Veterans and rookies for the Indianapolis Colts will report for training camp on July 24th, with the first practice taking place on July 25th.
Between now and then I will be previewing the Colts’ 91-man roster with a look back at each player’s 2023 season, along with what’s ahead for 2024.
I’ll be going through the Colts’ roster alphabetically, so up next is running back Evan Hull. To stay up to date with our other previews, be sure to head over to Colts Wire.
2023 Season Review
Hull was a fifth-round pick by the Colts in 2023. Unfortunately, his rookie season ended in Week 1 after only eight snaps and sustaining a knee injury.
“It was a root tear, so it was a little different than your typical tear in the body, which would be more of a 6-8-week type of thing that we see typically,” Hull said via The Athletic. “So, that was an entirely different process because they needed to basically repair the meniscus and put it back to its root, so you need to stay off (your knee) a lot longer.”
Hull was a big part of the Northwestern offense during his final two seasons, impacting both the running and passing games. For his career on the ground, Hull averaged 5.0 yards per rush with 18 touchdowns. During his final two seasons, he would be targeted 110 times as a pass catcher, averaging an impressive 9.0 yards per reception.
Due to Jonathan Taylor being on the PUP list and Zack Moss sustaining an arm injury that kept him sidelined during a portion of training camp and the first regular season game, Hull got plenty of early opportunities last summer to showcase his ability in the more traditional running back role.
“We saw quite a bit of him at Northwestern do some certain things and we’ve put him in a few positions here that maybe we didn’t see quite as much on his college tape,” said Jim Bob Cooter last August. “I would say he’s pleasantly surprised us.
“… Typically rookie running backs sort of struggle the most in protection because in college football you just don’t see a lot of that. You don’t see them pick up a lot of blitzes – they don’t have to. So, for him to come in and really do more or less a really nice job in protection. He’s been a bright spot at this point sort of in training camp and in the preseason.”
2024 Season Preview
Fully healthy, Hull will find himself in the mix this summer for the Colts’ backup running back role behind Taylor. He’ll be competing with Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson for that playing time.
After missing just about all of his rookie season, Hull will have to play catchup, to a degree, missing out on valuable practice and playing time. However, even if he doesn’t win the backup job, his ability in pass protection and as a pass catcher could help him carve out a role on third downs or obvious passing situations.
“We look forward to him sort of continuing to get better, which he does have to do,” said Cooter during 2023 training camp. “He’s a rookie, he’s a young guy. He’s learning a ton whether it’s just defensive looks or how they’re playing certain blocks in the run game – how he reads those types of things.
“Certain blitzes, how they fit certain blitzes and how his pickup fits within everyone else – our offensive line’s scheme. Those are the things that he’s learning, but if he does make that first mistake, he usually doesn’t make the second. That’s something that we like.”
Overall, this is a fairly inexperienced group behind Taylor, but the Colts could have made an outside addition to the running back room this offseason and chose not to–other than signing Trent Pennix as a UDFA–which tells us they are bullish on the group they already have.
In the early going of offseason programs, ESPN’s Stephen Holder picked Sermon as one player who stood out during those minicamp practices, but the running back position won’t begin to figure itself out until the pads come on.
Each of these players, Hull, Sermon, and Goodson, having a full offseason in Shane Steichen’s offense will hopefully provide a jumping off point for them, helping to elevate what should be one of the more intriguing competitions the Colts will have this summer.
“Those guys, there’s some great opportunities ahead of those guys to get carries, to get playing time, to earn that game action,” Cooter said.
“We think we know those guys pretty well, but it’s our second year going here and different guys arrived at different times last year, so we’re kind of excited to get a full camp with these guys and find out more about them and obviously complement JT, who’s going to be so huge for us this year.”