Luke Tenuta’s time on the Indianapolis Colts’ 53-man roster proved to be very short. One day after making it as the club’s presumed swing tackle, Tenuta was released in order to make room for cornerback Kapena Gushiken, claimed off waivers from Philadelphia.
Tenuta was quickly signed to the practice squad, and there’s a very good chance he will be elevated back onto the 53-man roster at some point this season.
Why did general manager Chris Ballard make this move? The proximal cause – (sorry, that’s one of the few terms I remember from high school biology – it’s a show-offy way of saying immediate or short-term) – is the one-game suspension that will be served by Cam Taylor-Britt in the first week of the 2026 season. Gushiken provides immediate insurance in the slot.
Seemingly minor Indianapolis Colts roster move could pay big dividends down the road
But the distal cause – (long-term, and I will stop using biology now) – has more to do with developing the Colts’ secondary. We all saw how porous the backup cornerbacks were in preseason.
Johnathan Edwards was torched in the first preseason game but made the roster, in part because most of his fellow depth corners struggled even more in other games. So Gushiken is not merely a placeholder. He could develop into a key part of the defense.
Gushiken began his college career at Saddleback Community College. Before you make any assumptions about that pedigree, know that the Bobcats produced at least one multi-Pro Bowler in offensive lineman Kyle Long. They also gave a start to Colt Brennan, who would go on to become one of the most prolific quarterbacks in NCAA history.
Long and Brennan played a few decades ago, but the Saddleback-NFL connection has continued. Running back/return man Emari Demercado, now with the Cowboys, played there.
And Colts fans have gotten a firsthand look at Saddleback’s other current NFL player over the past couple of seasons. Linebacker Segun Olubi, now with Las Vegas, was a Bobcat a few years before Gushiken’s arrival.
In scouting Gushiken, I see a different Bobcat. Ty Okada, starting safety for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, was also a Bobcat in college, albeit at Montana State. Okada is a little bigger than Gushiken, but in many ways, they are virtually identical.
Both are undersized. Both are exceptional athletes. Both were undrafted. Okada, who entered the league three years before Gushiken, has now carved out a crucial role on an excellent team. Chris Ballard is hoping Kapena Gushiken can do the same.
Like Okada, Gushiken tested brilliantly in the run-up to the NFL draft. His RAS (Raw Athletic Score) has a reported range of 9.16 to 9.20. That is borderline elite. Okada had a similar number when he was coming out of college back in 2023.
Gushiken has outstanding speed. He has been timed at 4.33 in the 40. His 3-cone time, designed to measure his ability to maintain speed while bending corners, is also outstanding. And his 17 bench presses suggest he has very good upper body strength for a corner.
His problem – the reason he was not drafted – is that he is small. Standing just under 5’10” and weighing just under 190 pounds, will Gushiken be able to stand up to NFL-sized receivers? Will he be able to take on running backs who routinely outweigh him by 30-40 pounds?
Gushiken will play primarily in the slot. Colts fans have seen up close just how good a smaller corner can function in that role, provided he is tough enough to mix it up with much bigger players. There were similar size concerns about Kenny Moore II when he played the position for Indy. Moore went from being an undersized UDFA to starting more than 100 games for the Colts over nine seasons.
Gushiken’s biggest physical challenge may not be his overall size. It may come down to his arms. He has arms that fall below 30 inches. That is almost two inches below what is considered the norm. Kenny Moore, for instance, may have been on the small side, but he did have very long arms – more than three inches longer than Gushiken.
But every player has some issue. Success in the NFL is all about overcoming such things. Ty Okada appeared in just nine games during his first two seasons. He was mostly a special teamer. Before 2025, he had logged just 33 defensive snaps. Then, an injury to Julian Love last season opened the door, and he burst through. Can Gushiken make the same journey if he has a similar chance?
Time will tell. After he moved on from Saddleback, he had three productive seasons at Washington State and Ole Miss, proving to be a very good tackler despite his size. He took an interception back 88 yards for a touchdown in his first season at Washington State. He has the athletic skills to succeed in the NFL. Now, he just needs some time to develop, the way Okada did in Seattle.
Add us as a preferred source on Google