The Indianapolis Colts open training camp on July 28 in Indianapolis. The Colts are coming off a disappointing 7-9 season, including 2-7 over their final nine games. To turn things around, the Colts are turning to 38-year-old Philip Rivers, who comes over after 16 seasons with the Chargers. He takes the starting QB reins from last year's starter, Jacoby Brissett. But the position group facing the biggest change is the secondary, which will have several new faces including veteran cornerback Xavier Rhodes. Here is a 53-man roster projection.
QUARTERBACK (2): Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett
The Colts have plenty of experience at quarterback, as Rivers and Brissett have combined for 256 career starts. Even with Rivers' 23 turnovers, including 20 interceptions, which were the third-most in the NFL last season, he is an upgrade over the more conservative Brissett.
RUNNING BACK (4): Jordan Wilkins, Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines, Marlon Mack
The seventh-ranked rushing attack in 2019 got even better when the Colts selected Taylor in the second round of the NFL draft. Taylor rushed for at least 2,000 yards in each of his final two seasons at Wisconsin.
WIDE RECEIVER (5): T.Y. Hilton, Parris Campbell, Zach Pascal, Michael Pittman Jr., Marcus Johnson, Dezmon Patmon
Injuries depleted the Colts at receiver last season, as even the normally-reliable Hilton missed six games. Pittman, the first player the Colts selected in the draft (No. 34 overall), has the size to go with the speed of Hilton and Campbell. The key for Campbell is staying healthy. He spent the majority of his rookie season injured, missing nine games. Pascal is an underrated receiver who was forced to move into the No. 1 role last season after all the injuries.
TIGHT END (4): Jack Doyle, Trey Burton, Roosevelt Nix, Mo Alie-Cox
Doyle is the glue of the tight end group because of his ability to catch and block well. Burton is the wild card of the group. Not because of his playing ability, but because of injury problems in the past. Burton, who was on Philadelphia's Super Bowl-winning team in 2017 with coach Frank Reich, missed half of the 16 games last season while with the Chicago Bears. The hope is he'll replace Eric Ebron, a player the Colts had no interest in re-signing.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Anthony Castonzo, Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Mark Glowinski, Braden Smith, Le'Raven Clark, Danny Pinter, Javon Patterson, Chaz Green
This group is the anchor of the entire Colts roster. They were the only unit in the NFL to start the same five players in all16 games last season. The question with them is their depth, as several key backups signed elsewhere during the offseason.
DEFENSIVE LINE (9): DeForest Buckner, Kemoko Turay, Sheldon Day, Justin Houston, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Tyquan Lewis, Ben Banogu, Denico Autry, Grover Stewart
Houston silenced any doubts about his ability to continue to play at a high level in 2019 with 11 sacks, which tied for the second most in his career. Houston will have some help in the pass-rush department after general manager Chris Ballard traded away the No. 13 pick to acquire Buckner from San Francisco. Buckner had 19.5 sacks over the past two seasons. The Colts should have enough talent and depth to be able to consistently rotate players along the line.
LINEBACKER (6): Darius Leonard, Anthony Walker, Bobby Okereke, Zaire Franklin, Matthew Adams, E.J. Speed
Leonard, in just two seasons, has already become one of the best linebackers in the NFL. He's totaled 284 tackles, 12 sacks and seven interceptions. And like the offensive line, the Colts return the same linebackers who started for them last season. Okereke potentially could move to middle linebacker with Walker being a free agent at the end of this season.
SECONDARY (11): Rock Ya-Sin, Kenny Moore, Malik Hooker, Xavier Rhodes, George Odum, Khari Willis, Marvell Tell III, Isaiah Rodgers, T.J. Carrie, Julian Blackmon, Rolan Milligan
This group had some significant changes during the offseason. Gone are cornerbacks Pierre Desir and Clayton Geathers and cornerback Quincy Wilson. Rhodes, who signed a one-year contract with the Colts, becomes the veteran of a relatively young group of defensive backs. Moore is arguably one of the top slot corners in the league.
SPECIALIST (3): Chase McLaughlin, Luke Rhodes, Rigoberto Sanchez
A special-teams unit without Adam Vinatieri? Barring any kind of changes, the Colts are headed in a different direction at kicker for the first time since 2006 after Vinatieri, the league's all-time leading scorer, struggled last season before eventually going on injured reserve in December. McLaughlin replaced Vinatieri and went 11-of-11 on extra points and 5-of-6 on field goals.