Safety Bob Sanders has been a fixture on the Indianapolis Colts defense for a few years now. While Sanders has consistently played at a high level (when on the field) he’s missed a lot of time in his career to injury.

Today, Sanders was officially placed on injured reserve effectively ending his season. This now means that Sanders will only participate in two games for this entire season.

Including the rest of this season, Sanders has now missed more games (played in 47 missed 48) in his career than he has played in the regular season.

For all of Sanders injuries it is undeniable (before this season) that he was the Colts heart and soul in their defense. Especially when it came to the defenses’ ability to stuff the run.

Is It Over?

In a column from IndyStar.com, it is suggested that this season could in fact be Sanders final year with the Colts.

Part of the reason for letting Sanders go is money and another reason is because of the play of safety Melvin Bullitt.

Not only has Bullitt played solid this season, but he has shown an ability to stay healthy. Beyond that Sanders will be turning 29 years old next season and Bullitt will only be 25.

If this is the end for Sanders as a Colt I will always remember how he came back from missing almost the entire 2006 season and help the Colts win a championship. Until Sanders came back and played at the end of that season the team couldn’t stop the run if their lives depended on it.

It is reasonable to say that if Sanders wasn’t able to return that season Peyton Manning would still be looking for his first title.

Sanders greatest personal achievement came a season later when the league named him the defensive player of the year in 2007.

Colts Secondary is Hurting

Since Sanders had not played much this season his loss may not be felt as bad in the defense’s performance going forward.

However, one has to wonder just how many secondary players can this team lose before it becomes a big problem. This week corner back Marlin Jackson was also placed on IR because he tore an acl in practice.

Beyond Sanders and Jackson’s season ending injuries the team will also be without starting corner Kelvin Hayden for another month because of a knee injury.

With all these injuries mounting one has to be concerned about his defense’s ability to stop the pass.

Fantasy Football Breakdown

If the secondary should suffer than look for the Colts to engage in more shootouts when they play good offenses. Injuries to the Colts secondary make apposing passing games more attractive to fantasy football players.

On the other side of the coin Manning and the boys may have to start throwing the football more often to win games. Because of the issues in the secondary Manning could post some big numbers in the next few weeks.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com