Just as they’ve done every week this season, the Indianapolis Colts have released their unofficial depth chart for their Week 16 matchup against Tennessee.
Now of course, the key word here is “unofficial,” so what is listed below may not quite align with the playing time we see on Sundays, and that will be noted in the takeaways section.
So, with that in mind, let’s dive into the Colts’ Week 16 unofficial depth chart and what stands out from it.
Colts offense
- WR: Michael Pittman Jr., Ashton Dulin
- LT: Bernhard Raimann, Blake Freeland
- LG: Quenton Nelson, Danny Pinter OR Tanor Bortolini
- C: Tanor Bortolini, Danny Pinter
- RG: Dalton Tucker, Atonio Mafi
- RT: Matt Goncalves
- TE: Mo Alie-Cox, Drew Ogletree
- TE: Kylen Granson, Will Mallory
- WR: Josh Downs, Anthony Gould
- WR: Alec Pierce OR Adonai Mitchell
- QB: Anthony Richardson, Joe Flacco, Sam Ehlinger
- RB: Jonathan Taylor, Trey Sermon, Tyler Goodson
Quick Takeaways
– The starting X receiver spot is listed as Pierce or Mitchell, but that hasn’t been the case this season. Pierce has played 680 snaps and Mitchell has played 305, and when the receiver room is healthy, often ranks fifth at the position on the team in snaps. Now, worth watching, is that Pierce is in concussion protocol, leaving his status for Sunday up in the air, which would mean a larger role for Mitchell, especially if Ashton Dulin is out again as well.
– With Ryan Kelly on IR yet, Tanor Borotolini is listed as the starting center, even though it was Danny Pinter who got the start against Denver. My guess is that after the offensive line had a strong performance in the run game against New England, the Colts opted to keep that continuity. I do wonder if they go back to Bortolini this week.
– I’m sure you noticed that Mark Glowinski isn’t even listed and that’s because he’s still on the practice squad. Each practice squad player can be elevated to the gameday roster up to three times before the team then has to add them to the 53-man. Glowinski has been elevated twice so far, and I’m going to again guess that the Colts will use all three elevations before having to sign him to the active roster which would require them to then cut a player to make room.
Colts defense
- DE: Kwity Paye, Laiatu Latu
- DT: DeForest Buckner, Taven Bryan, Adetomiwa Adebawore
- NT: Grover Stewart, Raekwon Davis
- DE: Dayo Odeyingbo, Tyquan Lewis, Isaiah Land
- WLB: E.J. Speed
- MLB: Zaire Franklin, Segun Olubi
- SAM: Grant Stuard, Cameron McGrone
- CB: Samuel Womack III, David Long Jr.
- FS: Julian Blackmon, Rodney Thomas II, Darren Hall
- SS: Nick Cross, Ronnie Harrison Jr.
- N: Kenny Moore II, Chris Lammons
- CB: Jaylon Jones
Quick Takeaways
– I’ve mentioned this before, but I thought Raekwon Davis was going to play a larger role when he was signed as a free agent this offseason. For a team that needed improved run defense depth–and still do–I thought he would see more snaps as the third member of that defensive tackle rotation, but he’s played fewer than one-third of the defensive snaps this season and that includes taking on a larger role for a chunk of the season when DeForest Buckner was on IR.
– This depth chart showcases how thing the Colts are at boundary cornerback with David Long Jr. as the only backup for Sam Womack or Jaylon Jones. While Kenny Moore could move outside if needed, obviously that’s not ideal. Potentially boosting that depth could be the return of JuJu Brents who was designated to return from IR on Wednesday.
Special teams
- P: Rigoberto Sanchez
- PK: Matt Gay
- H: Rigoberto Sanchez
- LS: Luke Rhodes
- KR: Tyler Goodson, Anthony Gould, Ashton Dulin
- PR: Josh Downs, Anthony Gould
Quick takeaways
– We saw last Sunday with how effective the Denver punt return unit was how much this special teams unit missed Ashton Dulin as a flier on the coverage team.
– Anthony Gould looked much more decisive in his decision-making as a punter returner than what he did early on in the year.