#HorseBytes: Preseason Prelude

Football season is officially back! The Indianapolis Colts will kick off against the St. Louis Rams in their preseason opener at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Luck will take his first snap as the Colts’ starting quarterback, just the second different starting quarterback in the last 14 years. There’s a lot of buzz and excitement surrounding the new-look 2012 Colts, but there’s also a lot of uncertainty. Roughly 60% of the team’s current roster is new to the Horseshoe; therefore few have proven themselves as reliable team assets. The upside is: We will find out soon enough.

The Colts released their first official depth charts this week for offense, defense, and special teams. They are as follows:

Offense

Defense

Special Teams

The depth charts reflect how the Colts will be positioned in the preseason opener. Keep in mind that things change frequently and dramatically throughout the entirety of training camp and the preseason. I can guarantee the final depth charts the team release will look vastly different from these (except for maybe the quarterback position). To help you get to know the current state of this fresh new team, I recommend reading Paul Kuharsky‘s (writer of ESPN’s AFC South blog) fantastic review of the Colts leading up to their first outing in 2012.

Injured Reserve

It’s not the best way to start off a season, but the Colts also have two players already placed on Injured Reserve, and they will remain there for the entirety of the preseason, regular season, and (if applicable) the playoffs. Both Ben Ijalana and A.J. Edds cleared waivers after suffering season-ending ACL injuries last week. They will remain with the team this year while they heal.

Blackouts, Shmackouts

If preseason sales are any indication, the Colts will not have to black out any televised games this year. The Colts-Rams contest is completely sold out (The only way to win tickets is to win one of Jim Irsay’s highly competitive Twitter contests). I’m thrilled about this early outpouring of fan support. Hopefully support does in fact remain high the entire season, regardless of the outcomes of games. Rebuilding takes time. Success may not be immediate, but it will come at some point.

I hope you are as ready and excited for the Colts’ first preseason outing as I am! I also hope you have enjoyed reading #HorseBytes this offseason. From now on, you can read my post-Colts game reviews in the return of my weekly column “Horseshoe Hero.”

Happy reading, and Go Colts!