INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts (3-1) on Sunday travel to take on the Cleveland Browns (3-1) in their 2020 Week 5 matchup at FirstEnergy Stadium — and, accordingly, it's time to take a look at the team's unofficial depth chart for the game.
Here is a position-by-position look for the Browns matchup, with some notes for each unit:
OFFENSE
» WR: T.Y. Hilton, Dezmon Patmon
» LT: Anthony Castonzo, Chaz Green
» LG: Quenton Nelson
» C: Ryan Kelly, Danny Pinter
» RG: Mark Glowinski
» RT: Braden Smith, Le'Raven Clark
» TE: Jack Doyle, Trey Burton
» TE: Mo Alie-Cox, Noah Togiai
» WR: Zach Pascal
» WR: Daurice Fountain, Ashton Dulin
» QB: Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett, Jacob Eason
» RB: Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins
Notes:
» With Michael Pittman Jr. now on injured reserve, there's some shuffling at the wide receiver position; now Daurice Fountain is listed as the No. 1 guy at the third WR spot, which previously occupied by Pittman Jr. Trey Burton is also making his first appearance on the Colts' unofficial depth chart, sitting behind Jack Doyle at the first tight end position.
» While Jonathan Taylor is the starter at the running back position, the Colts sure mixed in Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins quite a bit in last Sunday's Week 4 victory over the Chicago Bears. Taylor led the way with 33 total offense snaps (46 percent) and had 18 total touches (17 rushing attempts, one reception), but Hines had 25 offensive snaps (35 percent) with 12 touches (nine rushing attempts, three receptions), while Wilkins was in for 12 offensive plays (17 percent) and had 10 touches (nine rushing attempts, one reception).
» While T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal leading the way in offensive snaps (54 each) for the Colts' wide receivers last Sunday against the Bears isn't a surprise, one might be surprised to know that Marcus Johnson — who was just elevated to the active roster from the practice squad for the game on Saturday — was third in the group with 34 total offensive snaps, finishing with one big catch for 27 yards. That's just the way it is right now at receiver for the Colts, however, who have lost both Parris Campbell (knee) and Pittman Jr. (calf) indefinitely. Johnson has moved back to the practice squad, by the way, but could always been a candidate to be brought back up to the active roster.
» Last Sunday's win against the Bears was the first time the Colts had their top three tight ends healthy and available in Doyle, Burton and Mo Alie-Cox. Burton made his Colts debut against his former team, the Bears, finishing with two receptions for eight yards, playing 50 percent of the snaps after working his way back from a calf injury that kept him out of the first three games of the season. Doyle had one catch for 12 yards, while Alie-Cox's lone reception was a 13-yard touchdown catch on the Colts' opening drive of the game.
» Starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo missed the final series of the game in last Sunday's Week 4 win over the Bears; head coach Frank Reich confirmed Monday Castonzo is dealing with a rib injury, and he'll be evaluated this week to determine his availability for this Sunday's matchup against the Browns. It was fifth-year veteran Le'Raven Clark who played four snaps at left tackle to end the game for the Colts against the Bears.
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DEFENSE
» DE: Justin Houston, Ben Banogu, Ron'Dell Carter
» DT: DeForest Buckner, Tyquan Lewis
» NT: Grover Stewart, Taylor Stallworth, Eli Ankou
» DE: Denico Autry, Al-Quadin Muhammad
» WLB: Darius Leonard, Jordan Glasgow
» MLB: Anthony Walker, Zaire Franklin
» SAM: Bobby Okereke, E.J. Speed
» CB: Rock Ya-Sin, T.J. Carrie
» FS: Julian Blackmon, George Odum
» SS: Khari Willis, Tavon Wilson, Ibraheim Campbell
» N: Kenny Moore II, Isaiah Rodgers
» CB: Xavier Rhodes, Tremon Smith
Notes:
» The only notable change on the defensive side of the ball this week is the addition of Ron'Dell Carter, who sits third at the first defensive end spot. The undrafted rookie Carter was signed to the Colts' active roster from the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad last week.
» While the Colts are typically going to have eight defensive linemen active on gameday, the rotation was mostly five, maybe six, players deep in last Sunday's win over the Bears. DeForest Buckner (54 defensive snaps), Denico Autry (52 snaps), Justin Houston (49 snaps), Grover Stewart (32 snaps) and Al-Quadin Muhammad (32 snaps) played a majority of the game, while Ben Banogu (12 snaps), Tyquan Lewis (nine snaps) and Taylor Stallworth (six snaps) played more sparingly.
» Starting WILL linebacker Darius Leonard exited last Sunday's win over the Bears with a groin injury just before halftime and did not return. The Colts responded by moving Anthony Walker, usually the MIKE linebacker, into the WILL spot, and Bobby Okereke, normally the SAM linebacker, into the MIKE. Zaire Franklin also had two defensive snaps at linebacker in the second half.
» Just two players were at safety for the Colts last Sunday against the Bears: starters Khari Willis and Julian Blackmon, who played all 62 defensive snaps in the win.
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SPECIALISTS
» P: Rigoberto Sanchez
» PK: Rodrigo Blankenship
» H: Rigoberto Sanchez
» LS: Luke Rhodes
» KR: Nyheim Hines, Isaiah Rodgers
» PR: Nyheim Hines, Isaiah Rodgers
Notes:
» No changes this week compared to last week.
» Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone entered the season saying the team was going to look for ways to get rookie Isaiah Rodgers opportunities as a returner, and that was evident last Sunday against the Bears; Rodgers had two kickoff returns for 56 yards (28 avg.) and one punt return for 15 yards, getting a chance to show off his 4.28 speed a little bit.
