5 Wildcards to Watch in Training Camp

The Indianapolis Colts have officially kicked off their mandatory minicamp for the 2023 offseason. The Colts' roster is in a fairly good place, featuring a clean mix of athletic youth and dependable veterans.

This roster is fairly set in terms of acquisitions, but that doesn't mean that the 22 starters are completely locked in space. A few spots are certainly wrapped up before this offseason even begins but there is plenty of room for some depth players to carve out solid roles prior to the start of this upcoming season. This is where the wildcards come in.

These wildcard players are far from roster locks, but they are guys that can earn a significant role through a strong impression in camp. This article won't be looking at young roster locks set to take the next step (such as a Jelani Woods or a Rodney Thomas II), but rather the players that have such a wide range of outcomes that this offseason means everything to them.

Here are five players that are true wildcards and could range from roster cut to starter on the team come end of the offseason:

Daniel Scott, Safety (Rookie)

Daniel Scott is one of the safer players on this list in terms of making the roster, but his overall role for this upcoming season is still a bit up in the air. Scott, 24, was a fifth round selection by the Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft that mostly lined up as a free safety at the college level (he also logged a good amount of snaps at strong safety and at slot corner in 2022).

Scott possesses phenomenal athletic traits and he has the experience on special teams to have an early impact for the Colts in year one. The biggest question is whether he can be more than that for the team. He is currently stuck behind both Rodney Thomas II and Nick Cross on the depth chart, two players that were selected in last years' draft class.

Can Scott perform at a high enough level to surpass the highly drafted Nick Cross prior to the season? Does he push other players at strong safety or even at slot corner for playing time? That is where the true questions lie with Scott this offseason. He could be anywhere from a starting safety (with his insane athletic gifts) to a fringe special teamer depending on how he looks this offseason.

Tyquan Lewis, Defensive End

The toughest addition to this list was veteran defensive end Tyquan Lewis. He has always been a reliable role player for the Colts when called upon, but recent injuries leave so much of his future production up in the air. It is just hard to properly assess what kind of impact he could have for this team in 2023 (and going forward).

Lewis, 28, has accumulated nine total sacks over the past three seasons for the Colts. Those numbers are pretty impressive considering the fact that he only played half of the year in both 2021 and 2022. The issue lies in the major injuries he suffered each of those two years. In both 2021 and 2022, Lewis suffered a ruptured patella tendon in his knee (one in each knee).

This is a major injury that is insanely hard to come back from, and now Lewis is working his way back from a second occurrence of this injury. It is safe to say that we simply have no clue what type of player Tyquan Lewis is going to be going forward. He could return to form like he did last year and hardly miss a beat, or the accumulating injuries could finally take their toll on the veteran pass rusher.

With these things in mind, Lewis truly is the ultimately wildcard on this Colts' roster this offseason.

Emil Ekiyor Jr, Interior Offensive Line (Rookie)

How rare is it to see a three year starter on Alabama's offensive line go undrafted in an NFL Draft? Emil Ekiyor Jr joined an extremely short list of players when this happened to him this offseason. Ekiyor, 23, allowed just two sacks in over 1,500 career pass blocking snaps for the Crimson Tide in his college career.

The biggest question with Ekiyor Jr is why a player with his pedigree and experience fell so far in the NFL Draft. Ekiyor Jr did sustain quite a few injuries in his college career, including multiple knee injuries and a shoulder injury that limited him in 2021. He also saw his fair share of poor moments and benchings at Alabama.

For these reasons, and a few other weaknesses, it is hard to properly gauge what type of player the Colts are getting with Ekiyor Jr. His experience and ability screams capable offensive guard that could push Will Fries for starting snaps, but who knows if the injury concerns start limiting him in camp. Ekiyor Jr may be the player with the biggest range of outcomes heading into Training Camp this offseason.

Drew Ogletree, Tight End

Tight end Drew Ogletree was the superstar of Colts' Training Camp a year ago. The 192nd pick out of Youngstown State back in 2022, Ogletree continued to make play after play in camp. The hype around his game landed him as the second tight end on the depth chart at one point, only behind veteran Mo Alie-Cox.

Unfortunately for Ogletree, he suffered a season ending ACL tear just a few weeks into August. The once-promising rookie ended up missing his entire rookie season while fellow rookie tight end Jelani Woods shined in his absence. Flash forward to today and it is hard to know what we should expect from Ogletree heading into year two.

The coaching staff that saw his rise in camp last year is completely gone and there is a lot more competition in the tight end room in general this offseason (Will Mallory, Pharoah Brown, Kaden Smith). On top of that, we simply don't know what type of player Ogletree will be after this major injury. He could range anywhere from notable contributor to roster cut by the end of camp this offseason.

Kevin Toliver II, Cornerback

This one is a deep cut so stick with me for a second. The Indianapolis Colts' cornerback room is horribly inexperienced with the loss of Isaiah Rodgers Sr this past week. Outside of Kenny Moore II, the player with the most on-field experience in the room is none other than Kevin Toliver II.

Toliver II, 27, is a former LSU corner that has bounced around a bit in the NFL. He logged 204 defensive snaps with the Chicago Bears from 2018-2019 before moving around to different practice squads around the league. He may be a player that doesn't seem like much on paper, but for a group that is so young, a player with some experience may pop in camp.

Toliver II is certainly the longest shot out of this group of players to make the roster but watch out for him in Training Camp this offseason. He has been getting some run with the second team of late, so there seems to be some interest from the Colts in seeing what this veteran can do.

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