Colts Sign Former 49ers/Eagles RB Amid Roster Moves
The Indianapolis Colts grabbed their first win of the season on the road against the Houston Texans (31-20) on Sunday afternoon at NRG Stadium. Just a couple of days later, they’re making moves for the 53-man roster and practice squad to build solid depth/competition for the offense around Anthony Richardson.
Guard Arlington Hambright played several positions on the offensive line during the preseason, which included left and right guard, as well as left tackle.
He would show glimpses of a good depth piece but also struggle at times. Hambright would grab a 60.1 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus, with his strength being pass-blocking.
Given that superstar guard Quenton Nelson just had a toe injury, this is potentially an insurance policy of sorts for the Colts to bring Hambright onto the 53-man roster.
With Hambright’s signing, this means that some departures were in store. The Colts did this action by waiving tackle Ryan Hayes, who is a rookie out of Michigan and was drafted in the seventh round by the Miami Dolphins initially.
The last signing was running back Trey Sermon to the practice squad. Sermon played both at Oklahoma and Ohio State in college, racking up 2,946 rushing yards. He would be drafted in the third round in 2021 by the San Francisco 49ers.
While there was some hype surrounding him, it ultimately didn’t pan out too much at all. Sermon would have injury issues carried over to the NFL from college with the 49ers, which would lead to him getting put on injured reserve in 2021. He would eventually be waived in 2022 and picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles.
However, Philly released him to the open market, and the Colts saw some potential with Shane Steichen.
The intriguing thing is that Steichen knows Sermon well, as he was the offensive coordinator during the Super Bowl run for the Eagles while Sermon was on the roster, his lone season with the team. Is there a chance that familiarity will pan out somehow, and Sermon could elevate from the practice squad and get some playing time?
We’ll see if this move impacts a running back room that is headed currently by veteran Zack Moss, with nobody close behind as far as efficiency.
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