The Colts' biggest weakness this season is an interesting, albeit sad, battle. 

On one hand, you have an abysmal offensive line in a system that was based around deep passing. That's not a good match. 

On the other hand, you had a thin, injury prone secondary in a defensive system that likes to bring the blitz. Also not a good match. 

The combination of the two helped kill the Colts at crucial times throughout the season, none bigger than the team's season ending loss in Baltimore. The offensive line allowed Luck to be pressured all game, negating the deep ball, and the defensive backs allowed Joe Flacco and Anquan Boldin to connect on rainbow throw after rainbow throw in the second half, allowing the Ravens to get two second half touchdowns. If not for a couple of Ray Rice fumbles, it could have been even worse. 

Today, I want to talk abou the latter as the Colts look towards 2013. Specifically, Cassius Vaughn and Darius Butler, two players who started for the Colts, despite having no business being starters, and who are free agents this year. Butler is an unrestricted FA, while Vaughn is restricted. But who is better for the Colts as they look forward? 

According to souces "with knowledge of the situation," Pep Hamilton has agreed to become the Indianapolis Colts' next offensive coordinator. Hamilton had been rumored to be interviewing for the University of Oregon head coaching position Friday as well, but is now expected to sign a contract with Indianapolis on Saturday. 

Hamilton is currently the "Andrew Luck Director of Offense" at Stanford University, known as offensive coordinator to most fans. The position was renamed after Luck's senior season in 2011 when an anonymous donor requested a formal name change of the title. Speaking of Luck, the Colts' rookie quarterback is excited to reunite with his former coach, and while I had no qualms about Luck picking up a new playbook, the transition will be much easier with Hamilton than it would have been with another guy. 

Last week I took a look at the receivers closely evaluating free agent Donnie Avery. Maybe I was harsh but I suggested it's time for the Colts to look for a better option at wideout.

This week we tackle a tougher scenario: Dammit Donald.

Donald Brown, much maligned by media and fans, has one year left on his rookie deal. While Vick Ballard emerged as a standout rookie talent and long-term prospect Brown's future became increasingly cloudy as his injury history piled up and he missed six games in 2012. Brown is slotted to make $1.7M in 2013--he'll count $2.2M against the cap with his bonus. With an abundance of cap space that kind of hit is considerably less valuable than a roster spot.

When the Colts' signed Samson Satele this past offseason, most fans looked at him with cautious hope. Satele was lauded by people like Pro Football Focus, who called him inconsistent, but capable of huge things, especially in the run game. PFF even labeled him the Colts' "Secret Superstar" heading into the 2012 season. The only concern with Satele was that he could be inconsistent. 

Well, Satele was inconsistent in the run game, having a few good games in run blockign, along with a few bad. But Satele wasn't inconsistent at all in pass protection, just bad. 

But, do the Colts have another option, or are they stuck with Satele?

Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, left, celebrates with offensive coordinator Bruce Arians after their 28-16 win over the Houston Texans in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Colts fans knew this was coming.  Some saw it looming on the horizon by week 10 of the regular season.  Bruce Arians, 9-3 when he filled in for his friend, Chuck Pagano, is now a head coach.  The Cardinals are getting a very likeable coach with great motivational and leadership skills. 

Indianapolis, however, is left with another vacancy to fill.  With a young offense lead by a second year franchise quarterback, the wrong choice could be detrimental to the growth of this team.  So, who is out there?  Who is available? 

Update: According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, Stanford Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach  Pep  Hamilton is likely the current frontrunner for the position.  I will add Hamilton to the rest of the options below, a s he is the first confirmed candidate mentioned.  So, while I spent time looking at coaches who either had connections to the current staff or were mentioned by a respected football reporter, the Colts have had their eye on someone with connections to Andrew Luck.  Was this Grigson's plan all along?  We could find out very soon.  More on Hamilton below.

Join Colts Authority Radio as Scott Kacsmar and Kyle Rodriguez discuss the divisional week of the playoffs and preview the conference championship games.. 

Taking a leaf out of my colleague Todd Smith's book - after his breakdown of whether the Colts should keep Donnie Avery - it's time to consider free agency. In this case I'll alternate the focus to the defense, and specifically pending free agent cornerback Jerraud Powers. The Colts woes in the defensive backfield have been well-documented by all and sundry throughout this season, and thus the question becomes - is Powers worthy of retention?

Firstly, it makes sense to consider the defensive backfield as we look towards free agency and the draft. We have an entrenched quality safety in Antoine Bethea who is more favoured towards run defense than pass coverage. At cornerback, Vontae Davis can be considered at least a #2 with the size and speed to be coached into a #1, while the rest of the backfield is a complete wreck.  Joe Lefeged has shown some aptitude on special teams and appears to be a better fit for the defense than Tom Zbikowski - though I question whether a Bethea-Lefeged tandem can work, given the lack of skills in coverage.

