INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

OFF SEASON CHANGES

Sauce Gardner is healthy again after battling with a calf injury after his mid-season trade from the Jets. They’ve put their faith in Daniel Jones despite him recovering from a torn achilles, signing him to a two-year, $88 million deal. It’s obviously a risk and quite a lot of money, but it’s hard to blame them with the way he was performing last season prior to the injury. Michael Pittman was squeezed out due to cap issues, but they did re-sign Alec Pierce to a four-year, $114 million deal. That amount of money was a shock. The Colts traded linebacker Zaire Franklin away and replaced him with CJ Allen, taken at pick 53 in the draft. That was the Colts’ first pick in the draft and they took a defensive player with five of their first six picks. Jonathan Taylor was also signed to a two-year, $44 million extension.

QUATERBACKS

Daniel Jones returns on a two-year, $88 million deal and he’s recovered from the achilles tear he suffered in Week 14. He’s been a full participant in camp and will start Week 1 barring anything going wrong between now and then. Jones was one of the stories of the season last year, leading the Colts to an 8-2 record after 10 games. Before the injury, he ranked third in the NFL in yards per attempt (8.1), fourth in completion percentage (68%) and sixth in passer rating (100.2). It was his best season in the NFL and if Jones can recapture that form this season (big if) then the Colts should be really good again. They had a league-leading 3.17 points per drive through Week 10, so he had this offense humming. Anthony Richardson hasn’t taken his opportunities and remains backup behind Jones this season.

RUNNING BACKS

Jonathan Taylor led the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns last season and was a genuine MVP chance until the Colts’ season fell apart in the last seven weeks. He also had the most rush attempts in the NFL with 323 and finished third in total rushing yards (1585). JT and Jones had the offense clicking and extremely efficient, as seen by the 3.17 points per drive through Week 10. JT is still in his prime at 27 years old and FanDuel has him with the highest rushing line total set for the season at 1225.5 (alongside Derrick Henry). He’ll be a beast once again behind this powerful offensive line and with a healthy Daniel Jones back under center. He also signed to a two-year, $44 million extension recently which makes him one of the highest paid backs in the league.

RECEIVERS

The Colts traded away longtime number 1 receiver Michael Pittman to the Steelers, leaving a hole of 111 targets. Alec Pierce will likely be the top wide receiver after signing a four-year, $114 million deal. Pierce had his first 1000+ yard season in 2025, flashing big play ability too with multiple 50+ yard receptions. He added 6 touchdowns too. I’m still not fully convinced he is THE guy, but he’s a nice piece of the offense. Unfortunately he’s still not been involved in training camp and I’m getting worried he might miss the start of the season. Josh Downs is a guy who has shown serious potential but he had a surprising regression last year in his third season. With Pittman now gone, Downs should have more opportunity to establish himself in the passing game. The player I’m most bullish on here though is second-year tight end Tyler Warren. He had 817 yards and 5 total TDs in his rookie season and just looked really good. Somehow his line is only 750.5 yards for this year…

DEFENCE

GM Chris Ballard and defensive coordinator Chris Ballard prioritized getting younger and faster in the off-season. Five of 11 defensive starters could be new in 2026. Laiatu Latu anchors the pass rush after generating 25.7% of the team’s total pressures as a sophomore. Sauce Gardner is fully healthy and gives the secondary an elite shutdown piece. He didn’t allow more than two receptions to a single receiver in a game last season.