Over the coming weeks we will be taking a position-by-position look at the Indianapolis Colts roster heading into the offseason, with our lens more so on what’s ahead and what’s needed at each position group.
Up next is the wide receiver room, but if you missed any of our other previews, follow the links below.
Wide receiver overview
From the sounds of GM Chris Ballard’s season-ending press conference, the theme of the offseason for the Colts is going to be on bolstering the competition throughout the roster.
When it comes to doing that, there’s a lot of positions that Ballard could justify adding to. However, wide receiver is actually positioned quite well and may not be a part of that group.
Although the Colts didn’t have a dominating presence at the position who hauled in over 1,300 yards or even someone who eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark, what Indianapolis did have is high level depth.
The Colts were the only team in football to have three receivers surpass 800 receiving yards during the 2024 season.
Michael Pittman provides a steady presence on short to intermediate routes, Josh Downs was often the go-to option out of the slot, while Alec Pierce provided the downfield presence.
And while AD Mitchell has to showcase more consistency in his second NFL season, if the fourth option in your receiver room is a high upside talent, who has shown an impressive ability to create separation, that’s a strong unit overall and it affords Mitchell the opportunity to develop.
Positional need this offseason
As already eluded to, if I were to rank the Colts positions of need that they have to address this offseason, I think I would have the receiver position as last on that list.
Pittman, Downs, Pierce, Mitchell, and Anthony Gould are all returning. Perhaps if there is an addition, we see Ashton Dulin brought back to help on special teams, along with providing some stability on offense when needed.
You also can never quite rule out the latter portion of the draft, when positional needs take a back seat and teams are more so trying to identify traits that could translate to the NFL level.
Who are the top free agent options?
Like I said, I wouldn’t expect the Colts to dabble here, but with help from Over the Cap, here is who is available this offseason:
Tee Higgins
Stefon Diggs
Darius Slayton
Elijah More
Keenan Allen
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
Mack Hollins
Tyler Boyd
Amari Cooper
DeAndre Hopkins
Mike Williams
Brandin Cooks
Robert Woods
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Tutu Atwell
Lil-Jordan Humphrey
Josh Palmer
What about the NFL draft?
Again, I certainly wouldn’t expect an early round pick here, but once you get to Rounds 6 or 7, you never quite know, for the reasons already mentioned.
Here are the top receivers in this year’s draft via PFF’s big board:
Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona
Luther Burden, Missouri
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
Matthew Golden, Texas
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford
Savion Williams, TCU
Xavier Restrepo, Miami
Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
Jack Bech, TCU
Jalen Royals, Utah State
Isaiah Bond, Texas
Tez Johnson, Oregon
Tre Harris, Ole Miss
Nick Nash, San Jose State
Jaylin Noel, Iowa State