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Colts
Football is officially back, well sort of.
The Indianapolis Colts traveled to the New England Patriots for the Preseason Opener, and here are some of the key takeaways from their, 13-13 tie, during Week 1 of preseason:
Offense
- QB Anthony Richardson Sr.: Running with the starting ‘2nd-team offense,’ Richardson Sr. looked initially rusty, with an errant first throw and then an interception, that while it wasn’t the most accurate throw (or even the right decision in Richardson’s progressions of reads), should’ve been caught by wideout Coleman Owen. As the game progressed, Richardson Sr. looked more comfortable, and showcased what makes him such a special athlete at the position, the dynamic ability to run the football. There were still some erratic plays. For instance, the fumble where he should’ve just slid after picking up 10 yards early in the 2nd quarter. Despite critics clearly piling on early, Richardson settled in, finishing his night by completing 11 of 14 pass attempts for 145 total passing yards, 0 touchdowns, an interception, as well as rushed for 53 total yards and a touchdown on 6 carries. Richardson Sr. still needs to eliminate some of the outlier negative plays, but how he played on Thursday night would play for the Colts as their QB2.
- QB Riley Leonard: Like Richardson Sr., some grace should be given to the 2nd-year quarterback because not only was he likely shaking off some rust, but he was also playing with the third-team offense, which it’s not a secret that offensive line play collectively gets worse the further you dig deeper into the depth chart. Leonard’s night started out rough as he was sacked, only to then get intercepted—which didn’t appear to be a good decision or throw for that matter, with pass pressure again right in his face. He was 10 of 21 for 89 passing yards, an interception, and 12 rushing yards on 2 carries. He’ll be the starter next week.
- RB Seth McGowan: Perhaps the darkhorse for the RB2 job behind star workhorse Jonathan Taylor throughout training camp so far, Seth McGowan had a middling final line, rushing for 17 total rushing yards on 5 carries (3.4 ypc. avg.), but had some nice runs. Still, early in the second quarter, he should’ve had a rushing touchdown to boost that middling line, which inexplicably was ruled a fumble along the goal line without an official review. Ahhh… the joys of preseason football.
- TE Will Mallory: It’ll be interesting to see where Will Mallory fits in a crowded Colts tight end room, and with 2nd-year pro Tyler Warren entrenched as the team’s top receiving option at the position, whereas veteran Mo Alie-Cox and Drew Ogletree perform more of the ‘dirty work’ blocking in-line. Still, Mallory has been a nice productive receiving option throughout camp to-date and was the Colts leading receiver in this one with 6 receptions for 80 total receiving yards. He seemed to have nice chemistry with Richardson Sr. and had a handful of productive catches to add to his early preseason resume.
Defense
- LB Bryce Boettcher: The rookie 4th round pick looked fast and instinctive in this one starting with the second-team defense. He flew to the football, and as the season progresses, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make an instant impact and perhaps eventually push for a starting linebacker job with the defense. Boettcher looked like a breath of fresh air for a Colts defense that unfortunately, looked too old, slow, and unathletic at the 2nd-level last season. For what’s it’s worth, his running linebacker mate, Jaylon Carlies also made some nice plays for the defense out there.
- Edge Jaylahn Tuimoloau: The 2025 2nd round pick of the Colts has yet to really impress as a young pass rusher on the football field and didn’t really stand out in this one at all. It’s one preseason game, but Tuimoloau didn’t do himself any favors regarding potentially catching veteran Arden Key for a starting job—and more nights like this, could mean losing rotational time too.
- Edge George Gumbs Jr: Thought to be more of a developmental ‘Day 3’ pass rusher, the rookie has flashed at camp, and even made some impact plays in this one, including a sack in his preseason debut. He looks like a rotational edge early on that the Colts will definitely keep around on the 53-man.
- Mekhi Blackmon and Johnathan Edwards: It was a tough showing for these two at cornerback for the Colts (Edwards in particular!), who have to hope Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward stay healthy all season along the outside. It’s Week 1 of preseason, but these two will want to play a lot better than they showed in this one, and it would be hard to believe they can’t. Specifically, Edwards got torched on one Patriots offensive drive, eventually capped off by giving up the touchdown in coverage.
- AJ Haulcy: Relatively quiet preseason debut for the rook (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing at safety!), but he did have a solid tackle to keep the Patriots short of the sticks on 3rd down late in the first quarter to force 4th down. He finished with 3 tackles in this one.
- Hunter Wohler: Wohler and the Colts received another preseason injury scare, when he left the game early on due to concussion testing. However, Wohler would return and had 3 tackles (2 solo) in this one.
Special Teams
- Colts Kickers: Blake Grupe finished 0-1, but I wouldn’t read too much into his lone miss, as it was a 61-yard field goal attempt that was wide right into the closing seconds headed into halftime. He did make his only extra point attempt. To his credit, challenger Spencer Shrader was a perfect 2 for 2 in field goal attempts, including converting his own long attempt of 61 total yards.
