The Indianapolis Colts’ wide receiver battle has a new name in the conversation.
After Thursday’s practice, the Indy Star’s Joel Erickson reported that Ashton Dulin, Laquon Treadwell and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine have all been working at outside receiver, which lines up with the expectation that those three are the main contenders for the open starting job next to Alec Pierce and Josh Downs.
But Eli Pancol has also started to get a look.
With Pierce sidelined, Erickson said Pancol has “gotten chances,” giving the young receiver a path into a competition that already has a few established faces. Erickson also said it is “far too early” in training camp to figure out who will claim the No. 3 wide receiver role, though he pointed to Treadwell and Westbrook-Ikhine as players who made plays on Thursday.
Pancol’s route to this point has been a winding one. He went undrafted in 2025, initially signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, was released during roster cutdowns in late August and later joined the Colts’ practice squad in November.
He also arrives with a solid college résumé. In the 2024 season at Duke, Pancol was a major part of the offense, working mostly on the boundary and catching 67% of his 89 targets for 800 yards, 13.3 yards per catch, and nine touchdowns.
It’s still an open question whether Pancol can turn those chances into real playing time, but his involvement with this group at least puts him in the mix for a roster spot.
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