Tag: Kenyan Drake

Instant analysis of Colts’ preseason win over Eagles

Here’s our instant analysis from the Colts’ preseason win over the Eagles.

The Indianapolis Colts wrapped their preseason Thursday night with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

The team scored on five of its 10 drives, creating 393 yards of total offense, 127 yards rushing on the ground, and a 42% third-down efficiency rate.

Behind the strength of their ground game and contributions from all three quarterbacks, the Colts secured a 27-13 win behind their scoring in all four quarters.

Here’s the instant analysis from the preseason Week 3 win:

5 observations from Day 10 of Colts training camp

Our own Meghan Hall gives her five observations from Day 10 of Colts training camp.

As the first game of the preseason approaches, the Indianapolis Colts are making final tweaks to how they will show up at Orchard Park on Saturday when they visit the Buffalo Bills.

That included a lighter training camp practice on Thursday, which was their 10th practice since the opening of camp. While we conducted a quick roundup of what went down, we’ll dive a bit deeper into the day’s practice.

Here are five observations from Day 10 of Colts training camp:

Colts vs. Bills: 5 things to know entering preseason Week 1

Here are five things to know as the Colts enter their first preseason game against the Bills.

The Indianapolis Colts travel Saturday to Orchard Park, NY, for their first action in the Shane Steichen era. The Buffalo Bills host the Colts at Highmark Stadium for a preseason Week 1 game.

With so many new faces and schemes still being installed, there is a lot to work out, but perhaps the most exciting part: Colts football is back.

Here are the five things to know for Week 1 of the preseason:

Colts officially sign RB Kenyan Drake, place WR Ethan Fernea on IR

The Colts officially signed RB Kenyan Drake and placed WR Ethan Fernea on the season-ending injured reserve list.

The Indianapolis Colts officially signed running back Kenyan Drake and placed wide receiver Ethan Fernea on the season-ending injured reserve list, the team announced Saturday.

Drake’s agency announced the signing Friday afternoon, adding some veteran depth to the backfield after Zack Moss underwent surgery to repair a broken arm while Jonathan Taylor remains on the PUP list.

Drake is likely to get plenty of run during the preseason while the Colts continue to ride the hot hands at training camp with Evan Hull, Deon Jackson, Jake Funk and Zavier Scott.

The Fernea injury is a bit of a surprise considering it wasn’t reported before this news release. However, the injury is apparently significant enough to the point where Fernea will miss the entire season. He, along with rookie offensive tackle Jake Witt, were both placed on the season-ending list before Saturday night’s training camp practice.

Colts to sign RB Kenyan Drake

The Colts are adding Kenyan Drake to the backfield.

The Indianapolis Colts are expected to sign free-agent running back Kenyan Drake, per his agent Friday.

Drake was among the trio of veterans to work out for the Colts this week after Zack Moss suffered a broken arm. Moss underwent surgery to fix the injury and is expected to miss roughly six weeks.

Drake, 29, was a third-round pick with the Miami Dolphins in the 2016 NFL draft out of Alabama. At 6-foot-1 and 211 pounds, Drake ran a 4.45 in the 40-yard dash.

Despite never truly having a backfield to himself, Drake has been efficient in his work. He’s averaged 4.5 yards per carry throughout his career, and he’s most recently coming off a season with the Baltimore Ravens in which he recorded 109 carries for 482 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Drake also has experience as a pass-catcher, having recorded at least 30 receptions in four of his eight seasons, despite working mostly in a complementary role.

It will be interesting to see if Drake plays well enough during the preseason to make a difficult decision for the Colts in terms of whether to keep Moss on the roster.

With Jonathan Taylor’s situation still up in the air, Drake is likely going to compete for first-team reps until/if the star back returns to practice.

Former Alabama RB Kenyan Drake signs with Indianapolis Colts

After spending quite some time as a free agent, Kenyan Drake is back on a squad just in time for the 2023 season.

The Indianapolis Colts worked out running back Kenyan Drake on Thursday. The former Alabama running back was signed just a day by the Colts on Friday.

Drake began his professional career with the Miami Dolphins in 2016 after being selected in the third round of the NFL draft by the franchise.

In four seasons with the Dolphins organization, Drake had 333 carries for 1,532 yards and nine touchdowns. Drake’s most memorable moment as a Dolphin came in 2018 when he was able to help the Dolphins defeat the Patriots. Drake pulled off a miraculous 69-yard touchdown reception on a hook-and-ladder that will forever be known as the ‘Miami Miracle.’

