Tyler

Varga

Varga sat out the first couple days of OTAs, but he was able to participate in most of the sessions. He even saw some first-team work with Frank Gore sidelined late in minicamp. It sounds like he is completely healed from the scary concussion which ended his rookie season prematurely. He will compete for a role in camp.

Varga is retiring. The reason is unclear, but Varga dealt with a nasty, lingering concussion as a rookie. Varga made three appearances in 2015, notching one carry. Even in a woefully-thin backfield, he wasn’t expected to be a 2016 factor.

Varga understandably considered quitting football after dealing with such a prolonged and serious recovery, but he ultimately decided to give it another go. “Obviously, it was a hard decision, an extremely hard decision,” he said. “But it comes down to this: I’m back here because I wanted to compete again.” With little behind Frank Gore on the depth chart, Varga may be able to carve out a role.

Varga landed on injured reserve last season with a concussion he said it took four months to recover from. He may have been underselling the length of the recovery considering he is still not ready to participate in offseason work. Varga is committed to continuing his career, but he is dealing with a scary situation.

Varga (5'11/222) earned the 2014 Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League’s Offensive MVP, rushing for 1,423 yards and 22 TDs on 233 carries (6.11 YPC) and catching ten passes. Showing deficient athleticism at the Yale Pro Day, Varga ran 4.69 with a 9-foot-9 broad jump. Varga struggled at fullback during Senior Bowl practices, and may never get an extended look at tailback in the pros. He’s a tweener who’ll likely have to dominate on special teams to hang around, but he landed in a good situation if the Colts keep him at running back.

Concussions that send players to I.R. are pretty scary. Varga made the Colts as an undrafted rookie out of Yale. Appearing in three games, Varga made one tackle on special teams and rushed once for two yards.