Any Leaders At The Colts Position Battles?

1. Quarterback

It’s unfair to say either Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson has substantially outplayed the other so far.

But the fact that Richardson was healthy enough to split reps with Jones through the first 6 practices, and hasn’t looked too wildly inaccurate, are positive signs for him.

The expectation is the two will continue to split reps and upcoming preseason games will be critical in furthering this battle.

If you really pegged me down on the slight edge to one or the other, I’d probably lean towards Richardson. While the bar is low, he has definitely improved on the underneath throws that have been anything but consistent for him, pointing to having a wider base with his footwork for that.

2. Center

Again, this is probably my most “even” position battle entering training camp.

The split has occurred with Tanor Bortolini (4^th round pick in 2024) going with the starting offense one day and Danny Pinter (5^th round pick in 2020) getting the 1^st unit reps on the opposite days.

I’d assume Bortolini is the slight favorite, but it’s way too premature to act like this battle is complete by any means.

Next to this one, there’s no right guard competition. Matt Goncalves is your starter definite starter at right guard.

3. 3rd Cornerback

I think it’s fair to say rookie Justin Walley is the leader here.

Charvarius Ward and Kenny Moore II have most often been flanked by Walley when the nickel personnel package (3 cornerbacks) has been used.

Competing with Walley, both Jaylon Jones (hamstring) and JuJu Brents (hamstring) have had some nice moments. But Jones was carted off with a hamstring injury during Tuesday’s practice so that could really hinder his chances of maintaining an important defensive role in 2025. Brents missed Tuesday’s session, but the severity of his injury is unknown.

Even without those recent injuries, Walley has clearly earned the trust of the coaching staff, and looks to be on his way to a big September role.

4. Defensive End

As we said at the start of training camp, anytime you are debating playing time on the defensive line, we must acknowledge that plenty of bodies will play on game day.

Defining starting roles though appears to be taking some shape.

Kwity Paye has been a pretty consistent defensive end starter on one side of the line.

Opposite him, we’ve seen a bit of a rotation with Laiatu Latu and Samson Ebukam, with the latter ramping up to full speed in his torn Achilles recovery.

The likes of Tyquan Lewis and second-round pick JT Tuimoloau have mostly been used in rotation.

One thing to note on coordinator Lou Anarumo, expect some much different looking defensive line combinations, not just the standard 4-man rush group, down in and down out.

5. Kicker

In the full team sessions, it’s been a pretty even kicker battle so far.

Slight favorite (in my opinion) Spencer Shrader is 10-of-12 so far. Undrafted free agent Maddux Trujillo is Trujillo 9-of-11.

A big night for kicking is coming Thursday, so that will be another key evaluation point.

Still though, I think Shrader is the lead guy here.