his best football and making an ill teenager’s life a little brighter – The AthleticOver the past two years Indianapolis Colts T-Shirts , they have built a bond and it has continued over time with warm embraces and sideline conversations.The underappreciated season of the Colts' T.Y. HiltonT.Y. Hilton has 152 more receiving yards than anyone else in the NFL over the last six gamesESPN.com Names Andrew Luck, Darius Leonard Major 2018 NFL Award WinnersESPN's Bill Barnwell handed out his 2018 NFL Awards this week, naming Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck the Comeback Player of the Year and linebacker Darius Leonard his Defensive Rookie of the Year.Colts Notebook: Eric Ebron Returns To Practice | 1070 the FanOn Thursday afternoon, the Colts did get Eric Ebron back to practice. What were the other key injuries to watch from the second practice of the week?Colts’ Adam Vinatieri on verge of joining rare club of 46-year-old players | CBS 4 - Indianapolis News, Weather, Traffic and Sports | WTTVINDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – As the seasons have unfolded – one, two, three, 23 – and the dark in Adam Vinatieri’s beard has continued to lose its battle with the gray, the exclusive neighborhood has awaited his arrival. George Blanda. Morten Andersen. John Carney.Colts Notebook: Defense focusing on bruising Henry | Sports | heraldbulletin.comIt wasn't just a 99-yard run. That record-tying feat would have been plenty impressive on its own. It was also the way Derrick Henry did it.New guard Denzelle Good is channeling his anger and getting a chance with the Raiders – The AthleticDenzelle Good is a late addition to the Raiders offensive line, but he was a big part of some key plays last Sunday.COLTS MEDIA It’s no longer a secret that the Indianapolis Colts feel that they’ve hit the lottery with a couple of their recent draft picks. Rookies Darius Leonard and Quenton Nelson have been major contributors for the team in a season that was seen as just another step in the rebuild of the roster.To some extent that’s still true. However, neither Leonard or Nelson have played like rookies. Not even good rookies. They’ve been putting together some seriously impressive performances worthy of being very good NFL pros regardless of tenure.It’s not an ‘award’ but Jeff Legwold — senior writer for ESPN — has recognized the duo as being two of the top 10 rookies in the league to this point in the season. Sportscenter on FacebookLeonard has missed a game this season https://www.coltsfanshop.com/hats , but still leads the league in total tackles with 122, and has a nice little cushion over the next highest total of 106 tackles which is shared by, both, Miami’s Kiko Alonso and Green Bay’s Blake Martinez. Leonard is also tied for the team lead in sacks (6), has forced 4 fumbles (team high), and is third on the team in tackles for loss as well.Nelson has also taken the league by storm. As an interior lineman, Nelson has been a key cog in the Colts’ offensive line seeing a much improved season, and has undoubtedly assisted in Andrew Luck’s impressive season.Nelson was seen as a ‘can’t miss’ lineman in the 2018 NFL draft, but many struggled to give him the credit for being the right pick for Chris Ballard simply due to his positional value. Within Ballard’s vision of constructing this roster, though, it appears to have been a no-brainer on his part. Nelson has been very good in protection, and is often the first player down the field on running plays. His draw comes from his nature of being a bully in the trenches as well as his athletic ability to pull and open up running lanes on the perimeter. So far, Nelson has proved to be a fantastic pick for the second-year Colts’ GM.Leonard was seen in another light Indianapolis Colts Hoodie , though, after he was selected by the Colts. He wasn’t seen as a good pick — at all. He was often reviewed as one of the worst picks, not just by the Colts, but by any team in the entire draft. His being selected in the second round was the main reason for this blowback, but Leonard has more than quieted the critics with his all-around play in his rookie campaign.As Leonard sits at second on Legwold’s list, this is pretty par for the course among NFL analysts right now and he has a very legitimate possibility for taking home defensive rookie of the year honors. For Nelson, only Baker Mayfield, Saquon Barkley and Phillip Lindsay sit above him on this rookie list on the offensive side of the ball, thus, it appears equally possible for him to be heavily in the mix for the offensive rookie of the year award as well. Any way you choose to look at it, the Colts have a very productive rookie class this year, and Leonard and Nelson are the clear front-runners at positions in which the Colts desperately needed difference making players on their respective sides of the ball. It looks like Ballard may know what he’s doing.