On the bright side, there’s only room for improvement…
According to ESPN’s Mike Clay and other contributors, the Indianapolis Colts have just the NFL’s 25th best overall roster headed into the upcoming season:
25. Indianapolis Colts
Biggest strength: Interior defensive line. This unit is anchored by DeForest Buckner, one of the league’s best defenders. Despite missing five games last season, the 31-year-old has played 550-plus snaps in all eight of his NFL seasons and has delivered at least 6.5 sacks in seven consecutive campaigns. He’ll be joined in the trenches by underrated run stuffer Grover Stewart, with Neville Gallimore, Adetomiwa Adebawore and Eric Johnson II providing depth. — Clay
Biggest weakness: Quarterback. The fourth pick in 2023, Anthony Richardson Sr. has yet to emerge as a reliable NFL starter because of injuries and ineffectiveness. He is effective with his legs, but erratic passing led to a horrific 48% completion rate last season. The Colts signed Daniel Jones as a fallback, and he could win the Week 1 starting job. Similarly, Jones (who was benched and later cut by the Giants last season) adds value with his legs but struggles as a passer. Jones has yet to clear 6.8 yards per attempt in a season as a pro. — Clay
X factor for 2025: The additions in the secondary, cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Camryn Bynum. If those two can play at the level of their compensation, there’s potential for this unit to step up after allowing 0.10 EPA per dropback last season (23rd best). I’m quite bullish on Ward, who has recorded better-than-average yards per coverage snap allowed in four of the past five seasons. — Walder
Nonstarter to know: Cornerback JuJu Brents. A 2023 second-round pick out of Kansas State, Brents hasn’t stayed healthy. He had a reasonable performance in half a season as a rookie, then made it into only two games last season. He’s a big (6-3) outside cornerback with long arms and press coverage ability, so he should get some playing time opposite Ward. — Schatz
Look, I understand this is a ‘paper ranking’ and means nothing, but it also shows that having not made the playoffs since 2020, the Colts still have a lot to prove during the 2025 campaign—and most importantly, have to improve and get a lot better.
Achieving winning results would improve what folks felt about the status of the team.
We’re entering Year 9 of the Chris Ballard era, the longtime GM of Indianapolis, and the Colts still have a bottom barrel roster in the league according to this most recent annual league ranking.
The Colts aren’t completely devoid of pieces with key veterans such as Quenton Nelson, Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Zaire Franklin and Kenny Moore II returning among others, as well as the free agent additions of both Cam Bynum and Charvarius Ward in their revamped secondary.
The roster also has some young talent featuring Bernhard Raimann, Tyler Warren, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, AD Mitchell?, as well as emerging defenders like Laiatu Latu and Jaylon Jones.
At the end of the day though, while there’s talent on both sides of the ball, it’s a roster that lacks elite talent at the NFL’s widely considered premium positions—aside from arguably at left tackle where Raimann has broken out as one of the better young bookends in football.
It has no bigger question than at starting quarterback where a two-horse race between 3rd-year pro Anthony Richardson and former New York Giants castoff Daniel Jones doesn’t exactly inspire a ton of confidence right now.
Like most Colts fans, I’d love to be pleasantly surprised, but 2025 feels like a make-or-break year for the trio of Ballard, 3rd-year head coach Shane Steichen, and yes, even Richardson.
It’s a fair question of whether the talent is good enough to achieve meaningful results right now—particularly in obtaining consistent enough play from the NFL’s most important position: QB1.