One of the more intriguing training camp battles that will take place this summer for the Indianapolis Colts is for the backup running back role behind Jonathan Taylor.
Below, you can vote for who you think will win this competition.
Last season, this was a role filled by Zack Moss, who is now in Cincinnati. Moss would go on to record almost 800 rushing yards and nearly 200 more in the passing game, scoring seven touchdowns.
Competing for this playing time will be Trey Sermon, Tyler Goodson, and Evan Hull. The Colts also have Xavier Scott and Trent Pennix on the roster at running back as well.
The potential front-runner for this spot could be Sermon, who ESPN’s Stephen Holder picked as the one Colts player who surprised during OTAs and minicamp. Sermon averaged 4.6 yards per rush on 35 carries with the Colts last season and brings a physical running style to the position.
Goodson had even fewer attempts than Sermon last season with only 13 carries, but he showcased his big play potential, averaging 6.7 yards per rush, with three of those carries going for 10-plus yards.
“Trey sure does get the ball to the right place a whole, whole lot,” said offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter via the team site. “Goodie has come in and shoot, he plays fast, he’s running around out there, he gets open in the pass game, makes nice catches, has hit some nice runs in camp. Like I said, pads aren’t on, we aren’t running it a ton.”
Hull’s rookie season was unfortunately cut short after he sustained a season-ending injury in the first game of the year. A fifth-round pick by the Colts last April, Hull averaged 5.0 yards per carry over his career at Northwestern and was a huge factor in the passing game with 110 targets during his final two seasons.
“Evan Hull has really on his way back from injury done a nice job coming in and getting himself back going into the flow of things,” added Cooter.
Overall, this is a very inexperienced group behind Taylor, with the trio combining for only 92 carries in their respective careers and 20 targets in the passing game.
The Colts could have looked to add to this position group to elevate the competition, but internally, they appear to be bullish about the group they already had on the roster.
“Those guys, there’s some great opportunities ahead of those guys to get carries, to get playing time, to earn that game action,” Cooter said.
“We think we know those guys pretty well, but it’s our second year going here and different guys arrived at different times last year, so we’re kind of excited to get a full camp with these guys and find out more about them and obviously complement JT, who’s going to be so huge for us this year.”
Cast your vote below for who you think will be Taylor’s running back coming out of training camp:
