Prior to Sunday’s Week 13 matchup with the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts announced that they signed offensive lineman Atonio Mafi from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
In order to make room for this addition, the team released linebacker Liam Anderson.
In the previous two games, Mafi had been a practice squad elevation to the gameday roster against the Jets and Lions, although he did not see any offensive snaps.
Following roster cutdowns, Mafi was released by the Patriots and signed to the Indianapolis practice squad where he had spent the 2024 season up to this point.
Mafi if a former fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft out of UCLA by New England. As a rookie last season, he had a fairly big role, playing 458 regular season snaps over 12 games, mostly at left guard.
According to Pro Football Focus, Mafi allowed 32 pressures and five sacks. He was released by New England during roster cutdowns and then signed to the Indianapolis practice squad.
If the Colts are looking to make a change at right guard with Dalton Tucker struggling, Mafi or Mark Glowinski who was elevated from the practice squad are the two options.
With Tanor Bortolini ruled out and Ryan Kelly still on injured reserve, the Colts find themselves a bit thing along the interior offensive line, hence the move to add Mafi to the roster.
Anderson, meanwhile, was signed from the Colts’ practice squad to the 53-man roster prior to Week 11. He did not see any defensive snaps over those two games but was a key special teams contributor playing 27 snaps.
This decision to add Mafi and release Anderson was likely in part driven by the roster numbers at each position group. As mentioned, the Colts are thin along the interior offensive line, while Liam was one of six linebackers before being released.
