Colts’ preseason Week 2 used for depth evaluation, with McGowan, Shrader and Allen among the standouts in “Colts Things”

The Colts’ preseason Week 2, as reflected in the team’s own “5 Colts Things” roundup, leaned heavily toward evaluation rather than exhibition snaps for the established core. The most basic takeaway from the club’s notes was stark, no starters played, and even some second-string players did not suit up. That approach can compress the amount of tape available on the top of the depth chart, but it increases the clarity for the coaches on who can handle game-week responsibilities when the rotation opens up.

Within that framework, the Colts highlighted Seth McGowan, Spencer Shrader, CJ Allen and other players as points of interest from the week’s work. The specific emphasis in the team’s recap was not framed as a single headline moment like a major scoring burst or a lineup shakeup. Instead, it was framed as a series of roster-building observations, the kind that typically matter most in late August when teams are trying to identify reliable options for the final roster spots and the early-season packages.

McGowan’s name appearing first among the roster notes indicates that the staff wanted a closer look at what he did during the opportunities available in the limited-rotation environment. When a team holds back starters, the competitive bandwidth shifts to players at the margins, including those pushing for roles on special teams or as depth at their position groups. In that setting, small execution details and consistency in reps tend to carry more weight than usual.

Shrader and Allen were also part of the club’s central “things to know” list. Their inclusion in a team-authored preseason recap matters because it suggests the Colts believe their development track is close enough to the regular-season conversation to deserve visibility, at least internally. In preseason Weeks like this one, that often means monitoring how players respond under pressure, how quickly they process play calls and adjustments, and whether they can stay assignment-sound when the game plan is still in flux.

The broader reason these preseason notes matter is that the preseason rotation is not just about who plays, it is about how much coaching feedback teams can generate. With no starters and limited second-team participation, Indianapolis can compare players across a tighter band of circumstances, then decide who is most likely to translate those roles into September, when practice reps must cover fewer unknowns.

For fans, the immediate next step is watching how the Colts handle the remaining preseason week(s) in terms of who gets work. If the team continues using shallow rotations, the Week 2 highlights from McGowan, Shrader, Allen and others may serve as a roadmap for the roles the staff wants to keep developing. If the rotation opens up later, those same players’ early-season value will likely depend on whether they can maintain their performance while the competitive field expands again.