1. Jaimie Thomas: According to the latest
53-man roster update, posted
Wednesday by Eric, Thomas will be one of eight rookies to make the roster, with
second year man Steve Justice ending up as the odd man out.
Neither player
has seen a lot of time on the field thus far in the preseason, but Justice does
have a regular season start on his resume and, like Thomas, is still playing
under his rookie contract, so he is cheap labor for the Colts as well.
Justice can play guard and center, while Thomas can play guard and tackle, so
both players are versatile. Thomas is currently fighting for his roster
spot, basically head-to-head with Justice, so he needs to have a big game with a
signature play in order to knock Justice down the depth chart and off the
roster.
Thomas may still make the team without a solid performance on
Saturday, but a solid performance with a signature play will fortify his place
on the team.
2. Mike Tauiliili: He would appear to be the undrafted rookie
linebacker that does not make the roster, as Ramon Humber has been slightly
better and more effective, both on defense and special teams.
There are
only so many slots available and, historically, Indianapolis has not kept many
linebackers to run with the final 53. Injuries were an issue last year at
the position, so they may keep seven players instead of six, as Hartz suggests
in his article, but that still leaves Tauiliili on the wrong side of a talent
squeeze.
The battle for that last linebacker spot is not lost yet. Tauiliili and
Freddy Keiaho still have just as good a shot at securing the job as Humber.
It will be important for Tauiliili to outperform, outhustle, and outhit his
competition in order to make a favorable impression on the Indianapolis staff.
Even if he doesn't secure a spot on the depth chart with the Colts, the skills
he displays on Saturday and in the final preseason game will be noticed by other
teams in the league — other Cover 2 teams, such as the Lions, in particular.
3. Brett McDermott: Everyone else's eyes will be on the big name
rookie receiver Austin Collie, but McDermott is the player that needs to
separate himself from the pack.
He has blended in too much to this point
in training camp and the preseason and needs to register a breakout play.
Although it's highly unlikely that Curtis Painter and McDermott will be able to
hook up on a big play like Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne did against the
Eagles — realistically, would Painter and McDermott have been able to identify
the blown coverage, communicate with each other, and have Painter drop in a
perfectly thrown pass as seamlessly as Manning and Wayne did — McDermott needs
to be on the receiving end of a game-changing play similar to that one.
Even if he doesn't make a lasting impression on the coaches for the Colts, he
may make a strong impression on some NFL team. Fellow undrafted rookie
John Matthews currently has the inside track on a practice squad spot, but
McDermott can close the gap or even pull ahead with a good outing.
He'll
be fighting for his professional life on Saturday afternoon, which makes him far
more interesting to watch than Collie.
4. Adrian Grady: Grady still has a better-than-average chance of
making the roster, but lost some momentum against the Eagles. He needs to get back to
what made him successful in that first game — attacking the line of scrimmage,
penetrating into the backfield, making the tackle himself — in order to jump
out at the coaches and make the team.
Ironically, he lost some of his
momentum because he was tending to his assignment in the game against
Philadelphia by occupying blockers at the point of attack. However, the
linebackers made the plays in those situations, so Grady got only film credit,
not anything that would reflect on the stat sheet.
The Colts have a history of undrafted rookie defensive tackles making the
roster and making a significant contribution. They have too much depth and
talent at the position at this point for Grady to make as much of an impact as
Ed Johnson made in 2007 and Eric Foster made in 2008, but that doesn't mean he
can't make the roster with another performance like he had against Minnesota.
The good news for Grady — and the bad news for Indianapolis — is that someone
will pick him up if the Colts waive him. Saturday night is another
important step in determining whether or not they decide to cut him loose in
September.
5. Curtis Painter: For the past several seasons, Indianapolis has
kept only two quarterbacks on the roster and that has worked out just fine for
them. During the Jim Sorgi Era, that have yet to find a player that could
come in and replace him, so they've kept Sorgi on the roster.
Painter
represents the most formidable challenge Sorgi has faced in a long while, but he
still faces extremely long odds to make the roster. Chances are slim to
none, even if Sorgi sits out the game and Painter performs well, that Painter
will usurp Sorgi as Manning's caddy.
However, the Colts have also kept a quarterback on the practice squad in case
of emergency. In order for Painter to make the practice squad, he needs to
clear waivers. In order to clear waivers, the other 31 teams in the league
can't be interested in him.
If Painter performs well in whatever time he's
given against Detroit, he will make the decision on whether or not to allow him
to hit the open market that much tougher.
Right now, the instincts are there, the athleticism is there, and the numbers
are improving. In order to take the next step from intriguing to
uncuttable, Painter needs to improve upon his production, starting with
completion percentage and ending with a touchdown drive. If he can put
that together on Saturday, he'll have a very good chance of staying on the
roster.
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