Colts announce initial 53 man roster

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

https://www.colts.com/news/colts-ann...026-nfl-season



The roster breaks down as follows:

QUARTERBACKS (3): Daniel Jones, Riley Leonard, Anthony Richardson Sr.

RUNNING BACKS (3): DJ Giddens, Seth McGowan, Jonathan Taylor

WIDE RECEIVERS (6): Keenan Allen, Deion Burks, Josh Downs, Ashton Dulin, Alec Pierce, Laquon Treadwell

TIGHT ENDS (3): Mo Alie-Cox, Drew Ogletree, Tyler Warren

OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Tanor Bortolini, Jalen Farmer, Matt Goncalves, Quenton Nelson, Bernhard Raimann, Jalen Travis, Luke Tenuta, Dalton Tucker, Sedrick Van Pran-Granger

DEFENSIVE LINE (11): Adetomiwa Adebawore, DeForest Buckner, Micheal Clemons, Caden Curry, George Gumbs Jr., Arden Key, Laiatu Latu, Tim Smith, Grover Stewart, Jerry Tillery, Jaylahn Tuimoloau

LINEBACKERS (6): Austin Ajiake, CJ Allen, Bryce Boettcher, Jaylon Carlies, Tahj Chambers, Akeem Davis-Gaither

CORNERBACKS (5): Johnathan Edwards, Sauce Gardner, Jaylon Jones, Justin Walley, Charvarius Ward Sr.

SAFETIES (4): Cam Bynum, AJ Haulcy, Jonathan Owens, Hunter Wohler

SPECIAL TEAMS (3): Spencer Shrader (K), Rigoberto Sanchez (P), Luke Rhodes (LS)

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

The Colts claimed DB Kapena Gushiken off waivers from the Eagles and released OT Luke Tenuta. Tenuta was later signed back to the Colts practice squad.

https://www.colts.com/news/colts-cla...-t-luke-tenuta

Gushiken, 5-9, 189 pounds, participated in the Eagles' 2026 offseason program and training camp after originally signing with Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 2026. Collegiately, he played in 59 career games (28 starts) at Mississippi (2025), Washington State (2023-24) and Saddleback College (2021-22) and totaled 181 tackles (110 solo), 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, 34 passes defensed, five interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. In 2025, Gushiken saw action in 15 games (12 starts) at Mississippi and compiled 55 tackles (38 solo), half a tackle for loss, six passes defensed, one interception and one fumble recovery. His name is pronounced Kuh-pey-nah Gush-shih-kin.

[Oldcolt]

We were able to find a decent back up center and number 2 wr which was huge. The fact that the center appears to be able to successfully do a shotgun snap immediately gives us an upgrade. We appear to have no depth anywhere and i am very concerned about linebacker and defensive line. I see our only hope is that DJ's first 10 games last year were not a mirage and we have unlocked an All-Pro QB. If you have one of those anything is possible.

[omahacolt]

this dline is atrocious.

how the fuck do we sit on that much money and field this dline group

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by omahacolt

this dline is atrocious.

how the fuck do we sit on that much money and field this dline group

It wouldn't matter. It isn't the money (or draft capital) spent, its drafting and spending money on players that are terrible most of the time, mediocre at best with maybe two drafted or signed lineman that have been 'good' for any lenghty period of time over the last 10 years. We cannot scout defensive lineman for shit. We traded for Buckner who was an all pro already. It is painful.

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by omahacolt

this dline is atrocious.

how the fuck do we sit on that much money and field this dline group

Ballard doin Ballard things.
Holding back this much money speaks to his confidence in the team he built. I don’t know how much marquee talent he could have acquired since likely quite a few had no desire to join this franchise, understandably so. Nevertheless, I refuse to believe he couldn’t significantly improve the roster depth. If you have this much money left at this point solely because nobody wants to come here you’re likely in the company of the Browns, Jets, and Cards.

Here’s to a healthy season because injuries will wreck us more so than most.

[Kray007]

Originally Posted by omahacolt

this dline is atrocious.

how the fuck do we sit on that much money and field this dline group

I don’t know that I’d describe them as atrocious. Granted that they’d look a lot better with Trey Hendrickson, but he’s a cautionary tale about free agency. Chris Ballard slid all of his chips onto the table in pursuit of the Bengal, assuming that a rich contract and the prospect of reuniting with Lou Anarumo would be enough to make him a Colt. He was wrong, and he had to settle for Arden Key.

As far as the guys the have,

Key picked up 5 sacks, last year, despite playing for a dysfunctional Tennessee team, and missing 5 games. In a better situation in Indy, with a creative defensive mind on the sidelines and the benefit of playing in front of a gifted group of DB’s, his ceiling might be as high as 10 sacks.

DeForest Buckner is an elite Defensive Tackle.

Grover is, at least, a stalwart piece in the middle. While playing next to a healthy Buckner, they allowed little more than 3 yards per carry.

And, we tend to underestimate Latu. In 2025, only 10 DE’s amassed more sacks than him. Beyond that, his career seems to be trending upwards. He almost doubled his pressure rate in year 2, and his final stats skewed lower after Buckner was injured.

Depth pieces arre, if nothing else, intriguing.

[Kray007]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

Ballard doin Ballard things.
Holding back this much money speaks to his confidence in the team he built. I don’t know how much marquee talent he could have acquired since likely quite a few had no desire to join this franchise, understandably so. Nevertheless, I refuse to believe he couldn’t significantly improve the roster depth. If you have this much money left at this point solely because nobody wants to come here you’re likely in the company of the Browns, Jets, and Cards.

Here’s to a healthy season because injuries will wreck us more so than most.

The reason they have so much cap space is that they carved out a big chunk of it in anticipation of adding Trey Hendrickson.

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by Kray007

The reason they have so much cap space is that they carved out a big chunk of it in anticipation of adding Trey Hendrickson.

Disappointing they couldn’t find a good use for that money after March 12th.

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

Disappointing they couldn’t find a good use for that money after March 12th.

or have a back up plan