Marlon Mack

Mack's tenure as the Colts' lead back was destined to end the moment the team drafted Jonathan Taylor in 2020, and Mack never even got a chance to fight for his spot after tearing his Achilles tendon Week 1 that season. During his 1,000-yard campaign back in 2019, Mack was agile and elusive in the open field, but without the power, vision or receiving skills that teams typically look for in a lead back. He bounced back from the Achilles tear in 2020 and re-signed with the Colts last year, but he barely saw the field behind Taylor and Nyheim Hines. Now he'll have a better chance to see touches but a much worse offensive line, joining a Texans squad with no incumbent starter in the backfield. Mack seems to have fallen behind rookie Dameon Pierce on the depth chart, but there may still be some carries available for the veteran come Week 1.

Coming off his first season with more than 1,000 rushing yards in 2019, Mack appeared to be a long shot to match that production last year after the Colts spent a second-round pick on Jonathan Taylor, but he never got the chance to fend off his challenger after tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 1. Mack has made good progress in his rehab and was cleared for the start of training camp, but it won't be clear whether he's lost any of his plus elusiveness until he sees game action in earnest. Even if Mack hasn't lost a step, Taylor seems entrenched in the top spot in the backfield, and Nyheim Hines remains the primary passing-down option. Barring an injury to Taylor, Mack seems unlikely to see enough touches to be a consistent fantasy asset even if he does make a full recovery, though any touches can be valuable ones behind Indy's elite offensive line.

Mack began last season with a bang, piling up 174 rushing yards against the Chargers in Week 1, but that proved to be the high-water mark of his season as a potential breakout campaign turned into a merely good one. Working behind arguably the league's best offensive line, Mack used his impressive elusiveness to do damage when he got into the open field, but he also tried to do too much on his own rather than taking the holes his blocking created for him, as only Sony Michel was stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage more often than Mack. He simply doesn't have the power to shake off would-be tacklers, and he wound up gaining a lower percentage of his yards after contact than any back with 200-plus carries besides Christian McCaffrey. Mack is also a non-factor in the passing game, a product both of his own rudimentary skills as a receiver and the presence of passing-down specialist Nyheim Hines on the roster. With veteran Philip Rivers now under center instead of Jacoby Brissett, the Colts offense should be more potent overall, but Mack now has to compete with 2020 second-round pick Jonathan Taylor for touches, and even if he wins the early down role, he might not be able to fully capitalize on it.

Mack entered last year as a popular sleeper, but after only 18 offensive snaps through Week 5 due to lower-body injuries, it looked like the talented but brittle back was staring at a lost season. He got healthy Week 6, though, and was immediately off to the races, finishing with more than 1,000 scrimmage yards despite missing four games. The South Florida product is extraordinarily elusive in the open field, but his secret weapon was the rise of the Colts offensive line. The addition of Quenton Nelson pushed the unit to elite status, so Mack found himself with bigger holes and a lot more running room than he had the year before. He's not an especially physical runner (his 16 broken tackles were well below average for a feature back) and he had less than half of the team's carries inside the 5-yard line, though he converted six of 13. Mack still needs to improve as a receiver and show he can stay on the field to become a true bell cow, but with only Jordan Wilkins and Nyheim Hines competing for carries, Mack is set up for a productive 2019.

Few rookie campaigns have been as predictable as Mack's 2017. Stuck behind Frank Gore on the depth chart while playing in an offense that didn't present much of a vertical threat without Andrew Luck under center, the fourth-round pick out of South Florida couldn't produce big numbers, but he showed flashes of his big-play ability with seven runs of 15 yards or more on only 93 carries. At 6-0, 210, Mack compensates for his thin frame with speed that appears better than his 4.5 40 time, along with ankle-breaking moves that routinely leave defenders grasping at air. It's also worth noting he played through a torn labrum in his shoulder most of 2017 - ultimately requiring offseason surgery - which could explain his reluctance to run through tackles or fully engage blitzing pass rushers. Returning veteran Robert Turbin figures to be limited to short-yardage work once he returns from a four-game suspension, and while the Colts drafted Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins to compete for snaps, the former profiles as a pass-catching specialist and the latter looks like a lesser version of Mack. If Luck can return and force safeties out of the box, the second-year back has the talent to exploit the extra space. Mack faces another obstacle after straining a hamstring in the first week of the preseason, leaving his Week 1 availability in doubt.

A fourth-round pick out of South Florida, Mack potentially gives the Colts a big-play hare in their backfield to complement Frank Gore's slow but steady tortoise act. Mack showed incredible elusiveness and balance at USF, routinely making wouldbe tacklers miss en route to six TD runs of 40 yards or more in his final college season -- and he's got the burst to hit a hole with power when he identifies one. But he too often looks to bounce a play outside for a home run rather than settling for a smaller opening inside, something that could get him in trouble against faster NFL defenders. Gore's tutelage could help the rookie temper those instincts and learn when it's best to take what he's given. Mack likely will fill a change-of-pace role in 2017 but could be in line for bigger things once Gore retires.