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The new league year begins next month, and with it comes the start of the free agency period in the NFL. The Colts have several guys who will become free agents at that point, but there may be some of them worth re-signing. We’ll be taking a look at each one of them and discussing whether it would be a good idea for the Colts to bring them back or not. We continue today with Jordan Todman.
When Quan Bray went down with an injury last season, the Colts began their search for his replacement, but they quickly found him in Jordan Todman.
The backup running back had made the roster out of preseason as the fourth-string back, mainly due to his role on special teams in coverage. But he became the Colts’ kick returner midway through the season and really impressed with that role. His highlight play was, of course, returning the opening kickoff 99 yards for a score against the Packers, and he was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance. On the season, he returned 16 kickoffs for an average of 29.9 yards per return, with eleven of his returns going for 20+ yards and three of them going for 40+ yards. He also rushed nine times for 59 yards (6.6 yards per carry) in garbage-time action this year.
In his NFL career, he’s been with five teams and has played in 60 games, starting three, and has rushed for 531 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 4.3 yards per carry. He’s also caught 40 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns, while he has a career kick return average of 26.6 yards per return (with 68 20+ yard returns and seven 40+ yard returns).
When we discuss whether the Colts should bring Todman back, we have to understand what the role would be. It wouldn’t be for anything more than depth purposes at running back, since Frank Gore is still around, Robert Turbin might be brought back, the team might draft a back or two, and Josh Ferguson is still on the roster. Todman would be nothing more than buried on the depth chart at the position. But he could be very valuable to bring back as a kick returner.
It all depends on what the Colts plan to do with Quan Bray. He’s an exclusive rights free agent, meaning the Colts could bring him back easily, and if they brought Bray back it would be as the kick and punt returner. So the question is whether the Colts would rather have Bray in that role or whether they would rather have Todman as the kick returner and Chester Rogers (or someone else) as the punt returner.
It’s very unlikely that Todman will get a significant contract, however, so there’s not much harm in bringing him back to compete for a spot. Not only would he add a depth guy at running back for the offseason program and training camp, but he would also be able to seriously compete for the return job with Bray (assuming they bring both back). I don’t think there would be anything wrong with bringing him back to compete for a spot.