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3 Colts with Rising Stock After Preseason Win Against Cardinals

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3 Colts with Rising Stock After Preseason Win Against Cardinals


The Indianapolis Colts have concluded their second preseason game by defeating the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday. Barely any starters outside of a couple saw the field, but there was enough from the game to provide much-needed clarity in areas of the roster. After their first win of 2024, here are the three Colts from Saturday’s game who have their stock on the rise with the regular season just weeks away.

Zavier Scott | Running Back

Colts running back Zavier Scott (all-white uniform) makes a run toward the endzone.

Aug 17, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Zavier Scott (34) is tackled by Arizona Cardinals safety Joey Blount (32) during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports / Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Running back Jonathan Taylor saw no snaps against the Cardinals and backup Trey Sermon is still dealing with a hamstring injury. This situation opened up opportunities for Evan Hull, Tyler Goodson, and Zavier Scott, to dominate the backfield activity. However, Scott impressed the most out of all the running backs on Saturday evening.

The former Maine Black Bear tallied up 11 carries for 55 rushing yards and a touchdown. Scott led the way for the ground attack and showcased power running and relentless drive through any contact.

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Scott might have put his name in consideration for Shane Steichen’s offensive scheme. While he’s likely behind all the other names, Scott is a jack-of-all-trades who poses a threat as a ball carrier, receiver, and potentially, a passer.

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Isaiah Land | Defensive End

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Indianapolis Colts defensive end Isaiah Land (blue jersey w/ white numbers) stretches before a game.

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Isaiah Land (55) warms up at Lucas Oil Stadium, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, before Tampa Bay Bucs at the Colts. / Robert Scheer/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Colts possess one of the most intriguing defensive fronts going into the 2024 regular season. Notable stars like defensive tackles DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart headline the rest of this potentially dominant group led by Charlie Partridge. While rookie end Laiatu Latu has played fantastic in the absence of the 2023 sack leader Samson Ebukam (Achilles tear), others have shown out in the preseason as depth pieces. One of those players is second-year defender Isaiah Land.

In 2023, Land saw seven games and collected a sack with six tackles. However, he played like a man on a mission against the Cardinals. Land was constantly disrupting plays and finished with a sack and three tackles (two for loss). With Ebukam out for the season, Indy needs another depth edge rusher for depth purposes. If Land continues this pace, he might have a shot at making the 53-man roster to see meaningful action.

Nick Cross | Safety

Colts safety Nick Cross (blue jersey with white helmet) celebrates after making a big play for the defense.

Indianapolis Colts safety Nick Cross (20) reacts after making an interception Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Safety Nick Cross has had to withstand constant criticism so far through 2024. The critiques don’t come unwarranted, as training camp hasn’t been a good friend to Cross, who is competing to start at one of the safety positions opposite Julian Blackmon. However, Cross played well in the preseason opener against the Denver Broncos but looked on fire against the Cardinals.

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Cross played a lot of snaps so Gus Bradley and the coaching staff could properly evaluate him as a starting safety, he didn’t disappoint with five tackles (one for loss) and good on-field placement in coverage. Cross is still just a 22-year-old going into his third NFL season, so the fruits of Indy’s trade to get him may finally be paying off. This is still the preseason, so the real games will tell a much more vibrant story of Cross’ readiness to start.

Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Facebook and X; subscribe on YouTube for multiple Colts live-stream podcasts per week.





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Indianapolis, IN

Should Matt Gay’s Preseason Woes be a Concern for the Colts?

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Should Matt Gay’s Preseason Woes be a Concern for the Colts?


The Indianapolis Colts have rested most of the team’s starters in the 2024 NFL preseason. The exception? Matt Gay, the second-highest-paid kicker in the league. Carrying a cap hit of over five million dollars, Gay has had some struggles since arriving in Indianapolis. Afterranking 27th in field goal percentage (80.5%) amongst his peers in 2023 (min. 15 attempts), the 2024 season has not begun well for the 30-year-old.

Gay missed two field goal attempts against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night, bringing the tally to three for the preseason. The misses have come from 54, 53, and 44 yards and were all pulled wide left.

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The leg power is certainly there, but the accuracy appears to remain a lingering issue from last season. Lost scoring opportunities will lose you football games all day, something Colts fans have been all too familiar with since the turn of the century.

The issue is that the NFL kicking market is pretty dry. Not a lot of options exist out there – Randy Bullock is probably the best we’re looking at. Bullock last played for the New York Giants in 2023 where he knocked down five of his six attempts, so about the same conversion rate as Gay.

“I feel like the ball is coming off my foot really well,” said Gay. “I gotta make the kick regardless of who’s holding or what’s happening” (via James Boyd | The Athletic). If the misses persist, the Colts will be stuck with one of the worst special teams contracts in the league. General Manager Chris Ballard could bring in a kicker to compete, but the options aren’t abundant.

Head coach Shane Steichen said he thinks that Gay “is gonna be fine” after two disappointing performances. His lone made kick through two games came from 35 yards out.

On the bright side, Gay recorded a career-high eight field goals made from 50+ yards last season. Again, distance is not the issue. Missing kicks may be more costly than knocking down the occasional long one, though.

At the end of the day, Gay is likely to be the starting kicker in Week 1 when the Colts face the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 8th. Likely to be a close game, it should be a good test for Gay’s clutch time ability.

Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Facebook and X; subscribe on YouTube for multiple Colts live-stream podcasts per week.

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Trey Benson flashes potential in Cardinals' sloppy loss to Colts

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Trey Benson flashes potential in Cardinals' sloppy loss to Colts


INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Trey Benson didn’t necessarily wow the crowd behind eight carries for 21 yards in his team’s preseason opener loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Seeing about the same number of touches in the Cardinals’ 21-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Benson flashed his big-play potential and vision.

In just over a quarter of work, Benson averaged 4.8 yards per carry on his way to 43 yards on nine rushing attempts.

And it could have been much more.

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Recording his fourth carry of the night, Benson nearly had a house call. After shaking multiple Colts defenders, the third-round pick turned up the field for a 19-yard gain. Had it not been for safety Nick Cross, Benson had a clear path to pay dirt.

It wasn’t only the Colts defenders Benson had to worry about, though.

On Benson’s final carry of the evening, the running back again made Colts defenders miss as he shifted his way 20 yards to Indianapolis’ two-yard line.

Unfortunately for Benson and the offense, his efforts were for naught thanks to a Christian Jones holding penalty. It was a tough series for Jones, who picked up three straight holding calls.

Benson, who entered the game listed as Arizona’s RB2 behind James Conner, won’t see the lost yardage on the stat sheet. He and the coaching staff will, however, see improved tape.

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Much to clean up

While Jones was dinged for numerous penalties, he wasn’t the only one caught having mental lapses.

As a team, Arizona committed 11 penalties for 82 yards.

The sloppiness on display simply cannot happen if the Cardinals hope to improve their win-loss record from a year ago.

“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. One of our modes of play is our brain and we didn’t use it tonight,” Gannon said. “That falls strictly on me.

“I thought we were ready to play physically, violence was on display, good effort and finish, but I just told them we’re not going to beat anybody making those kinds of mistakes and you can’t self-destruct and we did on all three phases. That falls on me and the coaches. We gotta get it cleaned up fast.”

Tune takes Round 2

For a second consecutive week, Clayton Tune outperformed Desmond Ridder, further solidifying his case for QB2.

Completing 80% of his throws (8-of-10) for 79 yards, Tune again looked comfortable operating the offense after getting the starting nod on Saturday.

He capped off a strong first half with a 12-yard touchdown run.

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“I feel like I’ve put in some good work,” Tune said postgame. “There’s still work to be done. That’s my mindset. Go in, watch the tape, learn from it, come back next week ready to work and build on it.”

“I feel like I’m playing more on time, playing quicker, getting through my reads, seeing the defense and just being decisive,” the QB added.

Ridder on the other hand completed 60% of his passes (6-of-10) for 71 yards, though saw the majority of his yardage (42) come in the final series of the game.

A false start on Dennis Daley ended the drive and the game, leaving Ridder without another chance at finding the end zone.

“He had some good balls in there. I thought he made some plays with his legs,” Gannon said. “Would have liked to see the last play get off, but we couldn’t get it done.”

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The Thomas twins

Saturday night was another strong showing from 2024 fifth-rounder Xavier Thomas.

Recording his second sack of the preseason along with two QB hits and a tackle for loss, Thomas had good pressure on Indianapolis signal callers.

