3 Biggest Offseason Questions for the Indianapolis Colts

The primary reason for the Colts' current playoff drought is that they've been living in the wilderness at the quarterback position since Andrew Luck's surprise retirement on August 24, 2019. The hope was that Daniel Jones, who the team signed to a one-year, $14 million contract before the 2025 season, could take the franchise out of said wilderness. Jones never panned out with the New York Giants, who selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft.

It worked very well for a while. In Weeks 1-8 under head coach and offensive shot-caller Shane Steichen, Jones completed 173 of 243 passes for 2,062 yards, 13 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 109.5. And at that point, Indy's offense was as dangerous as any in the NFL.

Problem was, even before the season-ending torn Achilles tendon he suffered in Week 13, Jones had started to fall apart. From Week 9 through the injury, Jones completed 83 of 134 passes for 979 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 86.6.

The difference was... disconcerting.

“I mean, I think we did some good things early in the season, and were able to get into a rhythm there for a little bit, but we didn't do enough, ultimately," Jones said after the season ended. "And you look back at those games where it didn't go as well as it could have, or you could have done a little bit more to finish it, especially there at the end. I think about the Houston [and] Kansas City games and some of those situations. But yeah, I think like I said, I’ve really enjoyed being here. I think it's a really good team, good locker room and good coaching staff.”

The Colts signed Jones to a new two-year, $88 million contract this offseason with $44 million guaranteed, and the obvious hope is that they're getting the Jones in the first half of the season, as opposed to the second half.

Which is kind of the whole point for this franchise at this point in time.

Will the pass rush generate enough heat?

In today's NFL, if you have just one big-time pass-rusher, you may as well not have any, especially if that alpha pass-rusher is out for any time for any reason. Ask the San Francisco 49ers (Nick Bosa) or the Detroit Lions (Aidan Hutchinson) about that. The 2025 Colts had one such pass-rusher in 2024 15th overall pick Laiatu Latu, and not much else. Latu had 11 sacks and 61 total pressures, while nobody else on the defense had more than four sacks and 38 disruptions. When Latu was off the field, Indianapolis' pressure rate fell from 43.0% to 29.4%, and opponent Passing EPA per Play allowed rose from 0.07 to 0.13, which is basically the difference between an average quarterback and a real difference-maker.

The 2026 offseason brought a lot of churn, but to what end? 2021 first-round pick Kwity Paye moved to Las Vegas as a free agent, and veteran Samson Ebukam departed, as well. To bolster up the group, the Colts added free agents Arden Key and Micheal Clemons, and took Florida's George Gumbs Jr. in the fifth round, and Ohio State's Caden Curry in the sixth. Key had five sacks and 33 pressures for the Tennessee Titans last season. Gumbs and Curry showed potential for their college defenses in 2025, but the question remains: Who can and will step up to be a force multiplier alongside Latu?

Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo doesn't seem entirely sure.

“I think there's always going to be rotation with the guys up front anyway," Anarumo said on May 6. "I think that's the nature of the beast these days, and has been with the D-line. Very few guys are playing 80-90 percent of the snaps. So, there's going to be a healthy rotation. I'll say this, JT [Tuimoloau] has had a heck of an offseason. The things we're doing now in the walk-thrus and the individual periods, you can see his gains from last season. So, he'll have certainly an opportunity to grab that role. Arden Key is a guy that's been a veteran player who's been around and has done a heck of a job at sacking the quarterback. So, we've got some capable people for sure. And then, adding the guys that we've added in the draft and free agency."

"So, we'll see.”

Maybe Anarumo and his staff can scheme all the pressure needed, but as is the case with so many things Colts in 2026, any slip-up could be fatal to the ultimate goal.

Can the Colts get past the second-half swoon with their current 'Juju?'

General manager Chris Ballard, who has inhabited his current position since 2017, said that the 2025 season gave him serious time to self-reflect and self-scout, aided by the frank voice of owner/CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon.

"All of you in here know me, and know that I wear my emotions on my sleeve and care deeply about not only the organization but the city, our fans – and want to do good for them," Ballard said at the season's end. "We want to do good for them, and it wasn't good enough. Like at the end of the day, wasn't good enough. Had long meetings with Carlie prior to the Houston game [at the end of the season]. We met three or four times, couple hours for each session, kind of diving into the everything we do. And like the No. 1 question she asked me, ‘Do you still have your JuJu or shimmer to do this?’ It was a fair question. I mean, I am emotional. I care. I wear my – it starts with me when things don't go right, and it guts me when things don't go right. So when she asked the question, Lord knows it created some real discussion.

"But I told her unequivocally, I have not lost my shimmer, juju, or confidence, or whatever you want to say it is. Even through all the struggles we've been through, I feel like we can still get this team to a place where the city is proud of it. I'm grateful, feel fortunate. Never take it for granted. I'm humbled just to work in the NFL, and I'm humbled to work for such a tremendous franchise. We've got to do better. We've got to handle adversity better. We've got to finish better, and I have to be better at my job.”

If Jones is able to capture his early 2025 spark, and if the pass rush can come together, and if the second-half swoon can be managed... well, maybe there's a way for these Colts to transcend it all. Any slippage in that trajectory, and the AFC South is enough of a brutal division up top with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans to make Ballard's reflections little more than end-of-season wool-gathering.

And if that's the case, very big changes may well be on the horizon.