The number of changes on the Indianapolis Colts’ roster has been profound. Who’s in, who’s out, and what numbers do the new players have?
As the changes continue for the Indianapolis Colts, fans struggles to keep up. With each new player comes a new number on the field. General manager, Chris Ballard has become a household name in Indy as he continues to revamp a roster that could be described as lackluster over the last couple years. Ballard has made more changes than most anyone can follow. Who’s in, who’s out, who’s that guy over there?
In order for fans to learn the many new players on the roster, jersey numbers become an essential lifeline of recognition, if you will, with the recent signings of 18 undrafted free agents, eight draft picks, and 10 free agents. Or was it 11 free agents? Heck, maybe it was 12, 13 or 14.
Either way it is more than ever before in the history of the Indy-era Colts franchise. I would assume it is more than the Baltimore-era Colts as well, and likely more than nearly every era for every other team in NFL history. Please don’t fault me for lacking specifics, this is uncharted territory here, folks. I don’t know if any records have indeed been broken, but regardless, changes are plentiful and a broken record or two would not be surprising.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but my head is spun senseless trying to keep up with all of this. Mr. Ballard is certainly one busy man. In order to gather our thoughts and sort through the continuing chaos, I have compiled a list of new players and their new jersey numbers, followed by a list of players, scouts, and front office personnel who are no longer with the team.
If any changes have taken place since I began writing this piece, my apologies. Please keep in mind also, that the undrafted free agent list may include some players that have been rumored to have signed and may or may not have been verified by the team.
With nicknames seemingly a necessity for any franchise, I would like to officially christen the roster for the 2017 Indianapolis Colts “The Blue Who?”. Lets take a look:
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Free Agent Acquisitions:
- Kamar Aiken, WR, No. 1
- Johnathan Hankins, DT, No. 95
- Jon Bostic, ILB, No. 57
- Margus Hunt, DE, No. 94
- Brian Schwenke, C/G, No. 66
- Jabaal Sheard, LB, No. 93
- Barkevious Mingo, LB, No. 52
- Sean Spence, ILB, No. 55
- John Simon, OLB, No. 51
- Brandon Williams, TE, No. 85
- Al Woods, NT, No. 97
- Jeff Locke, P, No. 9
- Fahn Cooper, T, No. 64
- Rashaan Melvin, DB, No. 30
Draft Selections:
- Malik Hooker, S, No. 29
- Quincy Wilson, CB, No. 31
- Zach Banner, T, No. 72
- Tarell Basham, OLB, No. 58
- Grover Stewart, DT, TBD
- Nate Hairston, CB, TBD
- Anthony Walker Jr, LB, TBD
Undrafted Free Agents:
- Dalton Crossan, RB, No. 42
- Rigoberto Sanchez, P, No. 2
- Darrell Daniels, TE, No. 47
- Trey Griffey, WR, No. 5
- Phillip Walker, QB, No. 8
- Deyshawn Bond, G, No. 69
- Jerome Lane, WR, No. 3
- Chris Lyles, CB, No. 42
- Bug Howard, WR, TBD
- Colin Jeter, TE, No. 81
- Garrett Sickels, OLB, No. 49
- Christopher Muller, G, No. 76
- JoJo Natson, WR, TBD
- Reginald Porter, CB, TBD
- Jhaustin Thomas, DE, No. 69
- Jerry Ugokwe, T, No. 79
- Brandon Radcliff, RB, No. 38
- Mo Allie-Cox, TE, TBD
- Thomas Hennessy, OL/LS, No. 43
No longer with the Colts:
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- Jimmy Raye lll, VP of Football Operations
- T.J. McCready, Director of College Scouting
- Brandon Brown, scout
- Ahmad Russell, scout
- Pat McAfee, P
- Alex Bazzie, LB
- Joe Fortunato, LS
- Deon King, ILB
- Charles James, CB
- Stefan McClure, S
- Larry Scott, CB
- Devin Street, WR
- Matt Overton, LS
- Duke Williams, S
- D’Qwell Jackson, LB
- Dwayne Allen, T
- Patrick Robinson, CB
- Arthur Jones, DT
- Isiah Cage, G
- Hugh Thornton, G
- Jonotthan Harrison, OL
- Chris Carter, LB
- Josh McNary, LB
- Zach Kerr, DL
- Mike Adams, S
- Devon Bell, P
The list appears ever-growing as a massive overhaul continues. Many players on the list will not survive roster cuts and I expect more additions to come as players become available through cuts on other team’s rosters.
Time will tell how well this new group grows together and performs on the field, but on the electronic version of paper, the group is much younger and more athletic than it has been for several years.
Next: Ranking all 32 NFL uniforms for 2017 season
Excitement is brewing in Indianapolis. Although growing pains are inevitable, the “Blue Who?” may soon find themselves back in contention. I think they will, with a little bit of Andrew Luck, of course.