Colts 2015 Player Preview: Offensive Lineman David Arkin

Offensive lineman David Arkin is entering his fifth year in the NFL, is on his fourth different team, and has played in exactly one regular season game.  With the Colts at the end of last year, however, he played in all three playoff games and is hoping to stick around with a team and make an impact.

Arkin (6-5, 310 pounds) played at Missouri State in college from 2007-2010 and was named All-Missouri Valley Football Conference for all four seasons, playing both guard and tackle.  The Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft and he spent a few seasons with the Cowboys before being released in the middle of the 2013 season.  The Cowboys quickly signed him to their practice squad, but the Miami Dolphins soon signed him off of the Cowboys' practice squad to their active roster, where he stayed until the final roster cuts of training camp in 2014.  The Seattle Seahawks soon signed him to their practice squad but released him just days later, which the Colts took advantage of.  Just over a week after he was waived from the Seahawks' practice squad, Arkin was signed to the Colts' practice squad, where he stayed for most of the season until the Colts promoted him to the active roster shortly before the playoffs.  Arkin played in all three playoff games, and he has spent the entire offseason with the Colts this year.  With all of that, however, Arkin played in just one game from 2011-2013, appearing in one game with the Dolphins in 2013.  He didn't play in a regular season game with the Colts last year but did appear in the three playoff games.

In other words, Arkin really hasn't gotten much of a chance to show what he can do, but first he needs to show that he can do something to earn a roster spot.  That will be a significant task for him with the Colts, as while their starting talent might not be overly impressive, they do seem to have good depth along the offensive line.  Joe Reitz, Lance Louis, Hugh Thornton, Donald Thomas, Ben Heenan, and others all stand good shots at making the roster as a backup, as does the center who loses the starting competition.  That doesn't leave any spots for David Arkin, and instead he will have to show the Colts that he is worth keeping around more than one of the players just mentioned (and for those not mentioned, their goal is the same as Arkin's).  At this point it seems like a long shot to happen, but we've seen plenty of players get a chance in training camp before and make the most of it - that's what Arkin will be trying to do with the Colts.