Duron Carter, who signed with the Indianapolis Colts back in February, failed to make their 53-man roster ahead of the new NFL season. The Colts travelled to Buffalo Bills for the opening fixture of the new campaign and were well beaten 27-14 after a stern performance from the reliable Bills defense. However, Indianapolis’ offense struggled to gel and struggled to incorporate their first-round draft pick Phillip Dorsett into the offense.
Many people raised their eyebrows at Indianapolis’ decision to select Dorsett, the University of Miami wide receiver, in the opening round of the draft. Heading into the NFL draft, the Colts were expected to improve their run defence or draft in a safety if Landon Collins was still available. However, Ryan Grigson opted to pass on Collins and took Dorsett, who clocked up an incredibly fast 4.2 forty yard dash at the NFL combine, which is held at Lucas Oil Stadium on a yearly basis.
Carter is the son of NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter and although that isn’t an outright reason to select him, it should suggest that he has plenty of talent. For the past two seasons, Carter has been playing for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League in order to keep fit and make an impression on the NFL. While the Colts were certainly interested in his attributes after racking up over 1,000 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season, they obviously didn’t believe he was the right fit for the team and cut him to include Dorsett in Indianapolis’ deep receiving corps.
Photo by: Mark 2400
In a nutshell, it could be argued that the Colts WERE right to cut Carter considering the circumstances. Indianapolis signed veteran Andre Johnson to a lucrative contract in the offseason while they still have T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and fourth year star Griff Whalen. Furthermore, the Colts have two of the best pass catching tight-ends in the sport, Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen, meaning that there is a lot of talent in that Indianapolis offense. In fact, the Colts are one of the leading candidates for the Super Bowl title and are priced at 12/1 in the NFL Betting odds to achieve this goal.
However, one place that Indy could do with some help is on special teams. For the last two years, the Colts have struggled to find a consistent kick/punt returner to help Andrew Luck and the Colts offense to start further upfield. Josh Cribbs was cut after one too many fumbles and Dorsett fumbled twice in the season’s opener against Buffalo. Although it is too late know, the Colts could have tried to utilise Carter on special teams at the very least, even if he wasn’t going to get many offensive snaps.
On the other hand, Carter’s hopes of following in his father’s footsteps are still possible. The Colts retained Carter for the practice squad and he has been included in the 10-man list. Many believed that Carter, a talented prospect who averaged 15.5 yards per reception in the Canadian Football League last season, would be picked up by another team on waivers but the Colts got lucky. Over the course of the season, Carter will be training hard to show his worth and could, with a bit of luck, earn a place in the full 53-man roster next season.
Photo by: hyku