Are we talking enough about the 2025 Indianapolis Colts?
According to PFF’s Dalton Wasserman, the Indianapolis Colts are one of five ‘overlooked teams’ headed into the 2025 season:
Indianapolis Colts
All eyes this summer will be on the Colts’ brewing quarterback competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones. Both have underwhelmed as former top-10 picks due to subpar performance and injury issues. Head coach Shane Steichen has proven before, though, that he can create offensive production without elite quarterback play.
Two years ago, after Richardson suffered a season-ending injury, the Colts were extremely close to winning the AFC South with Gardner Minshew and his 60.6 PFF passing grade running the offense. Last season, the combination of Richardson and Joe Flacco led the team to rank 26th in the NFL in PFF passing grade.
Despite their inconsistent quarterback play, the Colts were in position last season for a playoff spot until a defensive collapse against the New York Giants in Week 17. Even with that poor effort, the team’s defense tied for ninth in the NFL in PFF grade. That unit and a stacked supporting cast on offense should make life easy for whoever the starting quarterback will be.
The Colts have multiple dynamic pass catchers at their disposal, especially if Josh Downs gets through this season fully healthy. First-round tight end Tyler Warren was arguably the best player at his position in college football last year. His presence could make a huge difference for a tight end unit that ranked in the bottom four among NFL teams in PFF receiving grade, yards after the catch and missed tackles forced.
Jonathan Taylor and the run game should also play a big part in Indianapolis’ success. Though he didn’t grade particularly well due to a lack of consistency, Taylor still managed more than 1,400 rushing yards last season. He should find success in 2025 behind a good offensive line led by Bernhard Raimann and Quenton Nelson.
All the Colts need is someone who can complete passes and play a complementary role for Steichen and a talented roster. If they can find that, they’ll stay relevant in the AFC postseason race.
Looking over this listing, these were all talented teams that many projected as possible (and in some cases like Cincinnati, Dallas, and San Francisco) probable playoff teams last year before injuries and arguably underperformance arose. Seattle finished at 10-7 and had a pleasantly good year too before narrowly missing the playoffs in the NFC West.
In that regard, there’s some safe bets here that at least some of these playoff hopefuls can get back on track again during the 2025 campaign and earn postseason play again.
As for the Colts, there’s talent on both sides of the ball for what’s a generally well-rounded roster, even if it lacks a wealth of elite players at premium NFL positions.
Offensively, the addition of prized rookie tight end Tyler Warren should really add a well-rounded playmaker and security blanket over the middle of the field for either starting quarterback, whether it’s ultimately Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones.
There could be an initial learning curve up front as there’s two projected 2nd-year starters along the offensive line right now with both Tanor Bortolini and Matt Goncalves at center and right guard respectively, following the losses of Ryan Kelly and Will Fries to Minnesota.
In the end though, the success of this unit will come down to whether the Colts can get enough consistently solid play from either Richardson or Jones behind center—as the receiving corps has a lot of good players and star workhorse Jonathan Taylor remains in the fold, anchoring the backfield.
Defensively, for new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, there are some veteran pieces to work with, DeForest Buckner, Kenny Moore II, Zaire Franklin, and Grover Stewart among them for what should at least be a league respectable unit.
Where the Colts are projected to really improve is in the secondary, as the team added both safety Camryn Bynum and cornerback Charvarius Ward in the early stages of free agency—each of should should drastically help improve this revamped Colts defense.
They’ll also need 2nd-year linebacker Jaylon Carlies to grow up in a hurry, starting next to Franklin within the 2nd-level of the Colts defense.
The Colts look to be more like a wild card challenger than a division winner, but the AFC South continues to be the gift that keeps on giving, as no one’s run away with it recently.
There’s really been a winner the past few seasons because of default.
With two of the Colts’ divisional rivals coming off of Top 5 picks, the Tennessee Titans finishing at 3-14 and the Jacksonville Jaguars at 4-13, if the Colts can take care of business within the AFC South, they should be hanging around until the bitter end—especially if they can at least split with the Houston Texans next year.
From that standpoint, maybe the Colts have been a bit overlooked, but it comes down to what happens at QB1—as to whether they can take another step forward with winning.