The Indianapolis Colts wrap up their preseason with a road trip to Paul Brown Stadium on Thursday night, taking on the Cincinnati Bengals fresh off of Andrew Luck’s retirement.
While that will be one of the biggest storylines to monitor throughout the season, there are a few others to keep an eye on for the preseason finale on Thursday night.
Here are four storylines to watch in the Colts’ preseason finale:
QB playing time
We know now that Jacoby Brissett is firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback with Luck retiring. However, there is a bit of a quandary for the preseason finale. With Chad Kelly suspended the first two games of the season, Phillip Walker is expected to be the backup during that time.
For the preseason finale, Brissett will obviously sit. But with Walker as the backup, can the Colts risk throwing him out there during a meaningless preseason game and risk injury? Does this mean we could see Kelly for a full four quarters?
It will be interesting to see how the Colts go about the playing time on Thursday night because it presents a bit of a dilemma.
Any WRs make a late push for a roster spot?
Thursday night’s finale should be littered with playing time for the depth wide receivers and a competition that is still heated entering the roster cuts on Saturday. It still isn’t clear how many wide receivers will be kept on the roster, but the room is beginning to take shape.
The final one or two spots will be battled hard for as they have been all preseason. Deon Cain is a virtual lock, but he’s competing with Zach Pascal, Krishawn Hogan, Penny Hart and Marcus Johnson for the final one or two spots in the room.
The Colts have a good problem with their wide receiver depth, and a few names will wind up on the practice squad. But it will be interesting to see if anyone of the wideouts can convince Chris Ballard to keep six on the roster.
Separation in the CB room
The preseason finale will be an intriguing time to see the final reps of the cornerback room. For the last four players competing for a roster spot, there hasn’t been much separation made during the preseason games. Most have had their share of ups and downs without much clarity being brought to the competition.
There are four spots locked up in the room and if the Colts keep six cornerbacks, the final spots will likely be between Marvell Tell, Chris Milton, Nate Hairston and Jalen Collins.
Each player in that group has shown they have some type of upside in their game to deserve a roster spot. Can anyone separate themselves from the pack?
RB injuries shake up the room
While Marlon Mack is entrenched as the starter and Nyheim Hines is preparing to be the third-down back again, there are some big question marks facing the backfield behind them. Most notably, the injuries in the room have clouded the outlook for the unit in terms of roster spots.
In a vacuum, the final two running back spots would belong to Jordan Wilkins and Jonathan Williams. Both, however, are week to week with injuries and could wind up missing some of the regular season depending on their recovery time.
This will cause the Colts to make some interesting decisions when it comes to the roster cuts. Might they have to waive an injured running back in lieu keeping a healthy back simply to have bodies in the backfield?
