The Indianapolis Colts are not going to get a lot of love ahead of the season. Fans know this. The team changed their quarterback from one first-round bust to another first-round bust, so why should there be any hope in that?
The truth lies below that quarterback fact, however. Indy's roster is pretty good. The offensive line needs to hold up after losing Ryan Kelly and Will Fries, but the pieces are there to be good. The offensive skill position players are fantastic, and starting quarterback Daniel Jones just needs to get them the ball in good situations.
The defensive front is stout, and the secondary is more than solid. Plus, the edge rush group has a lot of potential. Still, NFL analysts don't like the Colts because they don't like head coach Shane Steichen directing Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson.
Can the Indianapolis Colts exceed expectations?
But the Colts are not the second-worst team in the league. That is where they fall in a new power ranking from NFL Spin Zone's Sayre Bedinger. Indianapolis is 31st, and the only team worse is the New Orleans Saints.
If Bedinger is correct, not only will the Colts have zero chance to win the AFC South, but if Jones plays well, they will, but Indianapolis will finish last in the division. That is probably not going to happen either, especially as the Tennessee Titans are starting a rookie quarterback and are not very talented overall.
To be fair to Bedinger, though, he admits what most of us do about the Colts. He doesn't know what to really expect from Indianapolis in 2025. He expects it to be bad, but he implies he understands he could be completely wrong.
Bedinger wrote, "Part of me wants to believe that Daniel Jones can be the next Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield, and part of me wonders if this Colts team is headed for a full-scale reload after this season. The biggest reason I hesitate to put the Colts so low on a list like this is that the overall talent of this roster is strong, especially at the offensive skill positions."
Sayre Bedinger is not wrong. Indianapolis Colts fans should just hope he is as far as Indy being number 31 in the power rankings. The writer clearly is leaning toward things going very badly for the Colts this season.
Of course, everyone is going to learn a lot about the team in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins, and that includes the team. If Daniel Jones plays well, Indianapolis could be in for a stellar run in 2025.