In the three preseason games the Indianapolis Colts have played this month, their new-look defense has been a refreshing bright spot.
Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo brought some high-profile players in with him, like Charvarius Ward and Cam Bynum in the secondary, to give the unit a boost. In Indy’s preseason finale win over the Bengals, those changes to the secondary proved fruitful as, despite playing mostly backups, the Colts held Cincinnati to 96 yards through the air.
But the same isn’t true on the ground. The Bengals were able to rush for 132 yards on 23 attempts, good for 5.7 yards per carry.
While the Colts did play their third and fourth-stringers, the struggles to contain the run game highlighted disappointing depth in several areas on the defense, such as the interior defensive line and linebackers.
The exposure of the poor talent in these areas is good timing for the Colts, who have to decide which 53 players will make up their opening day roster by Aug. 26. A sluggish performance like Saturday’s could help make some cut decisions a little bit easier to make.
At the defensive tackle and linebacker spots specifically, Indy will have to part ways with around seven guys between the two groups. On the line, Josh Tupou, Devonta Davis and rookie Tim Smith are among the players who could be let go.
At the second level, names like Solomon DeShields, Jake Chaney and Joseph Vaughn are long shots to stick around.
But it’s hard to tell where the Colts stand until they begin the process of reducing the roster down to the magic number.