Kevin

Thomas

The Colts have been exposed by big No. 1 wideouts over the past two weeks. Standing 6'1/185 compared to Lacey’s 5'10/177, Thomas could be a desperation move to deal with Marques Colston’s size at 6'4/225. This is the first NFL action of Thomas’ two-year career, after his rookie campaign was cut short by knee surgery.

A third-round pick in 2010, Thomas has the size to fit what new coach Chuck Pagano wants to do defensively, but lost his rookie campaign to knee surgery and appeared in just nine games last season. Second-year CB Chris Rucker also projects for an expanded role following the departure of Jacob Lacey.

Lacey was benched by ex-defensive coordinator Larry Coyer after the Week 6 loss to the Bengals for performance reasons. With Coyer now gone, it sounds like Lacey is going to get another chance. The Colts are allowing opponents to complete 71.2 percent of their passes, dead last in the league.

It’s a bad sign that 2010 third-rounder Kevin Thomas has been unable to hold onto the gig. King has elite speed, but lacks physicality and graded out as the worst corner in the league last season by Pro Football Focus. This Colts secondary will be one for fantasy owners to attack this season.

Thomas was a 2010 third-round pick despite an injury-marred career at USC. He played 39 percent of the defensive snaps last season after losing his rookie year to an ACL tear. Although the Eagles have a surfeit of candidates for the slot, they had a need for a backup of Thomas’ size on the outside. He had been overtaken by Justin King early in Colts camp.

Jacob Lacey’s departure has thinned out the Colts’ secondary. Thomas, a 2010 third-rounder out of USC, appeared in just nine games last season due to knee issues. The Colts are aware the unit looks weak on paper and have been linked to disgruntled Cowboys corner Mike Jenkins.

Thomas, a third-round pick in 2010 out of USC, was acquired via trade with the Colts early in training camp. He obviously didn’t work out, failing to beat out Curtis Marsh and Brandon Boykin. Welch has bounced around the league.

Thomas was an injury waiting to happen at USC, so it’s not surprising that he’s already on the shelf. The No. 94 overall pick in April’s draft was removed from several teams’ draft boards for injury reasons. Thomas wasn’t going to play a major first-year role anyway behind Kelvin Hayden and Jerraud Powers.

The extent of the injury is unclear, but the Colts don’t appear to be counting on Thomas to play this season. They’ve talked up seventh-round pick Ray Fisher as a possible dime back. Terrail Lambert may be another option.

A 2010 third-round pick of the Colts, Thomas hasn’t appeared in an NFL game since 2011. He’d be little more than a camp body for the Ravens.