot and gets upfield quickly, keeping his legs churning and resulting in a 5-yard gain. I cannot stress enough that while these kinds of runs aren’t exactly what makes a highlight reel, they are demoralizing to defenses and create great opportunities for the play action. When you have a guy in the backfield to make a stop and still give up 5 yards, that takes a toll on the defensive morale.Here we see Wilkins making a play in the passing game. He releases into the flat as a checkdown option and Kaaya hits him with the pass. He makes a nice catch that looks like it will be stopped short of the first down line, but with a nifty spin he sheds his would-be tackler and buys himself about 5 more yards and most importantly a first down. If you’re noticing a trend here, you should be. Wilkins is put in a position to get little or no gain, and manages to turn it into something. If this trend continues against the first team, it will tell us more, but his ability to win one-on-one matchups and to make plays when there really aren’t any there could be a huge addition to this running game. In yet another example of making something out of nothing, we see another example of a defender getting virtually untouched into the backfield. He is basically arriving right as Wilkins gets the handoff. He plants his foot and gets around the edge before getting pushed out on the sideline. The play only results in 4 yards, but it could have and probably should have been a 4-yard loss. Hard not to like that turnaround.In his worst play of the game so far, Wilkins goes around the left end and meets an unblocked linebacker. That linebacker is unblocked because guard Nick Callender is supposed to pull from the right side and instead of blocking either the defensive lineman or the linebacker he opts to stand there confused http://www.authenticsindianapoliscolts.com/cheap-margus-hunt-jersey , blocking neither. Hitting either of those guys provides Wilkins with a chance at some sort of gain, but he went with none and the result was just a 1-yard gain. What is notable here, is that Wilkins is contacted 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. He keeps his legs churning and falls forward for a gain instead of a 2-yard loss.We won’t talk about the next drive, the one where the center/quarterback exchange resulted in three straight fumbles, the last of which resulted in a Seahawks touchdown. Let’s just say that Mark Glowinski should never be allowed to snap the ball again.Here is the first time we see Wilkins used in pass protection. It isn’t great. Kaaya fakes the toss to him, and Wilkins seems to get caught up in selling the play and then is a bit out of position to effectively cut the defender. This is a pretty minor mistake, and one you expect rookies to make. Hopefully running backs coach Tom Rathman will have that kind of stuff cleaned up by the time the regular season rolls around.Again, Wilkins finds himself met in the backfield on a running play. The poor blocking, and play in general of the 3rd team offensive line was hard to watch. There never is really a hole here for Wilkins to hit, but again he turns what might have been a 2-yard loss into a 2-yard gain. At some point, that kind of theme becomes pretty hard to ignore.This was arguably the most impressive run of the day for Wilkins. It starts out just about like every other run he had. A linebacker embarrasses Erik Swoope and ends up in the backfield, meeting Wilkins about 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd and 1. In a game that matters, this play is the difference between kneeling the game away and giving the ball back to the other team with two minutes to drive for a field goal to win. Wilkins proves too slippery to hold, pushing forward and getting three yards, which effectively ends the game. Frank Reich noticed the play too, and had this to say:ConclusionsIt would be foolish to look at just one game and draw too many conclusions. Wilkins was playing against defenders who might not make the Seahawks 53-man roster. The sample size was small. However, there are definitely some very good signs that indicate that Jordan Wilkins could be a major impact player for this team in the coming season. When a player repeatedly gets positive yards despite being met in the backfield, it is tough to shrug off their success completely as going against inferior talent. It is also hard to ignore that Wilkins won’t be running behind that line during the regular season. He’ll have Quenton Nelson, not Jeremy Vujnovich blocking for him. Ryan Kelly not Mark Glowinski. The most interesting thing is that because Marlon Mack is hurt, we are likely to see Wilkins get snaps with the first team in the next preseason game. If he can repeat his solid performance then, we’ll have a much better idea if this kid is going to be as special as I think he might be. The NFL is getting roughed up over its amplified enforcement of roughing-the-passer penalties that has generated head-scratching calls — and a season-ending injury to a defender trying to comply with the league's mandate not to land fully on the quarterback.In the offseason, NFL owners asked the league's competition committee to better protect their prized quarterbacks after Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr broke Packers star Aaron Rodgers' collarbone in 2017.So the league dusted off a rarely invoked 24-year-old rule that outlaws defenders from landing on the quarterback with more than half of their body weight."It helps me out because I'm a quarterback," said Deshaun Watson of the Texans. "But some of the calls are just kind of crazy."So inconsistent, in fact, that Packers linebacker Clay Matthews Matthias Farley Jersey , whose been whistled three times, suggested the league has gone soft. He argued that what constitutes a clean hit is anybody's guess nowadays.Defenders who are only allowed to