Following their initial 53-man roster cuts, the Indianapolis Colts 17-man practice squad has now taken shape, although those last few spots may still remain a bit fluid—as other NFL teams continue to fine tune their final active rosters ahead of the regular season’s Week 1:
- Linebacker Austin Ajiake
- Running back Ulysses Bentley IV
- Running back Khalil Herbert
- Offensive tackle Marcellus Johnson
- Cornerback Chris Lammons
- Tight End Maximilian Mang
- Tight End Sean McKeon
- Defensive End Durrell Nchami
- Safety Ben Nikkel
- Wide Receiver Coleman Owen
- Wide Receiver Tyler Scott
- Offensive Guard Josh Sills
- Defensive Tackle Tim Smith
- Wide Receiver Laquon Treadwell
- Defensive Tackle Josh Tupou
- Center Mose Vavao
- Safety Trey Washington
The Colts added two players to their taxi-man team, who didn’t spend any of this year’s training camp and/or preseason with them: safety Ben Nikkel (Washington Commanders) and wide receiver Tyler Scott (Chicago Bears).
Nikkel, was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Commanders out of Iowa State in 2024 and had a stint on their practice squad last regular season before spending this offseason with his former club. The 6’1”, 210 pound safety has yet to appear in an NFL game.
Meanwhile, Scott is originally a 2023 4th round pick of the Chicago Bears out of Cincinnati, and of course, current Colts wideout Alec Pierce’s former Bearcats teammate. In his two years with the Bears, he has 18 receptions for 173 total receiving yards (9.6 ypr. avg.) during 28 career games (4 starts). He’s also had some experience as a kick returner at the NFL level, averaging 24.2 yards per kick return on 13 total returns.
Otherwise, there were at least a few Colts that ultimately ended up back on their practice squad who seemed like easy targets to remain within the Colts organization (*assuming they cleared league waivers): linebacker Austin Ajiake, running backs Ulysses Bentley IV and Khalil Herbert, offensive tackle Marcellus Johnson, cornerback Chris Lammons, tight end Maximilian Mang, wide receiver Coleman Owen, and defensive tackle Tim Smith among them.
