The Indianapolis Colts’ evaluation phase is officially complete, with preseason and training camp behind them.
The next stage before fully focusing on the regular season is to reduce the roster from 91 players to 53. This process must be completed across the league by 4:00 PM ET on Tuesday, August 27th.
As is the case every year, the majority of roster positions have already been filled. However, how the GM Chris Ballard chooses to handle a few of the more difficult decisions that have to made will end up being what rounds out this roster.
Here is a look at what those five tough decisions are and what the Colts have to weigh in making those choices.
How many quarterbacks?
We know Anthony Richardson is the starter, and Joe Flacco is the backup. The question is, how many quarterbacks will the Colts keep? Sam Ehlinger made the team as the third quarterback in Shane Steichen’s first season. However, with the current emergency quarterback policy, which allows that player to come from the practice squad, the requirement for a third quarterback on the 53-man roster has decreased. That slot on the roster is now available for other purposes.
Will the Colts keep 4 RBs?
With Jonathan Taylor receiving the most of the duty and Trey Sermon serving as the backup running back, there may not be many opportunities for a third, much alone fourth, running back. If the Colts are unclear about Sermon’s availability for Week 1, keeping an extra back on the roster would make sense. This decision-making process also takes into account the Colts’ confidence that a cut player will not be claimed by another team, allowing the Colts to re-sign that player to the practice squad. Going big on running back then means going light in another position.
Dalton Tucker or Danny Pinter?
With only one roster place available on the offensive line, Dalton Tucker or Danny Pinter will most likely be the choice. In most cases, teams will choose to roster the younger, more promising player (Tucker) over the known fringe roster veteran (Pinter). However, we do not know Tanor Bortolini’s availability for Week 1, and without him, the Colts will require a backup center, which Pinter can fill. Perhaps the Colts could go a little heavy on the offensive line and keep 10 players, but that would mean rostering only three running backs.
Experience or upside at cornerback?
The Colts’ final two cornerback roster spots, assuming they keep six, will be decided by Darrell Baker vs. Jaylin Simpson and Chris Lammons vs. Micah Abraham. As previously stated, in these back-end roster decisions, upside and potential almost always take precedence. And that is what I expect to happen here. However, I wanted to bring it up since this is a position group that, even at the entry level, has some significant questions, which may provide additional value for having some experienced depth on the roster.
How many defensive tackles?
The Colts will most likely have DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Raekwon Davis, and Adetomiwa Adebawore on their roster at defensive tackle. Keeping only four is a touch light, which could allow Taven Bryan or Jonah Laulu to fill in as the fifth member of that position group. However, since Tyquan Lewis and Dayo Odeyingbo can also kick inside, the Colts may not need to roster five defensive tackles as many other teams do.