target a strike zone basically consisting of the torso now must also concern themselves with breaking the quarterback's fall. Or at least doing a "gator roll" where they spin the QB as they tumble to the turf.The gator roll is "an unnatural move when you are trying to tackle a big guy" like Ben Roethlisberger or Andrew Luck, said Bengals defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. "They will shrug you off."Broncos linebacker Shane Ray said the gator roll isn't even an option much of the time."Sometimes you're at an awkward angle or you might be pushed into him," Ray said. "It's chaotic in there when you've got all these bodies flying around."Trying to keep the quarterback safe can also be dangerous to a defender, as it was Sunday when Dolphins DE William Hayes tore his right ACL trying to avoid landing on Raiders QB Derek Carr."They don't care about the rest of us getting hurt. Long as the QB is safe," fumed 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman when he retweeted a video clip of Hayes getting hurt ."Let's keep it honest, that rule is a tough rule to gauge," Dolphins defensive tackle Akeem Spence said. "Will is going to make a play, trying to sack the quarterback and then roll off at the end, not trying to put all of his weight and get a sack taken away. He ended up being hurt, and it sucks, because he's trying to protect the quarterback while still trying to make a play."There have been 34 roughing-the-passer calls so far. While that works out to just one flag for every 100 pass attempts, it represents a massive increase over previous years. There were 16 such penalties through three weeks last season and 20 the year before that.The lack of consistency and clarity is why "I don't like the rule," said Fox's Troy Aikman, whose Hall of Fame career was cut short by the battering he took during a 12-year stint as Cowboys quarterback."I think the league overreacted, and I think they will continue to look at it with the controversy that's been created," Aikman said, adding the strict interpretation of the 1995 rule "changes the outcome of games and ultimately will cost some coaches their jobs."There's only been a handful of flags, meanwhile, for players lowering their helmet, another point of emphasis, showing that players, coaches and officials have all adjusted accordingly to that rule change.Two people with knowledge of the agenda told The Associated Press that in the regularly scheduled competition committee conference call next week, the roughing-the-passer calls will be discussed. While neither anticipates a change in the rules themselves, it's possible a de-emphasizing of the "full weight" portion of the rule could occur.That point of emphasis this year has led to all kinds of contentious calls White Ryan Grant Jersey , none more prominent than Matthews' seemingly legal hit in Week 2 that wiped out a clinching interception of Kirk Cousins, who subsequently rallied the Vikings to a 29-29 tie."Roughing the Passer calls are absolutely out of control," Texans star defender J.J. Watt tweeted during the Steelers-Buccaneers Monday night game that featured four such flags.Although Matthews' hit on Cousins wasn't deemed a body weight violation, the league's emphasis on roughing calls clearly played a role in referee Tony Corrente ruling that when Matthews "hit the quarterback, he lifted him and drove him into the ground."Many critics didn't buy that explanation nor the justifications for the other calls."I love the NFL - but it's crazy the (numbers) being put up by QBs & WRs due to fact that D can't hit them anymore & can't lay hands on them downfield," tweeted Hall of Famer Kurt Warner , the architect of the Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf.""Everyone is running free the entire game (or it's a penalty)! Don't get me wrong I LOVE Offense, but better when it's a fair fight."The last two men who served as the NFL's head of officiating — Mike Pereira and Dan Blandino — said the league went too far in emphasizing roughing the quarterback and will back off soon because officials are throwing too many flags on plays where the QB isn't even in danger of getting hurt."I think we all have felt like it has gone a little too far," said Pereira, now an analyst for Fox Sports.Pereira said the NFL could tamp down the furor over the rule by having officials only throw flags when defenders lift the quarterback and drive him into the ground — although he disagrees that's what Matthews did to Cousins."We all are pretty much in agreement the Clay Matthews hit on Kirk Cousins really shouldn't be a foul, and I believe that's what the competition committee believes," Pereira said. "How literal do we need to interpret a rule?"Former NFL referee Terry McAulay, now an analyst for NBC, notes the focal point needs to be on whether the defender's hit included "unnecessary" actions. He refers to a graphic of the rule used on Sunday night's Patriots-Lions telecast."We've highlighted a couple of words. One is the word 'unnecessarily,' and it says a defender should not unnecessarily land on the quarterback," McAulay explained. "There is nothing about this play (by Matthews on Alex Smith) that is unnecessary. He's coming off a block and he makes a legal form tackle, and he just happens to end up on top of the quarterback."The graphic also notes "strive to wrap up.""That tells me that it needs to be avoidable. Well, there's nothing unavoidable about this play," McAulay said. "It just shouldn't be a foul. I understand technically that it is by rule."Broncos star Von Miller , who leads the league with 87 1-2 sacks since his rookie year in 2011, said he's not sure how he's supposed to tackle the quarterback anymore, so he'll just stick with his signature move."I like going for the ball," said Miller.Because going for the sack is becoming as perilous for the pass rusher as it is for the quarterback.