Indianapolis Colts Roster Decisions: Wide Receiver
INDIANAPOLIS — It’s literally painful to review the Indianapolis Colts wide receivers in 2019.
T.Y. Hilton, Devin Funchess, Parris Campbell, and Chester Rogers missed a combined 34 games. Funchess was lost for the season to a broken collarbone near the end of the season opener.
That’s reason enough for the Colts to keep six wide receivers on the initial 53-man roster for the 2020 regular season.
Hilton missed six games with a calf injury and played hurt for more than half of 2018, so the four-time Pro Bowl star has to prove he can stay healthy in a contract year. Before mini-camp could start with padded practices next week, Hilton has already been placed on the active/non-football injury list with a sore hamstring that he tweaked in a recent workout.
Campbell, a second-round selection, had his rookie season reduced to just seven games by a series of injuries that required surgeries for a sports hernia, fractured hand, and fractured foot. He ended up on injured reserve.
The Colts let Rogers become a free agent and selected USC wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. in the second round, with the 34th overall pick in April’s NFL draft. Washington State wide receiver Dezmon Patmon, like Pittman a pass-catcher with size, was added in the sixth round.
Barring any serious injuries, the Colts’ first four wide receivers seem set with Hilton, Campbell, Pittman, and Zach Pascal.
Question is, will general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Frank Reich decide to keep two more wide receivers or only one? Yeah, five sounds crazy, but there are other roster positions that require depth, too.
Because this ongoing series started with a projection of three quarterbacks and five running backs, that means another position or two will sacrifice a spot. That’s why the initial gut instinct has the Colts keeping just five wide receivers.
The hunch is that fourth-year pro Marcus Johnson will earn the fifth spot. He has more experience in Reich’s offense, dating back to 10 games with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, when Reich was offensive coordinator. Johnson’s career stats of 28 receptions for 424 yards and three TDs don’t jump off the stat sheet, but consider last year’s output — in limited action during eight games, he caught 17 passes for 277 yards and two TDs.
Keeping Johnson likely means Patmon gets added to the practice squad. Patmon is raw, by his own admission, in learning how to use his size to an advantage. If the Colts are concerned he could be claimed by another team, perhaps they keep six and then move Patmon to the practice squad later.
The same with Daurice Fountain, a 2018 fifth-round pick, who missed last season with a broken ankle. He seems ideal to end up on the practice squad. He didn’t make a regular-season catch as a rookie. He's most remembered for dropping a touchdown pass near the end of the Colts’ loss at Kansas City in an AFC Divisional playoff game.
Should a wide receiver be needed in a given week, the Colts can promote the player who has performed the best in practice.
The other wide receivers on the roster are Ashton Dulin, DeMichael Harris, Artavis Scott, and Chad Williams.
Dulin played in 13 games as an undrafted rookie last season, catching two passes for 17 yards, and mostly being used on special teams, where he returned three kickoffs for 90 yards in addition to making six tackles.
Harris, at 5-8 and 178 pounds, is an undersized, undrafted rookie out of Southern Mississippi.
Scott spent last season on the L.A. Chargers practice squad and has yet to catch an NFL pass.
The Arizona Cardinals drafted Williams in the third round in 2017. He caught 20 passes for 202 yards and one TD in 16 games with the Cardinals. He spent most of last season on the Colts practice squad.
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