In 2019, Drake was traded to the Arizona Cardinals for a conditional sixth-round pick. Through two seasons with the franchise, Drake had 362 carries for 1,598 yards and 18 touchdowns.

After the conclusion of the 2020 season, Drake signed a two-year deal worth $14.5-million dollars to play for the Las Vegas Raiders. During the first year of his contract, Drake suffered a broken ankle causing him to miss the remainder of the season. Soon after, he was released.

In 2022, Drake was signed by the Baltimore Ravens. He served as the team’s starting running back after a series of injuries occurred in the Ravens’ running back room. He finished the season with 63 carries for 254 yards and two touchdowns.

Drake will spend the ninth season of his NFL career with the Colts. Interestingly enough, he could play a large role in the backfield. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor recently requested a trade and backup Zack Moss will be out for a minimum of four to six weeks due to injury. It will be interesting to see how things play out in Indianapolis for both Drake and Taylor.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow former Alabama football players in the NFL.

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Indianapolis Colts workout former Alabama running back Kenyan Drake

Former Alabama RB Kenyan Drake worked out by the Indianapolis Colts.

The last week has been an absolute nightmare in the Indianapolis Colts running back room. For starters, 2021 First-team All-Pro RB Jonathan Taylor and the Colts are not on great terms which led to Taylor requesting a trade. Then to make matters worse, backup RB, Zack Moss, suffered a broken arm that will sideline him for a minimum of four to six weeks.

As a result, the Colts are now in the market to find a back to potentially carry the workload as the situation plays out. Field Yates of ESPN reported that the Colts worked out former Alabama RB Kenyan Drake, as well as Benny Snell and Devine Ozigbo.

Drake has spent the past three seasons with three different franchises in the Cardinals, Raiders and Ravens. Despite being a temporary back for those three clubs, Drake still played in 38 games, 20 of which he started. He posted 2,149 all-purpose yards during that time and found the end zone 17 times.

At this point in his career, Drake is 29 years old and likely isn’t viewed as any franchise’s back of the future, but for a team like Indianapolis, he would be the perfect guy to bridge the gap while Taylor’s contract situation is figured out. The Colts will also have a rookie QB in 2023 and will do everything possible to make his life as easy as possible.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Drake and other former Alabama players in the NFL as the 2023 season approaches.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

List of notable free agents after first week of training camp

There are some big-name options still available in free agency.

It’s usually slim pickings on the free agent market around this time of the year, but surprisingly, there are still several big-name players out there that remain unsigned.

Most of the notable talent is at the running back position with at least two or three potential NFL starters on the list. The Patriots could certainly use help at that position with Ty Montgomery going down with an injury.

They have mostly leaned on Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong Jr. as their top options behind Rhamondre Stevenson. Harris looks the most improved of the two, and they could make the decision to stick with him in the end.

However, they have visited with a few players on this list, including Ezekiel Elliott, Darrell Henderson and Leonard Fournette.

They’ve also reportedly considered a future visit with Dalvin Cook.

But there are more than just running backs on this list of NFL talent. Let’s take a look at some of the more notable unsigned free agents.

Colts held tryout for trio of RBs

The Colts held a workout for a trio of RBs on Wednesday.

The Indianapolis Colts held a tryout for three free-agent running backs Wednesday: Kenyan Drake, Benny Snell and Devine Ozigbo.

After Zack Moss suffered a broken arm and with Jonathan Taylor currently on the PUP list, the Colts have been leaning on a backfield committee.

Considering Moss is expected to be out at least until Week 1 of the regular season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Colts add some veteran depth to the backfield.

Drake has always been an intriguing running back considering his 4.45 speed, while Snell has provided depth in the past with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ozigbo has intriguing size at 225 pounds but has averaged 2.1 yards per carry for his career.

We’ll see if anything comes of these workouts, but the Colts are likely to continue tweaking the backfield.

Kenyan Drake was one of Cardinals’ most productive RBs

His per-game average both in his entire time and in 2019 were among the best in franchise history.

The Arizona Cardinals had running back Kenyan Drake for only a season and a half. In that time, he was one of the franchise’s most productive backs historically.

His per-game average for rushing yards of 69.5 is higher than any other player (minimum 20 games) other than the franchise’s all-time rushing leader, Ottis Anderson, who averaged 80.8 yards per game in his time with the Cardinals.

He averaged 80.4 yards per game in eight games in 2019. That is the sixth-highest per-game average in a single season in franchise history. Of the other five high averages, Anderson owns four of them. The other is John David Crow, who averaged 89.3 yards per game in 1960.

His time was relatively short in Arizona, but it was productive.

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