Colts sign L.T. Smith, waive Tyler Rutenbeck

The Indianapolis Colts announced a minor roster move this morning as they swapped out wide receivers on their 90-man roster.  They signed undrafted free agent wide receiver L.T. Smith and, as a corresponding move, waived Tyler Rutenbeck.

Smith, a 6-0, 202 pound wideout, played collegiately at Akron.  During his time there, he appeared in 48 games (starting 34) and caught 117 passes for 1,426 yards and nine scores.  Interestingly, Smith started his time at Akron by playing safety, where he notched 41 tackles (1.5 for loss), a sack, a pass defensed, and a fumble recovery.  He made the transition from safety to receiver in 2012, and in his final three years at Akron he played in all 12 games in each season at receiver.  In 2014, he caught 45 passes for 489 yards and three touchdowns, also returning 19 kicks for 427 yards, averaging 21.5 yards per return.

Rutenbeck originally signed with the Colts at the beginning of June as an undrafted free agent out of Dubuque, and he went through the end of the offseason program and the entirety of training camp with the Colts.  He really didn't do anything to stand out, however, and with a loaded receiver position like the Colts have, he really didn't stand much of a chance to make the roster anyway.

That's the same situation that Smith will now find himself in, except for he didn't even have the benefit of being with the team in the offseason or in training camp.  That will make his attempt to stick around in some way (even on the practice squad) much harder, and at this point it appears the move is nothing more than a depth one to give the Colts another receiver on the 90-man roster for preseason.