The ESSENTIAL Football Show 2025 Cap Space: $18.4 million
2026 Cap Space: $84.6 million
2027 Cap Space: $232.9 million
2026 Draft Picks: Own Picks, Rounds 1-7, plus Rd 7 Comp Picks (2x)
Maybe there’s one more shot for a reboot, but as longtime Colts general manager Chris Ballard enters this season with a competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones at quarterback, it appears this is the last chance for Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen to get this operation rolling again.
It’s not that the Colts have been a disaster - they were a dropped pass away from getting into the playoffs with Gardner Minshew at quarterback two years ago - but while Ballard has been a solid general manager, it’s not as if he’s stood out from the pack, and for better or worse, Anthony Richardson was his big swing at quarterback, and it’s awful hard to keep your job as an NFL GM when you miss on that opportunity.
Quarterback
Starter: Anthony Richardson / Daniel Jones
Backups: Riley Leonard (6th Rd)
Running Back
Starters: Jonathan Taylor
Backups: Khalil Herbert, DJ Giddens (5th Rd)
Wide Receiver
Starters: Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Alec Pierce
Backups: Adonai Mitchell, Ashton Dulin, Anthony Gould
Tight End
Starters: Tyler Warren (1st Rd)
Backups: Mo Alie-Cox, Drew Ogletree, Will Mallory, Jelani Woods, Albert Okwuegbunam
Offensive Line
Starters: Bernhard Raimann, Quenton Nelson, Tanor Bortolini, Matt Gonclaves, Braden Smith
Backups: Blake Freeland, Josh Sills, Danny Pinter, Dalton Tucker, Jalen Travis (4th Rd)
Offense Overview
The flip side of that is that, as we saw with the 49ers and the Trey Lance/Brock Purdy situation, you can come out on the other side as long as it’s with a quarterback, even if it’s not the one you intended.
We’ll see how they handle the opportunities, but there’s no doubt that the Colts have talent in the quarterback room; Richardson is an athletic freak who is deficient in just about every area of playing quarterback in the NFL, while Jones is an above-average athlete for the position who doesn’t make enough big plays to justify all of his turnovers.
They will slot into an offense with a lot of good players, but few potential All-Pros. Tight end Tyler Warren will join a diverse group of pass-catchers that includes the dynamic Josh Downs, who can play all over but does a lot of his damage from the slot, a size piece in receiver Michael Pittman JR., and a downfield threat in Alec Pierce. There’s also depth at tight end, where the Colts retained several players with notable NFL experience, and Jonathan Taylor looms as a big-play threat from the backfield.
The offensive line is wrapping up a transition, with center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries departing via free agency, but neither player played the full slate last season, which gave the Colts a good look at their replacements.
Quenton Nelson leads the way at left guard - Nelson may not be what he was at his physical peak, but he is still a plus player - and the Colts have a solid tackle tandem in Bernhard Raimann and Braden Smith, assuming Smith can shake the injury issues that have limited his availability over the past two seasons. As for Kelly and Fries, second-year players Tanor Bortolini and Matt Gonclaves, who both started significant numbers of games due to injury, are set to take over as the full-time starters at center and right guard. If all goes well there - and both players were solid enough as rookies to think it could work out - it would be a big win, picking up starters in the 3rd (Gonclaves) and 4th (Bortonlini) rounds of the 2024 Draft. With both players on rookie deals through 2027, this would create flexibility to re-sign Raimann, another mid-round hit (2022 3rd) who is entering the final deal of his rookie deal and on track for a handsome pay raise, given what Dan Moore got from Tennessee in free agency this year.
Defensive Tackle
Starters: DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart
Backups: Neville Gallimore, Adetomiwa Adebawore, Tim Smith (6th Rd)
Edge
Starters: Kwity Paye, Laiatu Latu
Backups: JT Tuimoloau (2nd Rd), Samson Ebukam, Tyquan Lewis
Linebackers
Starters: Zaire Franklin, Jaylon Carlies
Backups: Segun Olubi, Cameron McGrone, Hunter Wohler (7th Rd)
Safety
Starters: Cam Bynum, Nick Cross
Backups: Rodney Thomas, Daniel Scott
Slot
Starter: Kenny Moore
Backups: Corey Ballentine
Outside CB
Starters: Charvarius Ward, Jaylon Jones
Backups: JuJu Brents, Justin Walley (3rd Rd), David Long, Samuel Womack
Defense Overview
The biggest question for the Colts on defense is how cornerback Charvarius Ward, who had a rough 2024 season on the field amidst personal/family turmoil off it, can regain his form in a new environment.
It’s a critical question, because Indianapolis has been flat-out bad at the outside corner position for the last few years. At his best, Ward is a presence on the outside; he can play a variety of techniques and sticks out in press, where his length (6’1) is a factor. However, Ward, who first emerged as a quality starter in Kansas City before signing a big-money deal with San Francisco, also has a lot of miles on his body, and there’s not guarantee he recaptures his previous form.
Ward will be joined in the back end by another free-agent addition, safety Cam Bynum, and the Colts added another high-pedigree player with edge rusher J.T. Tuimoloau in the second round of the draft, but for this defense to excel, new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is also going to need to get a lot more out of the players returning. DeForest Buckner continues to set an extremely high standard in the middle of the defensive line, and Grovert Stewart is a solid run-stuffer next to him, but the Colts need to get more out the tandem of Kwity Paye and Laiatu Latu, their first-round picks from 2021 and 2024. Paye has solid size on the edge, but he’s been just ok as a pro, more of a journeyman than a sure-fire starter, and Latu had a relatively quiet rookie season, with just four sacks. The Colts have depth at this spot - Samson Ebukam is retuning from injury and they added Tuimoloau in the draft - but at the same time, for this defense to take off, they need one (or both) of the former first-rounders to start making their presence felt on the edge.
The rest of the holdovers are a mixed bag. Kenny Moore continues to be a DAWG when he lines up in the slot, but he’s also set to turn 30, and the 5’9 corner doesn’t have much athleticism to lose, as we’ve seen whenever he’s been forced to line up on the outside. Zaire Franklin racks up big tackle totals at linebacker, but he’s more racking up production than tilting the field, and the remaining slated starters, linebacker Jaylon Carlies, safety Nick Scott, and cornerback Jaylon Jones are unproven at best and borderline starters at worst.
Overall Outlook
The Colts have had their moments in the Ballard era, but this roster feels fairly uninspired.
Were I to distill it to one thing, I’d use the word juice. This Colts team doesn’t have nearly enough of it, and I just don’t see how that lines up with elite offense in the NFL.
If Anthony Richardson wins the job, he theoretically brings some of this, but when I think of juice, I’m not just thinking of an explosive player on the field; I’m thinking of someone who can bring a jolt of energy to the rest of the team in a down moment, the sort of player that you can rally around when things are tough.
There’s a world where Richardson evolves into that player, but to date, the on-field electricity has not extended to the latter portion; in fact, when things got tough last season, Richardson set the football talk world ablaze by tapping out of the game for a breather.
All things considered, this feels like a below-average to average squad. There are enough good players to see how they could exceed those expectations, but ultimately, it’s hard to get too hyped about a squad hosting a competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones at this point.