The Indianapolis Colts are entering the final week of the preseason coming off a 24-17 win over the Chicago Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium.
With that victory behind us, the Colts will turn their attention to joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday ahead of the preseason finale, which takes place Thursday night.
There are still a lot of question marks when it comes to projecting the Colts’ roster. Will Jonathan Taylor still be on the team? How will injuries impact decisions?
We got a bit more information over the weekend from the preseason win, but there’s still a lot of educated guessing taking place.
Here’s our latest 53-man roster projection for the Colts following the second preseason game:
Quarterback (2)
| Pos. | First | Second |
| QB | Anthony Richardson | Gardner Minshew |
Analysis: We’ll keep it status quo here in line with our previous projection. Ehlinger easily could make the roster if the Colts wanted to ensure they have three on the active roster in order to use the emergency quarterback rule. But they take the chance of waiving him here until we know more about how many quarterbacks they will keep.
Notable Cuts: Sam Ehlinger
Running Back (4)
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| RB | Jonathan Taylor | Zack Moss | Deon Jackson | Evan Hull |
Analysis: Whether Jonathan Taylor will be traded remains to be seen, but he doesn’t have any leverage for a holdout. Then, the question becomes whether his ankle injury is truly going to keep him off the field. We don’t know that situation behind closed doors so we’ll assume he’s going to play if activated. What the Colts do with Zack Moss, who is recovering from a broken arm, will be interesting. He’s expected to be ready around Week 1 so we’ll keep him on the active roster here. Deon Jackson is having the best preseason among the available backs, which isn’t saying much, while rookie Evan Hull is a promising asset who could see an expanding role as the season goes on.
Notable Cuts: Jake Funk, Kenyan Drake
Wide Receiver (5)
| Pos. | First | Second |
| X-WR | Michael Pittman Jr. | Mike Strachan |
| Slot | Josh Downs | Isaiah McKenzie |
| Z-WR | Alec Pierce |
Analysis: The season-ending injury to Ashton Dulin is a big blow to the room, and it complicates the projection. The Colts could keep up to six wide receivers while the competition will be raging for the fourth and fifth spots in the room. Right now, we’ll project the Colts keep five wideouts with Mike Strachan leading the way. Other names to keep in mind will be James Washington, Juwann Winfree and Breshad Perriman.
Notable Cuts: Breshad Perriman, Juwann Winfree
Tight End (5)
| Pos. | First | Second | Third |
| Y-TE | Mo Alie-Cox | Jelani Woods | |
| F-TE | Kylen Granson | Drew Ogletree | Will Mallory |
Analysis: What the Colts will do with the extra roster spot due to Ashton Dulin’s injury will be interesting. In this projection, we’re adding a fifth tight end to the room in the form of rookie Will Mallory. Entering the final preseason game, Kylen Granson has been the only consistently healthy option. Mo Alie-Cox and Jelani Woods haven’t played in a preseason game while Drew Ogletree and Mallory have seen time in one game each.
Notable Cuts: Pharoah Brown
Offensive Line (9)
| Pos. | First | Second |
| LT | Bernhard Raimann | Blake Freeland |
| LG | Quenton Nelson | Carter O’Donnell |
| C | Ryan Kelly | Danny Pinter |
| RG | Will Fries | Arlington Hambright |
| RT | Braden Smith |
Analysis: It’s still a bit baffling the Colts haven’t added more competition to the offensive line, especially at the depth spots. Rookie Blake Freeland will be the swing tackle while Arlington Hambright has seen work at both left tackle and right guard. Carter O’Donnell has guard/tackle flexibility, but he’s never played in a regular-season game. Still, the Colts need as much depth as they can get.
Notable Cuts: Wesley French, Emil Ekiyor
Defensive Line (9)
| Pos. | First | Second | Third |
| DE | Samson Ebukam | Dayo Odeyingbo | |
| 3-Tech | DeForest Buckner | Taven Bryan | Adetomiwa Adebawore |
| 1-Tech | Grover Stewart | McTelvin Agim | |
| DE | Kwity Paye | Tyquan Lewis |
Analysis: The starters and most of the depth pieces are set in this room, but there’s still strong competition going on. We’re opting to keep Adetomiwa Adebawore over players like Titus Leo and Khalid Kareem because his upside is higher, but don’t discount those two edge rushers. They’ve come on strong as the preseason has progressed.
Notable Cuts: Titus Leo, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Khalid Kareem
Linebacker (5)
| Pos. | First | Second |
| WILL | Shaquille Leonard | Grant Stuard |
| MIKE | Zaire Franklin | |
| SAM | E.J. Speed | JoJo Domann |
Analysis: For the first time in our projections, we’re opting to keep only five linebackers. It’s a bit risky from a special teams standpoint, but Shaquille Leonard appears to be healthy enough to the point where the Colts can use that extra spot for depth elsewhere. If they keep six, that spot would belong to Segun Olubi.
Notable Cuts: Segun Olubi, Donavan Mutin, Liam Anderson
Cornerback (6)
| Pos. | First | Second | Third |
| CB | Darrell Baker Jr. | Julius Brents | Darius Rush |
| Slot | Kenny Moore II | Chris Lammons* | |
| CB | Dallis Flowers | Jaylon Jones |
Analysis: It will be interesting to see how the Colts go about the cornerback room. Kenny Moore II, Dallis Flowers, and Darrell Baker Jr., appear locked in as the starters. The trio of rookies have done enough to secure their spots. Chris Lammons has an asterisk next to his name because he will start the season on the suspended list, meaning he won’t count against the roster. If the Colts didn’t want to keep him around, it’s likely they would have cut him when that news came out.
Notable Cuts: Tony Brown, Isaac Taylor-Stuart, Kevin Toliver II
Safety (5)
| Pos. | First | Second | Third |
| SS | Julian Blackmon | Nick Cross | |
| FS | Rodney Thomas II | Trevor Denbow | Henry Black |
Analysis: We’re opting to go with five safeties here to help with the special teams depth. Nick Cross has the flexibility to work at both safety spots, and he’s having a strong preseason. Henry Black gets the nod as the final safety due to his work on special teams.
Notable Cuts: Marcel Dabo, Ronnie Harrison, Teez Tabor
Specialists (3)
| Pos. | Name |
| P | Rigoberto Sanchez |
| K | Matt Gay |
| LS | Luke Rhodes |
Analysis: Nothing to really see here.
