What the Colts re-signing Ross Travis means

The Colts announced yesterday that they re-signed one of the many tight ends they had that played basketball in college. What does this mean for the offense?

Ross Travis didn’t play football in college. He played basketball at Penn State. But the Colts saw enough in him to try to make him into a tight end. He has been with the Colts the last two seasons, and the Colts decided he was worth bringing back.

Travis is now back on a one year deal. This is somewhat surprising considering his lack of production. He has played in a total of 21 games in his career. He has only caught 10 balls for 91 yards and has yet to have a touchdown. His catch percentage is poor as well.

Last season ended in preseason for him after he tore his ACL in the final preseason game. He had shown some flashes in the preseason. His problem is his competition in front of him. Jack Doyle, Eric Ebron, Erik Swoope and Mo Alie-Cox were all ahead of him.

Because of that competition, it’s surprising to see the Colts bring him back. They seemed pretty set with Doyle, Ebron and Alie-Cox. They don’t do many three tight end sets anyway, so one was always a “backup”. But now you can add Travis to that list.

What this likely means is that Travis will see minimum playing time and will likely spend most of the year on the practice squad. He has shown some flashes of athleticism, which is why the Colts brought him in in the first place. But he still doesn’t have the consistency.

This year might be a one-year trail for him. But he gets one last chance to show that he belongs in the National Football League.