Colts 2016 player preview: Running back Frank Gore

The Indianapolis Colts will report to training camp on July 26 with their 90-man roster, which will be cut down to 53 players by the end of the preseason.  To pass the time until camp, we're taking a look at every player on the Colts' 90-man roster.  Today, we're looking at running back Frank Gore.

Who is he?

Of all the players on the Colts roster, running back Frank Gore is one of the most accomplished of all of them, right up there with the likes of Adam Vinatieri and Robert Mathis.  Gore is entering his 12^th NFL season, and in the previous eleven he has proven to be one of the league's top running backs.  Drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft, Gore spent ten years with the 49ers.  During that tenure, he rushed for 11,073 yards and 64 touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per carry, also adding 342 receptions for 2,883 yards and eleven scores.  His tenure with the 49ers came to an end last year, however, as he opted to sign with the Colts.  In his first season with Indianapolis, he rushed for 967 yards and six touchdowns (averaging 3.7 yards per carry) and caught 34 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown.  It was a season he called the toughest of his career, as he failed to reach 1,000 yards rushing for the first time since 2010 and just the third time in his eleven-year career (it was also the first season in which he finished with a yards per carry average below 4.1).  The five-time Pro Bowler hasn't missed a game since 2010 and ranks 15^th on the NFL's all-time rushing yards list, the highest of any active player.  With just 700 yards in 2016, he would move into eighth place in the league's record books.

What is his role?

Frank Gore is the Colts' starting running back.  Though last year didn't go as anyone had hoped, Gore still displayed good running ability and good vision to be able to capitalize on what little running lanes were there.  Whether due to the injuries to Andrew Luck, the ineffectiveness of the offense, or the offensive line, the reality is that Gore didn't have much of a chance to truly break out last year.  That hopefully will change this year, and he's already motivated by falling short last year: he wants to be the first Colt to top 1,000 yards in a season since 2007 and the first to top 100 yards in a game since 2012.  Gore is still a very capable running back, but the Colts need to be thinking about depth options for the 33 year old back.  Indy will need to look for a long-term replacement and a number two back for this year, but Frank Gore will be the starter in 2016.

What are his chances?

He's a lock, as Frank Gore is the starting running back for the Colts.