Cincinnati Bengals vs Indianapolis Colts

Roster depth

It's all about the roster depth in week 4 of the preseason. All the starters will sit this game out in order to avoid any injuries in the wake of the regular season. Only guys that are battling for the roster spots will be on the field tonight. In a couple of days, NFL rosters will be cut almost in half, and these players will be given the last opportunity to make a case for themselves.

When it comes to handicapping this week's games, it is most important to know how good are the backup quarterbacks. Quite unexpected, we found out through these first three games that the Bengals have a solid bunch at the position. Ryan Finley was a 4th round draft pick this year, who struggled badly earlier in the offseason. He managed to turn the corner very fast and was one of the best QBs in the entire NFL preseason. He was completing passes at a 73.4% rate (47/64 for 414 yards), scored 3 touchdowns and threw one interception. With Dalton not playing in this one and 3rd stringer Jeff Driskel being injured, I am guessing he'll get at least a half in this game. The rest of it will go to Jake Dolegala. He got his first opportunity last week with Drieskel being out with hamstring injury. He is another rookie, but he went undrafted out of Central Connecticut State this year. He was brought in merely as a camp arm. But he showed a lot of potential last week, completing 10 out of 12 passes for 94 yards and 2 touchdowns. He has shown that he is not only an intriguing 6'7'' athlete, but also a very good passer with a live arm.

Boo's in Indianapolis

The biggest news in the NFL for last week was that Andrew Luck is retiring from football. One of the top quarterbacks in the league decided to hang up the cleats at only 29 years of age, after a constant battle with injuries for the last 4 years or so. It caught everybody off-guard and he even got booed off the field in Lucas Oil Stadium, which was not a cool move by the Colts fans.

But, Luck's retirement opened up another roster spot and an opportunity for other players to win jobs. Here I'm talking mostly about Philipp Walker and Chad Kelly. With Jacoby Brissett getting the starting job, one of those guys will get moved in the primary backup spot all of a sudden. This game will be used to determine the winner of that competition, and it's wide open at the moment. Walker was in front of Chad Kelly on the depth chart so far, with more experience in the system. But Kelly outplayed Walker so far this preseason. Truth to be told, he played against lesser competition, but completing 71.9% of passes for 445 yards (2 TD, 1 INT) is still a lot better than 50% for 259 (0 TD, 2 INT). Kelly has the talent and is also built more like a traditional QB, but he couldn't stay out of trouble off the field so far. It's probably the main reason why he's still behind Walker on the depth chart.

Colts vs Bengals best bet

I like the over here. Totals are very low for these week's games because all the starters sitting out. But in this one, we've got 4 solid throwers that proved in this preseason that they can rack up some yards. Colts will try to determine who is their backup and they are not going to accomplish that by calling a bunch of running plays. They will air the ball out and see who can do better.