You can probably guess how this is going to turn out. We are grading 11 position groups for the Indianapolis Colts at the one-third mark of the season. The Colts just fired their general manager. So, yeah, you can probably guess how this will turn out.
I’m usually a pretty hard grader, but to be honest, I’m finding it difficult to be as brutal as I might be. I do not enjoy kicking a team when it is down. The Colts are trying. They have a lot of good players. They are dealing with injuries – well, really just one major injury, but it has had an outsized impact on the club.
But there’s no getting around the fact that the results have been well below expectations. This is a team that looked like a Super Bowl contender midway through last season, then chose to make a lot of changes, and now is hovering just above the status of bottom dweller.
Indianapolis Colts' early-season grades mirror the disappointing start of 2026
Fortunately, it is still early, and the margins in the middle of the NFL are slim. There is time, and there is talent to turn this around. After all, the Colts currently have the same record as the preseason Lombardi Trophy lock, the LA Rams. But there is a lot of work to do.
Quarterback
There is no way to sugarcoat this. Daniel Jones has not been good at the start of this season. There might be mitigating factors. To me, he simply looks slower and less athletic than he did before his Achilles injury, and it is likely he is still feeling the after-effects. He is also missing his most important receiving weapon.
On the other hand, Giants fans will tell you this is who Jones has always been. He will tantalize for a while and then disappoint. I think there is a chance he does, in fact, begin playing better, but right now, it is not pretty.
Grade: D
Running back
Jonathan Taylor continues to be a dangerous weapon, and in Seth McGowan, the Colts have the best backup since the days of Zack Moss. Without a passing game, though, JT is not as effective, and his fumbles have been out of character and costly.
Taylor is running more and gaining fewer yards than he did last year, and his yards-per-carry is the lowest of his career -- by a wide margin. He remains the Colts' best offensive player, but he needs support.
Grade: B-
Wide receiver
Without Alec Pierce, this is a major problem. Chris Ballard paid Pierce big money this offseason because he was supposed to be the key to the entire passing game. Without him, the Colts have no one who really scares opposing defenses and forces them to guard the entire field. Josh Downs has played valiantly, but his strength is as a complementary target to someone like Pierce.
Laquon Treadwell has actually been better than I expected, but is still a far cry from Pierce. Keenan Allen has had moments, but not nearly enough of them. The drop-off from where they began last year – with Pittman, Pierce, Downs, and Mitchell – is stunning.
Grade: C-
Tight end
Tyler Warren is still one of the better young tight ends in the league, but he has not been able to elevate his game in Pierce’s absence. He is catching more passes for fewer yards than he did last year. Is this a coaching failure or are we seeing the limits of what Warren can do?
I suspect it’s the former, but only time will tell. The other tight ends are not world beaters by any means, but on a team desperate for receiving help, I would think Mo Alie-Cox and Will Mallory could produce a bit more.
Grade: B-
Offensive line
Matt Goncalves is up a bit, and Tanor Bortolini is down a bit, but basically, this is the same line as last year. Right tackle Jalen Travis has looked good for much of the year but has also had some ugly moments. I figure that is simply a sign of growing pains.
The Colts have not been able to dominate games up front, and that is a disappointment because that is what they need to do – at least until Pierce is back at full strength. Still, this is their best unit, and leaning on them remains their best option.
Grade: B
Interior defensive line
The interior line veterans – DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Adetomiwa Adebawore – are one of the strengths of the defense. They have been OK, but they cannot control opposing offenses all by themselves. With better talent around them, this unit would be very solid. On this team, they have to nearly perfect week in and week, and that has not been the case.
Grade: B-
Edge rusher
Six games. One-and-a-half sacks from edge rushers. In a vacuum, sacks may be an overrated stat for edge rushers, but this pretty much says it all. This was a weakness last year. It is worse in 2026. I am not concerned about Laiatu Latu. He will bounce back from a mediocre start. I am very concerned about every other player they have on the edge.
Grade: D
Linebacker
The Colts linebackers not named Akeem Davis-Gaither have a combined 59 tackles through six games. That’s fewer than ten tackles a game coming from the four other linebackers who are in regular rotation right now.
That’s about one tackle more than the Dolphins' Jordyn Brooks makes per game. And Miami has a mediocre defense. And Jordyn Brooks is only their second-leading linebacking tackler. Their top guy – rookie Jacob Rodriguez – is averaging more than 11 tackles on his own.
Rodriguez was chosen ten picks ahead of the Colts’ CJ Allen, who has five combined tackles on the season. And don’t get me started on pass coverage. I could go on, but there is no need, is there? The Colts’ linebackers, decent play from Davis-Gaither notwithstanding, have been abysmal.
Grade: F+ (Davis-Gaither earns them the +.)
Cornerback
Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward, and Justin Walley, with support from Cam Taylor-Britt, were supposed to be the strength of the team. They have not been able to do very much, but I am tempted to cut them some slack because of the Colts’ anemic pass rush and very poor linebacker play.
Walley was torched early on, but I think he has responded. This is a vaguely disappointing group. But it is still the Colts' most talented position on defense.
Grade: B-
Safety
I don’t think Cam Bynum has been as good as he was last year, and I think a lot of that has to do with some faulty chemistry between him and rookie AJ Haulcy. Haulcy clearly has talent but seems a long way off from being a reliable presence on the back end.
I'm not sure why Hunter Wohler isn’t getting more time – if not at safety, then at the big nickel position in place of a linebacker. Similar to the corners, this has been a vaguely disappointing position.
Grade: C
Special teams
Well, they were going to get a really good grade based on Spencer Shrader’s miraculous start. Then, two blown punt plays against the Titans cost the Colts their most embarrassing loss of the year. Let’s hope that was a mere blip. Shrader remains their most reliable weapon.
Grade: B+
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