National Football League

Colts 53-man projection: What does Jonathan Taylor situation mean for RB room?

Published Aug. 24, 2023 6:20 p.m. ET

The Colts are a team in rebuild mode with a young quarterback in Anthony Richardson expected to need multiple seasons to develop, plus a new coach in Shane Steichen and a new scheme around the hopeful franchise signal-caller. Ultimately, Indianapolis' season will be judged by the No. 4 overall pick's progress.

But the Colts have a number of intriguing roster battles entering the upcoming season that will shape the franchise, too, including at receiver, linebacker and in the secondary. Jonathan Taylor's contract standoff with the team also looms over Indianapolis, with big ramifications for the running back room.

Here's a crack at the Colts' initial 53-man roster, which must be set by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday:

Quarterback (3): Anthony Richardson, Gardner Minshew, Sam Ehlinger

The Colts should be incentivized to keep their third quarterback in Ehlinger, with Richardson being a rookie and the new emergency quarterback rule approved by owners in the spring. Clubs can now dress a third signal-caller without using an active roster spot on game days.

Running back (4): Zack Moss, Deon Jackson, Evan Hull, Jake Funk

Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (1): Jonathan Taylor

If Taylor isn't traded, he's expected to be carried into the regular season on the PUP list, where he wouldn't count against the 53-man roster and would have to miss the first four weeks of the season.

Between Taylor's uncertain future in Indianapolis and Moss' broken arm — suffered at the beginning of camp and expected to keep him sidelined until around the start of the season — the Colts could prioritize the waiver wire for back-end depth. They signed veteran Kenyan Drake earlier this month, but he's had a quiet showing with the team, which would likely prefer more special teams value to round out the room anyway.

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Wide receiver (6): Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, Isaiah McKenzie, James Washington, Mike Strachan

Even if Downs, a third-round rookie, beats out McKenzie as the starting slot receiver, the latter should still play a key role on the team. He's been the primary punt and kick returner throughout training camp.

Tight end (5): Kylen Granson, Mo Alie-Cox, Jelani Woods, Drew Ogletree, Will Mallory

There are a lot of bodies here, but the Colts have invested heavily in this position. They've drafted four tight ends since 2021 (Granson, Woods, Ogletree, Mallory).

Granson is TE1 and Alie-Cox is probably the best blocker (particularly in the pass game), but Woods — who has missed most of training camp with a hamstring issue — has the most big-play potential of the group. He had 25 receptions for 312 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie last season.

Offensive line (9): Bernhard Raimann, Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, Braden Smith, Blake Freeland, Danny Pinter, Dan Skipper, Carter O'Donnell

With the same starting five as a year ago, the Colts' offensive line faces pressure to show significant improvement from 2022, when Indianapolis gave up the second-most sacks in the league (60). There's a lot riding on Raimann, a 2022 third-round pick, to make strides in Year 2 as the left tackle. He added 15 pounds this offseason and has shown growth in training camp.

The Colts need stronger interior offensive-line depth, so the waiver wire could be a place to find some bodies.

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Defensive line (9): DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo, Samson Ebukam, Taven Bryan, Adetomiwa Abedawore, Tyquan Lewis, Eric Johnson

Indianapolis has plenty of depth behind DeForest Buckner at defensive tackle (Bryan, Abedawore, Johnson), which will allow him to stay fresher this season.

It wouldn't be surprising to see the Colts keep 10 defensive linemen. General manager Chris Ballard is known to invest heavily upfront.

Linebacker (4): Shaquille Leonard, Zaire Franklin, E.J. Speed, Grant Stuard

After missing 14 games last season between a concussion, broken nose and back issues (which led to surgery), Leonard has been steadily regaining confidence throughout the summer, only to recently experience another setback. The former All-Pro suffered a concussion in joint practices with the Bears last week.

Speed, who signed a two-year, $8 million extension this offseason, is slated to take on a larger role with Bobby Okereke departing in free agency for the Giants.

The Colts could look to the waiver wire for more back-end depth.

Secondary (10): Kenny Moore II, Rodney Thomas II, Julian Blackmon, JuJu Brents, Nick Cross, Darrell Baker Jr. Dallis Flowers, Jaylon Jones, Trevor Denbow, Darius Rush

Expect there to be plenty of ups and downs with three rookie cornerbacks in the fold (Brents, Rush, Jones).

Specialists (3): Matt Gay (PK), Rigoberto Sanchez (P), Luke Rhodes (LS)

Nothing notable here.

Gay missed a 28-yard field goal in the preseason opener against the Bills, but he'll be given the benefit of the doubt after signing a four-year $22.5 million deal, including $13 million guaranteed, with Indianapolis in free agency.

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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