The Indianapolis Colts announced that they signed 12 undrafted free agents following the conclusion of the 2026 NFL draft. Let’s take a closer look at these players and highlight why each could make a potential roster push.
Up first is Penn State offensive tackle Nolan Rucci.
Profile
Nolan Rucci’s Penn State bio
What to know about Nolan Rucci
After beginning his career at Wisconsin, where he had minimal playing time, Rucci transferred to Penn State and was the starting right tackle for the last two seasons. During that span, he surrendered only two sacks over 599 pass-blocking snaps. In 2025 specifically, Rucci gave up 16 pressures and ranked 160th among tackles in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric. He was penalized only once and was tied for 31st in run-blocking grade.
Nolan Rucci’s athletic profile
Scouting report on Nolan Rucci
“Rucci is a tall, long right tackle prospect who made his mark at Penn State in the last two years after three uneventful seasons at Wisconsin. He has a proportional frame with room for more muscle mass, which will be important to add due to his lack of ideal play strength and anchor. His footwork and punch timing are too inconsistent at this time but could be correctable with more work. He’s an average athlete in pass protection but shows quality initial quickness to compete for his landmarks on wide-zone calls. Rucci’s size, bloodlines (father, Todd, spent eight seasons in the NFL) and upside could make him a late-round target.” – Lance Zierlein, NFL.com
Could Nolan Rucci make a roster push with the Colts?
Bernhard Raimann will start at left tackle, but after that, there are some question marks at this position for the Colts. Jalen Travis is the expected starting right tackle, but he is still a relatively inexperienced player. Luke Tenuta and Blake Freeland will compete for the swing tackle role, but Tenuta has few regular-season reps, while Freeland hasn’t seen steady playing time since 2023 and is coming off an injury. The opportunity to carve out a roster spot in a backup role does seem to exist, given the uncertain depth.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts UDFA profiles: Could OT Nolan Rucci make 53-man roster push?
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
