INDIANAPOLIS – Some worry last year still ended with the Colts having an undrafted free agent on their Week One roster for a 21st straight season (thank you, TE-Hale Hentges).
With 9 draft picks this spring, and 10 undrafted free agents, the Colts did have to make some room to fit all their rookies on the 90-man roster.
The Colts waived TE-Billy Brown and WR-Steve Ishmael earlier this week to make room for the UDFAs.
Who are the Colts undrafted free agents in 2020?
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- K-Rodrigo Blankenship (Georgia): College football’s most popular (and best?) kicker is coming to Indianapolis. ‘Hot Rod’ Blankenship and his iconic rec specs look to be in a kicking competition with Chase McLaughlin for the 2020 job, depending on what happens with Adam Vinatieri. Blankenship won the Lou Groza Award last year for being the nation’s best kicker. The former walk-on made 80-of-97 field goals (29-of-42 from 40 yards and longer) and all 200 extra points in his career.
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- DL-Kameron Cline (South Dakota): At 6-4 and 283 pounds, Cline should bring some versatility to the defensive line. He was mostly a three-technique defensive tackle in college. In his career, Cline had 22.0 tackles for loss and 7.o sacks. Cline says his strength is in the run game, and not as a polished as a pass rusher. It’s the early-down run defense where the Colts do face a few questions in 2020. Kline had 10 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks last season.
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- DE-Kendall Coleman (Syracuse): Cathedral High School now has 2 Colts on their 90-man roster. Coleman joins Jack Doyle as an Indianapolis native playing for their hometown team. Robert Mathis has worked a lot with Coleman, so you know that was a vote of confidence for this UDFA marriage happening. Coleman started 43 career games at Syracuse, but emerged as a pass rusher in his final two seasons (14.5 of his 15.5 career sacks). Eye-popping size and testing numbers aren’t there for Coleman (6-3, 257), but he easily checks the character and motor boxes.
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- TE-Farrod Green (Mississippi State): The 6-4, 245-pound Green started 34 career games, but recorded just 52 catches for 633 yards and 2 touchdowns. The good news for Green is the Colts have some questions at tight end when filling out a final 53-man roster. How healthy is Trey Burton? Will the Colts keep more than 3 tight ends? After Jack Doyle and Mo Alie-Cox, there’s a little uncertainty on the rest of this group.
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- RB/WR-DeMichael Harris (Southern Miss): At 5-8 and 178 pounds, Harris has some Nyheim Hines background to his collegiate resume. Harris moved from wideout to running back before the 2019 season. The speedy Harris had 113 carries for 541 yards and 34 catches for 346 yards last year. For his career, he had 61 catches for 587 yards and 122 carries for 621 yards
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- OL-Carter O’Donnell (Alberta): The lone offensive lineman on this list, O’Donnell (6-6, 315) came down from Canada to participate in January’s East/West Shrine Game. O’Donnell’s presence as an offensive tackle is another spot the Colts could use an upgrade. Undrafted offensive tackles making a 53-man roster is pretty rare, but O’Donnell walks into an O-line room with some uncertainty behind Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith.
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- CB-Travis Reed (South Alabama): At 6-1 and 168 pounds, Reed brings some nice length to the cornerback position, which helps him make up for slower testing numbers. Reed had 15 passes defensed and 4 interceptions in his career. Reed is a much different cornerback body type than Isaiah Rodgers (5-10, 170), the CB the Colts drafted in Round 6.
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- S-Donald Rutledge (Georgia Southern): The 6-1, 215-pound Rutledge spent one season at Georgia Southern after transferring from Savannah State. For his career, Rutledge had 214 career tackles, 24 passes defensed and 5 interceptions. Like Reed at cornerback, Rutledge is a slightly different body type at safety, compared to the drafted Julian Blackmon (6-0, 187). There could be some back-end safety room to make this 53-man roster, especially if Blackmon starts the year on the physically unable to perform list.
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- OLB-Brandon Wellington (Washington): Jacob Eason’s teammate comes to Indianapolis after starting 12 games for the Huskies last season. At 6-0 and 222 pounds, Wellington is an undersized linebacker (which is something we’ve seen from the Colts), who finished second in tackles last season for Washington. Wellington had 118 tackles, 4.5 for a loss during his collegiate career.
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- DT-Chris Williams (Wagner): Another interior defensive tackle prospect, Williams (6-2, 302) was also an East/West shrine game participant. Williams was a two-year starter at Wagner, piling 22.0 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks for his career. He had 11.5 TFLs and 4.0 sacks last season.
