Stampede Blue
The Indianapolis Colts announced on Monday that the team has signed veteran running back Ameer Abdullah to their practice squad and waived Khalil Herbert in a corresponding roster move:
Originally a 2015 2nd round pick of the Detroit Lions, the 32-year-old Abdullah has also spent time with the Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers, Las Vegas Raiders, and San Francisco 49ers organizations.
The listed 5’9”, 203 pound back was most recently signed by the 49ers this past late July but was later placed on injured reserve before being waived-injured in mid-August.
He’s coming a 2024 campaign with the Raiders in which he had 66 carries for 311 total rushing yards (4.7 ypc. avg.) and 2 rushing touchdowns, as well as 40 receptions for 261 receiving yards (6.5 ypc. avg.) and 3 touchdown receptions during 16 total games (3 starts).
He also has extensive experience as a kick returner, averaging 25.1 yards per kick return on 151 career kick returns throughout his 10-year NFL career.
The Colts elevated undrafted rookie running back Ulysses Bentley IV this past weekend over Herbert for still injured backup Tyler Goodson (elbow), which may not have boded well for Herbert’s future roster stability. It was Herbert who spent this training camp and preseason with the Colts and was the primary competition for Goodson’s current ‘third down receiving back’ role, when healthy.
Instead, Indianapolis elects to go with Abdullah for the organizational extra ‘scat-back’ depth, and he also provides more special teams versatility as a kick returner than Herbert did previously—if eventually called upon.