For someone who said their legs were shaking on the first play of the preseason opener against the Saints, Thomas is looking more at home and appears to be trending up the depth chart.

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“Today I pretty much knew what to expect and things like that. It’s always good to get more comfortable,” Thomas said postgame.

The rookie wasn’t the only Thomas who stood out on Saturday.

Third-year pro Cameron Thomas was also a factor in the backfield, getting to quarterback Sam Ehlinger for a sack and pressuring fellow signal callers Jason Bean and Valley native Kedon Slovis on multiple occasions.

The Cardinals still have question marks surrounding their pass rush after projected starter BJ Ojulari went down with a reported torn ACL during training camp, ending his season before it began.

Could either Thomas find a more prominent role in the rotation? A strong showing next week in Denver could press the issue.

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Aside for the Thomas twins, Victor Dimukeje was another name getting added pressure against the Colts and narrowly missed out on a pair of sacks.

Give me that!

Kei’Trel Clark and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson provided an added boost in Arizona’s secondary on Saturday, each forcing a turnover and flipping the field in the Cardinals’ favor.

Clark put the hammer down on wide receiver Anthony Gould to force a fumble in the waning moments of the first quarter.

The second-year pro flew around the football field for most of the night, a positive development in a cornerbacks room where roles are still up for grabs.

“I thought he looked violent, physical. He had a couple good coverages in there, forced the fumble,” Gannon said. “He looked good in there and he played two spots today, so it was good to see.”

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It was Taylor-Demerson, better known as Rabbit, who had the play of the evening.

With 1:51 left in the first half, Taylor-Demerson snagged a pass near the sideline intended for wide receiver D.J. Montgomery and managed to keep his feet inbounds.

Had it not been for the duo’s takeaways, the score would have looked a lot different in Gannon’s eyes behind the mountain of penalties.

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“The takeaways were good. That’s the reason we stayed in the game,” Gannon said. “Without those takeaways, I think we get the brakes beat off of us, truthfully. I gotta watch the tape, but I know the interception was a phenomenal play. I thought he had a couple tackles in there. He looked good.”





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Fantasy Guru Says Colts Anthony Richardson ‘High Risk, High Reward’

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Fantasy Guru Says Colts Anthony Richardson ‘High Risk, High Reward’


The 2024 Indianapolis Colts roster has talented offensive players who can help any fantasy football manager get their squad to the playoffs and beyond. The obvious names that stick out are running back Jonathan Taylor and wide receivers Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, and Adonai Mitchell. But they all pale compared to the fantasy potential that their quarterback, Anthony Richardson, harnesses.

In a recent piece from the fantasy football department at Pro Football Focus, Jonathon Macri dives into the biggest high-risk, high-reward players and by which round they might see themselves taken. The second-year signal-caller is located in the fifth round of this piece. Macri breaks down the potential risk and meteoric reward that Richardson poses to a fantasy manager.

“Should he play an entire season, when considering everything that he brings to the table as a runner on top of his passing potential in Shane Steichen’s offense, there’s a fair bit that can go right with this pick. Richardson delivered a higher fantasy points per dropback rate (0.73) than any other quarterback last season, which helps highlight his potential whenever he’s on the field.”

– Jonathon Macri | Pro Football Focus

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Richardson’s mobility is no secret going into his second professional season. While he only saw four games in 2024, he still dominated as a runner from the quarterback position. He finished with 25 carries for 136 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Expect more explosive running statistics to pile up if Richardson can stay healthy. Macri continues in his analysis of Richardson.

“Richardson’s elite athleticism and arm talent only feed into his breakout potential and overall upside, but for that to all come to fruition, he has to stay on the field, which has become a particular concern for Richardson after last season.”

– Jonathon Macri | Pro Football Focus

Richardson understands that if he isn’t more aware of where his body is on the football field, he will continue to withstand injuries like he did during his inaugural campaign. It will be paramount for the former Florida Gators field general to continue his quarterback development while staving off any injuries.

There is plenty of hype around this Shane Steichen-led Indianapolis offense with Richardson at the helm. If Richardson stays under center, especially for all 17 games, he has the ceiling to be the highest-scoring fantasy quarterback for 2024 and help Indianapolis finally reach the postseason.

Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!

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Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Facebook and X; subscribe on YouTube for multiple Colts live-stream podcasts per week.





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