INDIANAPOLIS – The new era was ushered on May 21 with the passing of owner Jim Irsay.
The future of the Indianapolis Colts rests in the hands of his three daughters: Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Kalen Jackson and Casey Foyt.
Now, the franchise heads into what can only be described as an uncertain future.
Are the pieces in place for the Colts to return to, at the very least, relevancy?
Irsay-Gordon didn’t exactly issue a playoffs-or-else warning last month to general manager Chris Ballard, coach Shane Steichen and a slew of Pro Bowl-caliber players. But she made it clear status quo won’t be tolerated.
“As my dad said before he passed,’’ she said, “Chris and Shane know that we have things they need to fix. We talked about not micromanaging people, but also, we have a standard here and it hasn’t been good enough.
“Winning is great, but I would take it a step further in saying we’re really committed to being the best. And if we’re the best, we will win games. I think Chris and Shane are totally capable of doing that, and we’re confident that they can.’’
The standard was set when the Peyton Manning-led Colts won a then-NFL-record 115 games from 2000-09, made 12-win seasons routine, reached two Super Bowls and won a world championship after the 2006 season. It was temporarily reinforced as Andrew Luck was the catalyst for four playoff appearances in six seasons before his sudden retirement a few days before a 2019 season that was set up for a serious Super Bowl run.
Recently, it simply hasn’t been good enough.
The franchise is mired in its first four-year playoff drought since 1988-94. Only six teams have failed to reach the playoffs in each of the last four seasons: the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears and the Colts.
Zero AFC South titles since 2014 – the other three teams have won it at least twice – and no playoff wins since a wild-card victory at Houston in the ’18 postseason.
Jim Irsay used to boast of the Colts residing in the league’s “upper quartile’’ in terms of winning. But since Ballard’s arrival in 2017, Indy’s 62-69-1 record (.473) ranks No. 18 as it’s been unable to recover from Luck’s departure.
The next step to wherever the franchise is going comes next week. Rookies report to Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield Monday and the remainder of the players July 22. The first of 13 training camp practices in Westfield is set for July 23.
Here’s a look at five storylines that undoubtedly will impact the course of the Colts. We’ll take a deeper look at a few in the next few days:
Who’s the quarterback?
In a quarterback-driven league, this is a question no team should be facing as camp opens. But here we are.
It’ll be Anthony Richardson Sr. or Daniel Jones. More likely, it’ll be some combination of both as injuries and inconsistent play have plagued the No. 4 overall pick in 2023 (Richardson) and the No. 6 overall pick in 2019 (Jones).
Ballard promised to add viable competition to the Colts’ erstwhile quarterback of the future after Richardson’s year 2 included missing four games with oblique and back injuries, two more with a benching and completing an NFL-worst and franchise-record-low 47.7% of his passes in 11 starts.
Enter, Jones, who was jettisoned by the Giants midway through last season and finished the year on the Minnesota Vikings’ sidelines.
The open competition took a twist May 29 when Richardson experienced soreness in his surgically-repaired right shoulder – he had surgery to repair a sprained AC joint Oct. 27, 2023 – and missed the final two weeks of the offseason workouts. Steichen said once Richardson was cleared to resume throwing, he would be “eased into’’ camp practices.
That could indicate Jones opens camp running the No. 1 offense while Richardson gets up to speed. Perhaps Richardson is under a tapered throwing regimen the first few weeks.
Or, Richardson essentially is ready to go from day 1 and we’ll spend five weeks –14 practices, one a joint session in Baltimore, and three preseason games – monitoring a true open competition to determine the Colts’ starting quarterback for the Sept. 7 regular-season opener against Miami at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Stay tuned.
Retooled offensive line
Maybe we just worry too much. Pro Football Focus ranks the Colts’ offensive line No. 5 heading into the season.
Three positions are set with left tackle Bernhard Raimann, All-World left guard Quenton Nelson and right tackle Braden Smith. Smith returns after missing the final five games last season while dealing with a serious obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The 2018 second-round pick is heading into the final year of his contract and routinely has played at a near-Pro Bowl level.
What has us just a tad nervous are the offseason free-agent losses of center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries, and questionable depth. Kelly and Fries followed the money to Minnesota.
The Colts prepared for their possible losses during the 2024 draft by selecting center Tanor Bortolini in round 4 and tackle/guard Matt Goncalves in round 3. Bortolini started five games when Kelly was out while Goncalves started three games at left tackle and five at right tackle.
Each played well as rookies, but now they’ll be thrust into starter’s roles in year 2. That’s just a different level of responsibility.
Also, the depth at tackle is tenuous. Blake Freeland started nine games as a fourth-round draft pick in 2023, but was on the field for just 23 snaps last season, including 22 in the regular-season finale against Jacksonville. Jalen Travis was a fourth-round pick in April.
