The Indianapolis Colts are down to one last preseason test, and with it comes one more chance for several players to swing the roster math before cuts hit on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s game against the Detroit Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium will also bring the Colts’ starters onto the field for the first time this preseason. Shane Steichen said they’ll get “probably 8 to 12 plays,” though Daniel Jones and Jonathan Taylor will not play.
That leaves the spotlight on the battles still hanging in the balance.
At quarterback, Anthony Richardson Sr. and Riley Leonard remain locked in the QB2 fight. Richardson will start and handle the first quarter, with Leonard taking over in the second.
Neither has separated from the other this summer, and the Colts are still weighing which player gives them the better mix of upside and reliability if they need someone to play. Richardson brings the bigger arm and more pro experience, along with plus athleticism.
Leonard, meanwhile, has shown a willingness to take the safer option, which can help an offense stay on schedule.
Running back is just as crowded. Ulysses Bentley IV and DJ Giddens are both in the mix for the RB3 job, but the picture has shifted since camp opened.
Giddens began the offseason as the backup, then dealt with a rough start and later missed several practices with a hamstring injury. While that was happening, rookie seventh-round pick Seth McGowan kept standing out with his authority, decisiveness, pass-catching and protection work.
Bentley has also flashed elusiveness and explosion while proving useful as a receiver, and he has the edge as a special teams option.
The receiver pecking order is mostly set after the Keenan Allen signing, with Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, Allen and Ashton Dulin forming the top four. That leaves one more bigger outside receiver and one smaller special-teams type likely to survive the final cut.
Laquon Treadwell, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Anthony Gould, Deion Burks and Coleman Owen are all in the mix. Treadwell has spent much of the summer with the first-team offense while Pierce recovered from ankle surgery, and his special teams value helps his case.
Gould has been adequate but missed time with a groin injury. Owen has been steady and could land on the practice squad.
Burks, though, has drawn praise for how much he has grown over the offseason.
And then there’s the kicker battle, which has turned into one of the strangest competitions on the roster. Both kickers are viewed as starter-level NFL options, but the summer has belonged to Spencer Shrader in the preseason and to Blake Grupe earlier in camp.
Grupe had been ahead by about 20 percentage points in field goal accuracy through spring and summer, while Shrader worked his way back to full strength after a 2025 season-ending knee injury. But Shrader has gone 4-of-4 in the preseason, including a 61-yarder against the New England Patriots that tied the game with just over a minute left.
Grupe, by contrast, is 0-of-2 from 36 and 61 yards. With game reps carrying the most weight, the question now is whether Shrader has seized the job.
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Indianapolis has already adjusted around him, with other linebackers handling the MIKE duties Allen was expected to take on. That does not close the door on his role long term, but it does create a temporary picture that looks different from what the Colts had in mind when they drafted him. For a defense trying to find its footing, the next stretch of camp will matter for Allen, and for how quickly the Colts can settle the heart of the linebacker group. [Read more 🡒]