The Indianapolis Colts’ first preseason game is in the books, and while the outcome (a 34-30 loss to the Denver Broncos) was largely meaningless, the game featured plenty of meaningful plays that could help determine who’s on the field when the games start to truly count.
As the regular season fast approaches, here’s whose stock rose and fell during the Colts’ return to Lucas Oil Stadium.
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Risers
CB Micah Abraham
The ball was right there for the taking.
Abraham, a 2024 sixth-round pick, could’ve simply made the tackle on Broncos rookie running back Audric Estimé. It would’ve been a sound play, but it wouldn’t have been a memorable one. Abraham wanted to stand out, and by ripping at the ball tucked in Estimé’s arm, he did just that.
The ball squirted out and before it even hit the ground, Abraham snatched it out of mid-air and raced down the sideline for a 45-yard touchdown. When he reached the end zone, Abraham fell down and started making snow angels. While snow rarely covers the field at Lucas Oil Stadium — that’s what the retractable roof is for — the turnover Abraham forced was cold-blooded.
"Oh snap!"@GVOaant was mid interview watching the @Colts defense take back a fumble for the TD 😂
📺: #DENvsIND on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Vs7M3gVflx— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2024
“I missed a tackle I think two plays before that or a play before that, so my mentality is, ‘If you miss a play, you make a play,'” Abraham said. “(So) I had to make a play.”
Colts coach Shane Steichen wasn’t initially sure what happened. All he saw was Abraham changing directions and changing the game.
“(But) then I saw it back on the JumboTron, and it was a hell of a play by him,” Steichen said. “I mean it’s always great to see. You get these late-round draft picks, go make plays. … Go make a name for yourself.”
Abraham also notched a tackle for loss in the fourth quarter to go along with his forced fumble, fumble recovery and return touchdown. He finished with a team-high six tackles.
The 23-year-old, who stands 5-foot-10, doesn’t have the tall and long frame Colts general manager Chris Ballard has typically coveted when drafting cornerbacks, but Ballard noted in April that he made an exception for Abraham because he has a nose for the ball. Abraham recorded 10 interceptions, 25 pass breakups and one fumble recovery over his last two seasons (26 games) at Marshall. The rookie picked up right where he left off in his NFL preseason debut.
DE Laiatu Latu
Latu knew, as a unanimous All-American and the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season at UCLA, he wouldn’t go unnoticed as he transitions to the NFL. However, the Colts’ first-round pick underestimated just how quickly he would command respect. On Latu’s first rep against the Broncos, he immediately saw and felt two bodies.
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Was it a surprise?
“Hell yeah!” Latu said. ” … That was a little wake-up call, I guess, but I wasn’t thinking I was gonna get doubled-teamed.”
Latu called it a “badge of honor” to be that high on Denver’s scouting report. He played just eight defensive snaps and registered one tackle, though his disruptiveness was evident every time he took the field. Now, the rookie is hungry for more.
“You can’t let me wear the blue (jersey) and then let me not keep playing,” Latu said during an in-game sideline interview. “It’s good, though. We have next week to look forward to.”
RB Evan Hull
Sunday’s game marked Anthony Richardson’s first participation in a real football game in 308 days, but Indianapolis’ starting QB was not the team’s only player making a long-awaited return.
Second-year running back Evan Hull played even less than Richardson did last season, receiving just eight snaps in Week 1 before a torn left MCL ended his rookie campaign. The former Northwestern standout finally returned to game action after a 336-day absence and scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.
Evan Hull powers it in for the @Colts TD!
📺: #DENvsIND on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ehS9LlP1Ol— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2024
“It’s always a good day when you can get into the end zone,” teammate and fellow running back Jonathan Taylor said. “I really like how decisive he was.”
Hull recorded just 16 yards on eight carries, but he may see his role increase depending on how long Trey Sermon is sidelined. Steichen announced Sunday that Sermon, the Colts’ main backup running back during training camp, left the game with a hamstring injury.
Honorable mentions
WR Anthony Gould (49-yard kickoff return), OL Dalton Tucker (held his own at right guard), TE Mo Alie-Cox (19-yard reception and continues to show he’s Indy’s best blocking tight end).
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Fallers
CB Dallis Flowers
This time last year, Flowers was climbing up the depth chart. He eventually emerged as a Week 1 starter, but a torn right Achilles in Week 4 derailed what may have been a breakout campaign. The 27-year-old has been a full participant throughout all offseason team activities and training camp, but he appears to be a step slower than his pre-injury form and has struggled as a result.
Flowers was flagged for defensive pass interference twice against the Broncos, and drawing penalties for being too handsy or out of position has been a theme for him throughout camp. Colts coaches continue to say the cornerback competition is wide open, aside from Kenny Moore II starting in the slot, but as the season creeps closer, it appears second-year pros JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones will be Indy’s starting outside corners.
GO DEEPERColts CB Dallis Flowers convinced he'll reclaim starting job after Achilles tear: 'I need that spot'OT Blake Freeland
Sam Ehlinger, statistically, has been one of the NFL’s best preseason QBs in recent years. He continued his August dominance Sunday, completing five of his six passes for 80 yards, but his one incompletion — an interception — reflected poorly on Freeland.
As Ehlinger tried to deliver the ball to tight end Jelani Woods on a crossing route, Freeland was badly beaten off the left edge. The second-year pro whiffed on his attempt to block Denver rookie linebacker Jonah Elliss, which allowed Ellis to hit Ehlinger as he tried to deliver his pass. Broncos defensive back Keidron Smith easily recorded the INT.
Annnnd the @Broncos get it right back with an INT!
📺: #DENvsIND on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/3muHIVFnyW— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2024
That play summed up Freeland’s underwhelming performance. The 23-year-old started nine games last year due to a few injuries up front, but it’s safe to say his showing Sunday was not a step forward from 2023.
K Matt Gay
The Colts didn’t sign Gay to make a 35-yard field goal, as he did in the first quarter of their preseason opener. They signed him to make the 54-yard attempt that he missed wide left in the second quarter.
Gay inked a four-year, $22.5 million deal with Indianapolis last year that was the most lucrative free-agent contract ever signed by an NFL kicker. He backed up that investment early, missing only one of his 18 field goal attempts across the Colts’ first nine games. Gay even became the first kicker in league history to make four 50-plus-yard field goals in the same game in an overtime win at Baltimore in Week 3. But he sputtered down the stretch, missing six of his final 24 field goal attempts (plus one extra-point attempt) over the final eight games of the season.
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Kicker is one of those positions where a player could be great one day and not the next, so it’s worth keeping an eye on Gay. Missing a 54-yarder in a preseason game isn’t a reason to panic, though he was paid handsomely to make those kinds of kicks.
Others
DTs Taven Bryan and Eric Johnson II (neither one looked like serviceable options as run-stoppers), TE Jelani Woods (17-yard catch, but he’ll need to do more if he plans on standing out in a crowded tight end room and making the 53-man roster).
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(Photo of Micah Abraham: Christine Tannous / IndyStar / USA Today)
James Boyd is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Indianapolis Colts. Before joining The Athletic, James was the Indiana Pacers beat writer for The Indianapolis Star. James is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and grew up in Romeoville, Illinois. Follow James on Twitter @romeovillekid
