Transactions: March 14

Signed

CB Corey Ballentine: Don’t get too excited. Ballentine has not been a very effective CB in the NFL. In two years with the Giants and three with the Packers, he has allowed 116-76-951-8-1 passing with 6 PBU, and he hasn’t exactly been a hammer against the run. But what he does bring is extraordinary special teams prowess.

Maybe he’ll develop as a DB, he certainly is athletic enough. His biggest problem in coverage has been in press and with his initial backpedal, so he might benefit from a switch to S. So far, he’s played 1 snap at FS and 0 at SS in the NFL. He’d have to improve his tackling to succeed at either spot.

Ballentine is a super-high character guy and fearless, despite his 5’11, 196-pound frame. I expect that his value on special teams will help convince the Colts to try to develop him as a DB.

T Luke Tenuta: A sixth-round pick by the Bills in 2022, he has played 7 snaps, all at RT in his rookie season. He looked okay in that tiny sample size, but has been on the shelf ever since. He had some meh preseasons, until 2024 with the Packers when he looked NFL-ready. In preseason, he’s played 154 snaps at RT, 41 at RG and 34 at LT. He was generally a solid lineman at Virginia Tech, but would have the occasional horrible game, like against West Virginia in 2021 and against the U in 2020.

He’s more massive man at 6’8, 320 pounds than he is an athlete, and has the usual problems guys that tall have with the added bonus of short arms and slow lateral movement.

Am I being too harsh? Bad day, sorry. To be sure, Tenuta could still develop, and certainly looked much better in 2024 than he had in previous preseasons. It might be counter-intuitive, but I think he’d be better at G than T. His problems are mainly with speed and open spaces, but he could be a wrestler inside the scrum, and he can pull.

The return of Smith at RT, and the presence of Goncalves means that Tenuta will be competing with Freeland, basketball player Wilson and any draft picks otr UDFAs the Colts grab for roster space.

Also, if anyone's interested, I have a new book out. No, it's not about the Colts.