Evan

Hull

He’ll join Devin Neal and Audric Estime in the derby to see who can replace Alvin Kamara’s weekly 27-40 rushing yards. Hull was a fifth-round pick by the Colts in 2023 and has one NFL carry to his name.

Hull joins the Saints’ practice squad a little more than a week after RB Kendre Miller was lost for the season to a torn ACL. Hull is unlikely to become fantasy-relevant this season, but the speedy youngster gives the Saints an extra player to work with in practice.

The Steelers also released LB Kenny Willekes and LS Jake McQuaide and waived RB Evan Hull, CB Kam Alexander, S Quindell Johnson, DB Kyler McMichael, DB Mikey Victor, OG Doug Nester, OT Julian Pearl and TE Kevin Foelsch. The two biggest names here are Woodside and Hull. Both players will likely be offered tryouts and/or practice squad spots at some point.

With Jonathan Taylor out for Week 6’s matchup against the Titans, it makes sense for Indianapolis to add depth in the backfield with Hull. Trey Sermon will operate as the lead back with Tyler Goodson as the No. 2.

In the end, second-year pro Hull never appeared to really be in the mix for No. 2 duties behind Jonathan Taylor. Trey Sermon won the competition and Hull fell behind Tyler Goodson. Although he’s still only 23 years old, it’s a poor career development for a player who is no longer a worthy dynasty league stash.

Goodson entered the game ahead of RB Evan Hull, who rushed nine times for 30 yards and caught 1-of-1 targets for minus-three yards. Goodson may have a leg up on Hull for the No. 3 role behind injured No. 2 RB Trey Sermon (hamstring).

A former third-round pick of the 49ers in 2021, Sermon hasn’t seen much work as a pro, appearing in just 25 games during his three-year career while rushing for 78-346-1 over that span. With Zack Moss now in Cincinnati, Sermon, who joined the Colts last season, has a chance to earn a meaningful role heading into this season. Jonathan Taylor will still handle the large majority of the Colts’ touches, but whoever ends up as his backup could make for a solid stash in fantasy leagues. Sermon rushed for 88 scoreless yards on 17 carries in a Week 15 matchup against the Steelers last season and averaged a solid 4.6 YPC on the season.

We knew Hull suffered a season-ending knee injury during Week 1 of last season but never knew the specifics of the injury. Per Erickson, a “root tear” of the meniscus is “a tear at the spot where the meniscus attaches to the bone,” which is “a far more serious injury than a typical tear to the body of the meniscus.” Erickson adds that a normal tear may have only cost Hull half of the season but that the second-year running back spent eight weeks on crutches last season. In fact, Hull wasn’t cleared to return to full football activities until a few weeks before OTAs. Last season, Hull was a favorite late-round target by Zero RB drafters. Now, he’s expected to compete with Trey Sermon for RB2 duties behind Jonathan Taylor, with Sermon seemingly having the inside edge on the competition thus far.

Bowen asked Colts head coach Shane Steichen about Hull’s status on Friday. We don’t have the exact quote from Steichen, but Bowen’s interpretation of the update gives Hull a bleak outlook. The rookie running back went down with a knee injury in Week 1. If this is the end of Hull’s season, he will enter training camp in 2024 looking to secure the backup role in Indy.

Due to a knee injury suffered in Week 1, Hull will be out at least four games. The move made room for the Colts to put Jake Funk to the active roster from the practice squad. With Jonathan Taylor still out, the Colts are now down to Funk, Deon Jackson and Zack Moss at the running back position.