Colts running back competition remains wide open in preseason finale

Cody Manning

Colts running back competition remains wide open in preseason finale  image

The Indianapolis Colts know they have a star in Jonathan Taylor leading the backfield, but the battle for his backup remains ongoing.

Entering the preseason finale against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, the competition for the No. 2 role in the backfield should provide a resolution of sorts.

Trey Sermon has yet to return to practice from the hamstring injury he suffered during the preseason opener against the Denver Broncos.

Has this created an opening for someone to overtake him on the depth chart? Tyler Goodson and Evan Hull are coming off strong performances against the Arizona Cardinals during the second preseason game.

The pair of backs combined for 61 rushing yards on 10 carries. It was a much better outing for both after they struggled to get anything positive in the first preseason game against the Broncos.

Sermon’s injury likely won’t cost him the RB2 role for the entire season. He was pretty clearly the backup before the injury.

However, if it holds him out to start the year, it could potentially take away some of the snaps Sermon would get if Hull and Goodson continue to provide positive contributions.

There's a good chance all three make the roster unless the Colts need to make room for depth elsewhere, but the pecking order in the backfield is far from complete.

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Cody Manning

Cody Manning Photo

Cody Manning is a graduate of the University of Tampa’s Sport Management program. He spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Guest and Member Relations Game Day staff where he was a Team Leader and earned Difference Maker of the Year in 2017. During his time with the Bucs, he helped start Blitzalytics, a scouting and analytics media company. After that came to an end, he joined USA Today’s Colts Wire as a contributor in 2021. Outside of football, he is an avid WWE and Batman fan. You can find him on Twitter/X @CodyTalksNFL.