Colts: With RB Injuries Mounting, is Outside Move Coming?

The Indianapolis Colts are shorthanded at running back with three joint practices and two preseason games remaining this summer. Should they bring in outside help?

Indianapolis Colts running back Trey Sermon (27) runs drills Wednesday, June 5, 2024, during practice at the Colts Practice Facility in Indianapolis. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Indianapolis Colts have completed their first preseason contest, but they did not make it out unscathed. In fact, two players from a position group that already came into the game with questionable depth left early and did not return: running backs Trey Sermon and Trent Pennix.

Sermon, who has been starter Jonathan Taylor's direct backup throughout the offseason suffered a hamstring injury in the first half while Pennix left with a groin injury late in the game.

If either player misses a chunk of practice time, the Colts will need to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to divide the workload. They have a pair of joint practices this week with the Arizona Cardinals, followed by a game between the two teams on Saturday. Then, the Colts travel east for a joint practice and the preseason finale with the Cincinnati Bengals next week.

While Taylor is likely to see a heavy workload during the joint practices, he is unlikely to see much action in the final two preseason games — in fact, probably none at all this Saturday.

Outside of Taylor, Sermon, and Pennix, that just leaves the trio of Evan Hull, Tyler Goodson, and Zavier Scott to account for all of the other reps in the three remaining training camp practices and two games ahead of the Colts' regular season opener against the Houston Texans on Sept. 8.

The Colts already lacked proven depth behind Taylor before the injuries to Sermon and Pennix. The team points to a standout performance last year against the Pittsburgh Steelers as a reason to be excited about Sermon and Goodson, but even that was just one game. Hull and Scott were both rookies last year who have a combined eight snaps of NFL regular-season action between them.

The Colts faced a similar dilemma last summer with Taylor out nursing an ankle injury and former backup Zack Moss suffering from a broken arm. The Colts signed then-29-year-old Kenyan Drake to take up some slack.

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So, might the Colts go the same route while facing a similar situation currently?

If the Colts elect to bring in a free agent to fill in the gaps for the last few weeks of the summer, then they do have some options. They could go the route of adding a young undrafted player, but there are veterans such as Eno Benjamin (25), Josh Kelley (26), Marlon Mack (28), Kareem Hunt (29), Dalvin Cook (29), and Jerick McKinnon (32) available as well, all of whom have NFL experience.

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