The Indianapolis Colts have various position group battles taking place: in OTAs over the last two weeks, in minicamps starting this week, training camp in July, and so on and so forth into the preseason. With many offseason additions in free agency and the NFL Draft, the Colts have many decisions to make.
On offense, the most notable position group battle within the wide receiver room is who will take up the No. 3 spot behind Alec Pierce and Josh Downs? Who will back up Daniel Jones?
On defense, well, the battles are virtually everywhere. From who will start opposite of Laiatu Latu at defensive end, to who will get playing time behind DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart at defensive tackle, to the entire linebacker depth chart.
Indianapolis Colts' kicking competition comes down to Spencer Shrader and Blake Grupe
One of the more exciting parts of the offseason that isn't free agency or massive trades happening live is position battles, of which, again, the Colts have many. There is another position battle, however, that won't receive the same amount of attention but is equally important: who will be the starting kicker for the Colts? If you ask Brian Mason, he's excited for the competition to begin.
Mason has been the Colts' special teams coordinator for three years, and he is entering his fourth season. The Colts have a blessed history of field goal kickers, of course, including Mike Vanderjagt and Adam Vinatieri. The former still holds the title of the most accurate kicker in franchise history and was great for parts of Peyton Manning's run.
The latter holds the franchise records for career points (1,401) and field goals made (336), and is widely regarded as the best clutch kicker in NFL history. It's been a long while since the Colts have had a kicker even half as good as Vanderjagt or Vinatieri; a long while.
While they may not have that level of kicking today, the competition at the kicking position continues with Spender Shrader and Blake Grupe, both of whom were with the Colts last season. To make cap room for Shrader, the team released Matt Gay last offseason, two years into a four-year deal.
Today, Shrader is battling it out with Grupe, who had a terrible run with the New Orleans Saints, but flipped a switch with the Colts last season (he was perfect on all kicks in five games). The competition between Shrader and Grupe now begins for the starter's role, but Mason isn't worried about it. In fact, he's excited to see what each player brings to the table and the results of this position battle.
"It's exciting," Mason said. "Certainly, we have two guys that we think are deserving and talented enough to be starting kickers in the NFL that are both great teammates and do all the right things and work really hard. So certainly, it's going to be exciting to see how those two guys compete. I think it'll bring the best out of both of them, and I think one of them will certainly win the competition, be starting for the Colts, and one of them will be fortunate enough to start for somebody else. But I think they're both going to be starting kickers this year in the NFL.”
Mason had a connection with Grupe from Notre Dame when Mason was coaching, and Grupe was kicking. However, Shrader is expected to win the Colts' job, leaving Grupe on the outside looking in and possibly seeking another team.
Last season, the Colts ranked 5th in the NFL in field goal kicking percentage with 94% success rate. That ranking was reached by a three-player committee, however, between Shrader, Grupe, and Michael Badgley. Only Shrader and Grupe remain on the Colts now, but soon, only one of them will be the last man standing.
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