The Indianapolis Colts released their first unofficial depth chart of the preseason ahead of the Thursday night opener against the Buffalo Bills and while not too much stock should be put into it, there were some interesting notes to take away.
The term “unofficial” should be taken strongly. How this depth chart is organized has no bearing into how the roster or the actual depth chart will look like when roster cuts are made following the preseason.
Still, here are three takeaways from the first unofficial depth chart released by the Colts:
Josh Andrews listed as backup center
There is a minor battle brewing on the interior offensive line between Andrews and Evan Boehm—who served as the backup to starter Ryan Kelly during the 2018 season.
Andrews has had a strong start to training camp and seems to have an edge over Boehm as the backup center. Boehm was listed on the depth chart as the second-string left guard behind Quenton Nelson and the third-string center.
Though it might seem minute, the backup role behind Kelly is vital given the recent rash of injuries he’s worked through over the past two seasons.
Tyquan Lewis listed as starting nose tackle
In what was a bit of a surprise, the second-year lineman was listed as the starting nose tackle ahead of Margus Hunt and Grover Stewart. It isn’t clear why, but it isn’t likely that the Lewis is making the switch to the one-technique.
The unofficial depth charts are full of odd listings like this. Lewis is most likely going to get the majority of his work at the three-technique with Denico Autry as the starter and Jihad Ward behind both of them.
Matthew Adams listed as starting SAM linebacker
Though it is a position the Colts won’t use all that often, it does appear defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus will be looking to use the SAM backer position a little more now that he has some deeper options.
While rookie sixth-round pick E.J. Speed has seen some snaps at SAM during training camp recently, the second-year linebacker in Adams was listed as the starter at the position, followed by Zaire Franklin.
Adams is the likeliest candidate to be the starting SAM linebacker, which is a position that will see the field roughly 30% of the defensive snaps in a game.
