Let’s take a closer look at this Indianapolis Colts team as we go player-by-player through the roster. Up next is CB Corey Ballentine.
With offseason programs now behind us, we will be getting a jump start on our training camp preview by going player-by-player through the Indianapolis Colts’ 91-man roster.
Going alphabetically, up next is cornerback Corey Ballentine.
Corey Ballentine’s profileHeight: 5-11Weight: 196NFL experience: 6 seasonsAge: 29College: WashburnNo. 382024 Snap count totalsDefense: 75Special teams: 2032024 PFF gradesDefense: 53.5Special teams: 70.92024 Season Review
As the snap count totals show, Ballentine provided depth at the cornerback position for the Green Bay Packers, with the bulk of his playing time coming on special teams. There, Ballentine was a regular contributor on four of the six different special teams phases.
On that Packers team, Ballentine played the sixth-most special teams snaps and had the third-best PFF grade among players with at least 100 snaps.
While Ballentine’s role on defense was small last season, he did make six starts at cornerback in 2023. That year, he allowed a completion rate of 59% at 13.7 yards per catch with an interception and four pass breakups, according to PFF.
Looking ahead to the 2025 season
Similar to what he provided with the Packers, Ballentine could boost the Colts‘ cornerback depth as someone who has played over 1,000 career snaps on that side of the ball. He also has an immediate path to contribute as a potential core special teams player.
However, while it would be unusual for a relatively early free agent addition to not make the roster in Year 1, I also don’t know that Ballentine is in the lock category either.
This has quickly become a crowded Colts’ cornerback room where, along with Ballentine, there is Charvarius Ward, Kenny Moore, JuJu Brents, Jaylon Jones, Justin Walley, and Samuel Womack. That right there is seven players.
Now, not to say that Colts can’t roster that many, especially in Lou Anarumo’s defense, where there is going to be a greater reliance on the defensive back position, but going heavy at cornerback means going light elsewhere.
If the Colts are only to keep six cornerbacks, however, that is where a difficult decision may have to be made here. Typically, when it comes to back-end roster decisions, teams prefer to keep the young, higher-upside players, like Womack, who is still just 25 years old, while Ballentine is nearing his age-30 season. Also of note, if the Colts were to release Ballentine, his dead cap hit is only $482,500.
To state the obvious, we still have all of training camp to unfold and to determine what the Colts do here, but there are now a lot of moving parts when it comes to how the depth chart shakes out in the cornerback room.