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Is Indy nine players away from being a Super Bowl contenders?

Hopefully you've had an opportunity to check out ESPN’s NFL Nation Super Bowl Project that was paired with Pro Football Focus. Based off snap count, PFF rated every significant player on each team -- minus Seattle and New England -- by four categories: Elite, Good, Average and Bad. From there, it used a formula to determine how many players each team is away reaching the Super Bowl.

The Colts finished 20th in the PFF rankings, as they’re nine players away from reaching the Super Bowl. AFC South counterpart Houston finished 15th in the rankings.

The Colts, according to PFF, have only two elite players. And neither player is named quarterback Andrew Luck. Cornerback Vontae Davis and receiver T.Y. Hilton are the only two elite players.

And that’s where I have my first problem with PFF’s rating system.

Luck should be in the elite category. He covers up a lot, and I mean a lot, of the Colts’ flaws. He led the NFL in touchdown passes with 40 and was third in passing yards with 4,761 yards last season. The Colts wouldn't be a playoff team without Luck.

The other issue I had with the ratings is that PFF has running back Trent Richardson listed as an average player. I think it’s pretty obvious that he belongs in the bad category.

Take a look and let me know if you think the Colts are really nine players away from being a Super Bowl contender.