3 Colts whose stock has fallen since entering the new season

2. Safety Rodney McLeod

Since joining Indianapolis this offseason, Rodney McLeod‘s stock has gone up and down. Right now it seems to be falling again. Indy signed McLeod in the middle of April as a depth piece. The 10-year vet was looking to bolster the secondary that was often injured last season. Then two months later, starting safety Khari Willis announced he was retiring. McLeod’s stock increased as he was now primed to be a starting safety opposite Julian Blackmon.

In between these two events, the Colts drafted safety Nick Cross in the third round. McLeod’s stock was still up as the team entered training camp. Then everything changed. Cross started to show why Indy traded back into the third round to take him. Big play after big play. The reports from the first few days of training camp were that Cross was the standout. Not standing out, but the standout of training camp.

Pretty soon, people started to mumble about Cross being the other starting safety. Those mumbles turned into rumblings and then when the Colts debuted their first unofficial depth chart, there was Cross, listed as the starting strong safety. McLeod’s stock started to fall. He wasn’t making as good of plays in camp and the 10-year, Super Bowl champion had essentially lost his spot to a rookie, if it was even his, to begin with.

After the first preseason game, it doesn’t appear that things will change. Cross played well recording three tackles playing with the first-team defense. McLeod didn’t play too bad either recording an interception off a tipped pass to go with his one pass deflection. What McLeod didn’t do was impress over Cross. Now, as his stock falls, he is likely the second-string safety on a defense that is going to be relied on greatly this upcoming season.