Receivers’ growth
By that, we mean the development of AD Mitchell.
This represents one of the better, deeper receiver rooms the Colts have had since Reggie Wayne was a player, not the position coach.
Michael Pittman Jr. is the leader of the pack and motivated to bounce back after a back injury limited his effectiveness in 2024 (69 catches, 808 yards, three TDs).
Josh Downs already has established himself as one of the NFL’s top slot receivers. The elusive 2023 third-round pick has the most receptions in a player’s first two years in club history (140, three more than Marvin Harrison) and set career highs with 72 catches, 803 yards and five TDs last season.
All Alec Pierce did in ’24 was average 22.3 yards on his 37 catches. That led the NFL and was the second-best in franchise history.
Pittman (808), Downs (803) and Pierce (824) are just the second trio of Colts to pile up at least 800 receiving yards in a season. The benchmarks: Harrison (1,113), Wayne (1,210) and Brandon Stokley (1,077) in 2004.
Mitchell is the ultra-talented wild card.
The 2024 second-round pick had a strong rookie camp but faltered badly when it mattered. There were occasions when he either failed to finish a route or didn’t extend for passes. Mitchell secured just 41.8% of his targets (23 of 55), the worst in the league last season by nearly 7%. It was the worst reception percentage by a player with at least 55 targets since John Ross (36.2%) and Kelvin Benjamin (37.3%) in 2018.
The 6-2, 205-pound Mitchell possesses the speed and route-running skills to be a difference maker, and has a coach in Wayne capable to bringing out the best in him.
Change at kicker
It’s easy to disregard the importance of a kicker, until you need a 45- or 52-yard field goal.
In one of the more surprising offseason moves, Ballard released veteran Matt Gay, who had two years remaining on a four-year, $22 million contract, and replaced him with Spencer Shrader. The reason was simple. The Colts no longer trusted Gay from long distance.
Last season, Gay was 28-of-28 on kicks of 49 yards or shorter, but missed 6-of-9 from 50 and beyond. After setting an NFL record with four 50-plus yard field goals in the Colts’ 22-19 overtime win at Baltimore in 2023, he was just 7-of-18 on 50-plus attempts.
The lack of trust was too much for Ballard and Steichen to deal with.
But their Plan B – Shrader – has a brief resume. After signing with the Colts as an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame in May ’24, Shrader converted three PATs for Indy in the season opener, then went 5-for-5 on field-goal attempts and 6-for-6 on PATs with Kansas City and the Jets.
Shrader displayed a strong leg with the Colts in camp last summer and nailed a 56-yarder in the preseason against Cincinnati. But his two long kicks in the regular season were 45- and 41-yarder for the Chiefs against Arizona.
Camp competition comes from Temple product Maddux Trujillo.
Linebacker depth
The offseason provided interesting changes on defense. New coordinator (Lou Anarumo). New safety (Cam Bynum). New cornerback (Charvarius Ward). New defensive lineman (second-rounder JT Tuimuloau) and corner (Justin Walley).
But Ballard and his personnel staff were unable to restock a linebacker room that saw E.J. Speed relocate to division rival Houston and backup/special teamer Grant Stuard sign with Detroit.
Zaire Franklin remains the unquestioned leader of the room. He was second-team All-Pro and led the league with 173 tackles in 2024. That’s three straight seasons with triple-digit sacks.
The issue? Franklin has 65 career starts. The rest of the room shares 18 starts, and that includes eight by Jacob Phillips, who last started for Cleveland in 2022.
Jaylon Carlies, a 2024 fifth-round pick, showed promise in six starts as a rookie while dealing with a shoulder injury.
One caveat that can’t be ignored: Franklin (ankle) and Carlies (shoulder) missed the offseason workouts following surgery.
Often, look for Anarumo to go with just two linebackers on the field and tap into the depth in the secondary, but the lack of proven ‘backers is a concern.
Let’s not forget
- Raimann, Pierce, defensive end Kwity Paye, safety Nick Cross, Smith, Jones and a few other notable players are heading into contract years.
- The addition of first-round pick Tyler Warren. The No. 14 overall pick gives the Colts a difference-maker that’s been missing at tight end.
- Monitoring how quickly Ward and Bynum gel with the returning DBs. They have the potential to be the Colts’ best corner-safety tandem since the late Vontae Davis and Mike Adams reached the Pro Bowl in 2014-15.
- Jonathan Taylor, who remains one of the NFL’s premier running backs. Since being selected in the second round of the 2020 draft, his 6,013 yards rank second to Derrick Henry’s 7,590 while his 1,228 attempts trail only Henry’s 1,551 and Josh Jacobs’ 1,364.
Regardless of whether Richardson or Jones is under center, the Colts will lean heavily on Taylor and the run game.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.