Jimmy Morrissey has been a center in the NFL since 2022. He has never been a star. He is a journeyman. A backup. But a backup center. That is a position that the Indianapolis Colts' Dalton Tucker has not played. Not in the NFL. To the best of my knowledge, not in college either.
However, Indy's offensive coaches seem bound and determined to turn Tucker into their backup center, and it may well cost him a roster spot. After his performance against the Detroit Lions in the Colts’ third and final preseason game, it is very hard to make the case that Tucker has earned a place on the 53-man squad.
What we have no real way of knowing is whether Shane Steichen and offensive line coach Tony Sparano feel comfortable enough with what Tucker has done in the past to keep him around at guard. But it seems apparent that if Tucker’s only path to the roster is at center, that path may have closed on Saturday.
The Indianapolis Colts' Dalton Tucker experiment at center needs to stop
Tucker couldn’t manage the most basic part of the job against the Lions. In shotgun, he failed on numerous occasions to deliver the ball into his quarterback’s hands. I counted five snaps that were too high. Whether it was Anthony Richardson or Riley Leonard, too many balls were up around eye level. One was underpowered and barely reached Richardson’s feet.
That forces the QB to reach and risks fumbles. Even if he fields the ball cleanly, as both Colts’ signal callers managed, it delays his ability to begin reading coverage. Split seconds spent watching the ball instead of the safeties can have a devastating effect.
As a blocker, Tucker did not pick up Skyler Gill-Howard on his sack of Richardson at the end of the first quarter. His run blocking was adequate. But it seems that the Colts move the ball better with bigger, more powerful backups like rookie Jalen Farmer and veteran Josh Stills at guard.
Steichen has expressed comfort with Tucker as a backup guard in the past. With the departure of Danny Pinter this offseason, the Colts were in the market for a new backup center. There was nothing wrong with trying out Tucker.
But the experiment has not worked. The question now becomes whether Tucker’s shift to guard was indeed seen as an actual experiment, or whether it was seen as a way to give a respected young veteran a chance to find a new spot once Jalen Farmer was added via the draft. If Farmer was going to take the primary backup guard spot and the Colts wanted a role for Tucker, perhaps center would be the spot.
At this point, it seems Morrissey is the team’s best bet to back up starter Tanor Bortolini. It is very hard to imagine Shane Steichen would feel comfortable having Tucker snap the ball in a regular season game if it becomes necessary.
In the second half, Tucker moved back to his normal guard spot, and Josh Sills took some snaps at center. Sills didn’t look too bad. If he can play center, then keeping Sills and Farmer, along with perhaps two backup tackles, might be the best group the Colts currently have.
Whether it ends up being Morrissey or Sills, or perhaps a player who is not even on the roster yet, it seems likely that Dalton Tucker will not be the Colts' backup center this year. And that may mean there is not a spot for the young veteran on this year's roster.
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