The Indianapolis Colts are making the decision to hold running backs Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines out of the preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night.
While we knew Taylor wasn’t going to participate in the preseason games, Hines has been the next man up when the starters have been on the field. Given that this is the final dress rehearsal, the starters will play roughly the first half of the game.
But head coach Frank Reich made the decision to hold Hines out of the preseason finale in order to get a better look at the running back depth.
“I’m going to hold out Nyheim for a variety of reasons. We have some good running backs,” Reich told reporters Thursday. “We want to get a look at all of these guys. We want to make sure these young guys get enough carries. We all know where Nyheim is and what role he’s going to play.”
The Colts are keeping at least three running backs on the active roster, and there’s a good chance they wind up keeping four. Entering the preseason finale, Phillip Lindsay currently leads the way for the RB3 role.
However, the Colts like to use their depth running backs on special teams and since Lindsay hasn’t spent much time in that phase of the game during his career, they might need to keep a fourth on the roster.
That’s where the final three running backs come into play after undrafted rookie C.J. Verdell was waived during the second round of roster cuts.
The battle for the final roster spot in the backfield is between Ty’Son Williams, Deon Jackson and undrafted rookie D’vonte Price.
Williams seems to have the slight lead while Jackson filled the role of RB3 during the second half of the 2021 season. Price has an intriguing skill set but would be considered more undersized than the other two.
The backfield depth is one of the spots that truly has an open competition going into the preseason finale so the Colts should get a good look at the depth here on Saturday night.
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