The Colts suffered a damaging blow to their hopes of winning the AFC South by losing to the Texans on Thursday night, and they have also suffered a key injury. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Indianapolis will be placing tight end Eric Ebron on injured reserve, as Ebron needs surgery on both of his ankles.
Ebron, whom the Lions selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2014 draft, had something of an up-and-down tenure in Detroit, but the Colts took a gamble on his upside by giving him a two-year, $13MM deal shortly after the Lions released him in March 2018. He did not disappoint, as he developed great chemistry with Colts’ signal-caller Andrew Luck throughout the 2018 campaign and finished the season with 66 catches for 750 yards and a whopping 13 TDs. His efforts earned him the first Pro Bowl nod of his career.
But Ebron struggled to develop the same rapport with Jacoby Brissett this season, and he has battled injuries and consistency issues throughout the year. He will finish the 2019 season with 31 catches for 375 yards and three scores.
It’s bad timing for Ebron, who will be a free agent again this offseason, but assuming he makes a full recovery, he should still be able to land another multi-year pact. The Colts will lean more heavily on fellow TE Jack Doyle as they continue their playoff push, and they will also sign Ross Travis, as Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star tweets. Travis played four games for the Colts in the 2017 season, but an ACL tear wiped out his entire 2018 campaign. Indy re-signed him to a one-year pact in February, but he did not survive final cuts.
Is Doyle going to be a top 5 tight end the rest of the way?
I honestly don’t think so. Given the others out there top 5 is a no imo. But he sure will have a boost in production and very well could be top 10.