Unfortunately for Jerraud, he doesn't possess the strict cover skills we're looking for on the back end at this point in time. A proficient tackler when healthy, Jerraud was a good fit for the Cover 2 under Dungy and Caldwell, where his size wasn't an obstacle to potential success. With the hiring of Pagano & Manusky, the defense has changed completely - blitz happy and man-heavy on the outside, the aggressive 3-4 hybrid is the very antithesis of the Cover 2.

As such, I feel obliged to detail the following, for it sticks too prominently in my mind to ignore when considering Powers and whether he fits in the new system we're looking to institute on defense. It's from the Colts-Bengals game in the Year of the PaintOr, and it's AJ Green against Powers in man coverage - a rare prospect considering the Colts were still co-ordinated by Coyer and co.

Last week's 24-9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens ended a fairy tale season for the Colts, but as the playoff door closes, the offseason door opens.

The Colts are set to embark on one of the most fascinating offseason periods in recent franchise history. With Ryan Grigson at the helm, the Colts are bound to be aggressive in their spending, which is something former GM Bill Polian never really believed in.

When trying to identify potential free agency targets, it's always interesting to pinpoint players that have ties with the organization. During this “new era” for the Colts, they've already shown a willingness to sign players that have been 'their guys'.

For instance, when Chuck Pagano was made head coach, he brought Tom Zbikowski and Cory Redding with him from Baltimore (not in a Mayflower truck, though), whilst we've also seen Trai Essex, Mewelde Moore and Weslye Saunders join the team having worked with offensive co-ordinator Bruce Arians in Pittsburgh.

So with a rumoured $47m of cap space to spend this offseason, it's likely that we'll see some more players enter the building that have previous connections with our coaches.

Last offseason, new general manager Ryan Grigson used free agency to fill holes in the Colts’ roster. Grigson filled some of the starting spots with players with previous experiences with people on the Colts’ staff. Grigson signed players like Tom Zbikowski, Mike McGlynn, and Cory Redding to short, vet contracts to play for the Colts, filling voids with vets for the 2012 season.

One such veteran was the Philadelphia Eagles’ second round pick in 2006: offensive tackle Winston Justice.

Justice started for the Eagles in 2009 and 2010 (played 16 and 13 games), but was benched for Todd Herremans in 2011, and struggled with knee injuries throughout the season. Grigson, a former personnel man for Philadelphia, thought Justice could regain his poise in 2012 as a starter at right tackle, and traded for Justice (swapping 6^th round picks in the 2012 draft).

Now, with the 2012 season finished with the Colts’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens, it’s time to review anybody and everybody. We looked at impending free agent Donnie Avery last week, now we move to Winston Justice.

He did something, and that’s enough for me.

A year ago at this time, I was clinging to my last hope that the Colts would retain the services of Peyton Manning, trade the #1 overall pick, and load up the team with #18 at the helm.  I thought about it daily… hourly… and cried on air like a little girl when it didn’t happen.  You see, while I’ve been a Colts fan since the days of Jeff George and Jim Harbaugh, thankyouverymuch, I became a rabid fan because of Manning.  I invested a lot of emotional capital in the goofy, “Aw, shucks” quarterback, grew to love the way he guided the offense, suffered when he was disappointed after a loss, was quick to point out how good HE was despite not having a full complement of top-notch, healthy players.  I joined the crazy world of blogging and podcasting because of Peyton, purchased on-line sports content because of Peyton, memorized weekly NFL schedules because of Peyton, donned a blue #18 jersey to watch every single Colts game because of Peyton.

So when it was clear that Andrew Luck – another #12?  from my cross-town rival STANFORD?!?! – would be the next signal caller for the Colts, I was certainly intrigued.  But there was no way I was putting Peyton in an “Archive” folder on my computer.  As it turns out, Peyton has been my laptop background and screen saver since early 2007.  Every day for almost 6 years, I’ve opened my computer to see Peyton in a Colts uniform, eyes downfield, about to pat the ball in anticipation of a throw whose outcome has long been decided and which I don’t even remember.  When the screen saver spins up, it cycles through a number of football pictures, a third of which are of Peyton, another 20% or so of Reggie Wayne, and the rest various pictures of Colts (and some Cal) players in the midst of making great plays in memorable games.  (I admit that for the most part I choose not to keep pictures from games which the Colts lost, but every once in a while I can’t pass up a good one.)