CBS Sports recently published a list of the NFL's 25 best players 25 years of age or younger. They used the opening day of the 2026 season as their cutoff date. The Indianapolis Colts were represented by Sauce Gardner, who placed 23rd, between the Chargers’ Joe Alt and Philadelphia’s Cooper DeJean.
The fact that the Colts had even one player on the list is encouraging. Seven teams boasted two players, and one, DeJean’s Eagles, had three entries. That means that 16 clubs – or half of the entire league – had no one.
Gardner was one of four young players who are no longer with the team that drafted him. Two of the others – Dallas’ George Pickens and Cleveland’s Jared Verse – play on teams like the Colts, who have been stranded in recent mid-level mediocrity.
Indianapolis Colts' best young players reveal a troubling issue
Also like the Colts, those teams have just one player on the list. The other member of this quartet, Trent McDuffie, plays for the perennially contending LA Rams. Sean McVay’s squad also has Puka Nacua up near the top of the list.
Is there a correlation between stocking elite young players and general success? Well, the eight teams with multiple players on this list include the last two Super Bowl winners, last year’s runner-up, the team with the league’s best record in 2024, and several other constant championship threats. The list also includes the Chicago Bears, predicted by many analysts to do big things this year.
And the Atlanta Falcons. I guess there is always one member of the group that is not like the others.
This list got me thinking about the Colts’ roster. Using the same criteria as the CBS list, here is my take on the Colts’ best young players.
6. Matt Goncalves, guard
Goncalves started the 2025 season strong. He locked down the right guard spot that had been so troublesome the year before and appeared to be part of one of the best young lines in the league. He seemed to wear down in the second half of the season, and his play fell off. But Goncalves remains a solid young player who should be around for a long time.
5. Josh Downs, wide receiver
Big things are predicted for the Colts’ slot option this year. With Michael Pittman gone and Alec Pierce changing roles, the young veteran could be in line for a major step forward.
Though he has always been a solid playmaker, his production fell off a bit in 2025, largely due to the arrival of Tyler Warren at tight end. But he remains one of Daniel Jones' favorite targets and is playing for a new contract this season.
4. Tanor Bortolini, center
Bortolini is a Chris Ballard special. The Colts' beleaguered general manager has had some missteps with early picks. Anthony Richardson and Jaylahn Tuimoloau ought to be on this list based on draft status, but they are not.
Ballard has helped make up for this by finding gems a bit later in the draft. Bortolini, a fourth-rounder in 2024, emerged last season as one of the best young centers in the league.
3. Tyler Warren, tight end
Warren appears to be a first-rounder that Ballard got right. Indy considered itself lucky that he fell to them at number 14 last year, and he responded with a very productive rookie season. However, the tight end picked ahead of him – the Bears’ Colston Loveland – did make the CBS list (at number 25), while Warren did not.
2. Laiatu Latu, defensive end
It really isn’t fair for me to say Ballard has blown a lot of first-round picks. Richardson is the only one. The problem is he just hasn’t had very many. As he did when acquiring Sauce Gardner, the Colts’ GM has been very quick to deal away first-rounders for established players. Sometimes the deals work – DeForest Buckner. Sometimes they don’t work – Carson Wentz.
Latu has been the Colts' best edge defender since arriving in 2024, and he took a major step forward last year. He should anchor a rebuilt defense in 2026.
1. Sauce Gardner, cornerback
Gardner has every opportunity to be elite. What’s more, he is signed at a very high dollar value long-term, so he has to be elite if the Colts’ defense is to improve.
That’s a pretty decent list of six young players. The top three should play in plenty of Pro Bowls, or whatever they do during Pro Bowl week these days. The other three are solid building blocks.
This list certainly isn’t the best in the league – remember, Philadelphia had Cooper DeJean, Jalen Carter, and Quinyon Mitchell on the CBS list. AFC South rival had Derek Stingley Jr. and Will Anderson in the top 16 on that same list.
But, as noted, many teams were left off the CBS list all together.
The problem with the Colts roster under Chris Ballard is obvious when you just look a little further down – after those six quality young players. Who is seventh on the Colts list? Who comes after Goncalves?
It is Jalen Travis, who hopefully will shine this year at right tackle. He is unproven as of now. He is also on an island unto himself because no one else – and we are talking about 45 other current Colts players under the age of 26 – has made a mark on the Colts roster yet.
Maybe that changes with this year’s batch of rookies. (Like CBS, I did not include rookies who have yet to play in this list.) For the Colts to succeed in the near future, it has to.
Add us as a preferred source on Google