Word this week was that Colts defensive end Arden Key will miss multiple weeks with a hamstring injury and the team confirmed it on Saturday. The Colts have placed Key on injured reserve, so he will have to sit out four games before he will become eligible to return to action. Key was injured in last Sunday’s win over the Commanders in London. Key had eight tackles, a half-sack and a forced fumble in the first four games of the year. The Colts also announced that they have elevated wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine from the practice squad on a temporary basis. He has appeared in two other games this season
Colts head coach Shane Steichen said this week that the team will put wide receiver Alec Pierce on injured reserve and the team made the move official on Saturday. Pierce will miss at least the next four games after aggravating the heel injury that caused him to have surgery this offseason. The Colts filled Pierce’s spot on the roster by signing wide receiver Anthony Gould off of their practice squad. Gould was elevated for the Colts’ Week 2 loss to the Chiefs and he returned four kickoffs in that game. The Colts also announced that they have elevated wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine from the practice squad on a temporary basis. He has 137 catches for 1,862 yards and 19 touchdowns in 93 career games
The Colts have finalized their 53-player roster, with quarterback Easton Stick being among the notable cuts. Several other players were released, while D.J. Montgomery and Coleman Owen were placed on season-ending injured reserve
The Colts have not had Alec Pierce on the practice field at all this summer and they were missing another wideout at practice on Saturday. Josh Downs did not take part in the session and the Colts said that he is dealing with a groin injury. They did not offer further information about the extent of the injury or how long Downs might be out of action. Pierce is on the physically unable to perform list after having ankle surgery this offseason and head coach Shane Steichen said earlier this week that there’s no timetable for his return. Ashton Dulin, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and Anthony Gould worked as the first team wideouts for the Colts on Saturday
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones tore his Achilles tendon less than eight months ago, but he has been a full participant since Day 1 of training camp, and Jake Arthur of Colts Roundtable notes that he "looks completely fine physically." The eighth-year veteran has not hesitated to scramble when needed, and even with top receiver Alec Pierce on the PUP list while recovering from offseason ankle surgery, Arthur credits Jones with over a 70% completion rate in 11-on-11 sessions. Before his season-ending injury in Week 14, Jones was the fantasy QB7, but with concerns of his recovery pushing his current ADP all the way down to QB24, he could prove to be one of the biggest steals of 2026 drafts, particularly in superflex formats
Over his six career starts, Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has scored 8.5 fantasy points per game with his legs alone. While that sample size is almost unusably small, it's easy to get excited about what a full season might look like, particularly when considering his draft cost against some of the league's elite mobile quarterbacks. Willis is being drafted as a low-end second quarterback, all but eliminating the risk of banking on an unproven starter in what projects to be one of the league's least exciting offenses. With the Dolphins most dynamic playmaker, De'Von Achane, sharing the backfield with Willis, it could be easier for defenses to keep both players bottled up without a true downfield threat, but Willis faced a similar situation as a rookie in Tennessee, where he was able to top 40 rushing yards in two of his three starts with a receiving room consisting of Robert Woods, Treylon Burks, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. If Willis can continue to make strides in the passing game while leaning on his legs to keep the chains moving, he could provide week-winning upside from the closing rounds of 2026 drafts as RotoBaller's QB21
This time last year, we were debating Anthony Richardson vs. Daniel Jones . Now we’re debating whether or not Jones is worth $50 million per year. Coming off a breakout season, Jones would be a safe bet to stay hot in 2026, but a torn Achilles muddies the waters for his second season in Indianapolis . 2026 Rotoworld Fantasy Football Team Previews Hub Get ready for 2026 fantasy football drafts with in-depth previews for all 32 teams throughout the summer. Rotoworld Staff , Points per game: 27.4 (8th) Total yards per game: 345.9 (9th) Plays per game: 59.9 (19th) Dropbacks per game: 37.9 (19th) Dropback EPA per play: 0.1 (11th) Designed rush attempts per game: 25.4 (20th) Rush EPA per play: 0.05 (1st) Shane Steichen and the Colts entered the 2025 season at a crossroads. The team desperately wanted Richardson to be a thing, but Jones had different plans. He decisively won that camp battle and never looked back. Jones was putting up career efficiency numbers midway through the season and Steichen looked like a lock to make the playoffs for the first time in three seasons as the Colts’ boss. The Colts were at 8-0, but even before Jones suffered his season-ending Achilles injury, cracks in the facade were beginning to form. His efficiency dropped in his final five games and the Colts lost four of those contests. Things got so bad after Jones went down that Phillip Rivers was drawn out of retirement for “one last job” that went as well as it does in the movies. The late-season collapse left Steichen out of the playoffs for the third time in three tries. The Colts bet the house on this iteration of the roster when they brought back Jones and Alec Pierce on pricey deals. It’s now or never for Steichen and his staff. QB: Daniel Jones, Riley Leonard , Anthony Richardson WR: Alec Pierce, Ashton Dulin WR: Josh Downs , Anthony Gould WR: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine , Deion Burks TE: Tyler Warren , Mo Alie-Cox We’ll get to Jones’ midseason slump in a minute, but viewing his Colts debut as a whole, he was wildly impressive. Jones ranked top-10 in both EPA per play and completion percent over expected. Pro Football Focus charted him with top-10 rates of both accurate and accurate plus throws. Add in five rushing touchdowns and Jones was on pace to finish as the QB8 by points per game before exiting Week 14 early. This, however, isn’t the complete story. Jones turned the ball over a staggering five times in Week 9 versus the Steelers . He stemmed the bleeding on bad plays over the next few weeks but still struggled in most efficiency metrics. Four of his five worst games by EPA per play came from Week 9 to Week 14. Jones went from averaging .344 EPA per play over his first eight games to -.03 over his final five. The big shift was his inability to handle pressure. Jones threw six touchdowns and had a 9.8 percent pressure-to-sack rate in his early-season split. Those numbers dropped to one score and a 22 percent P2S when defenses got to him from Week 9 onward. Jones has never been particularly good under pressure, so maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that his numbers came crashing back to earth. Even if that aspect of his game is here to stay, it’s also hard to deny how efficient he was to start the season. All signs point to Jones being ready for Week 1, and fantasy managers are only being asked to pay a QB25 pricetag to find out who the real Daniel Jones is. As long as Jones retains his deep ball, Alec Pierce will be happy. The veteran wideout posted a breakout season in 2025 with 1,007 yards on a paltry 47 grabs. He scored seven times and led the league in yards per reception for the second season in a row. Despite the career year, Pierce’s role as a modest-volume deep threat didn’t change. He simply hit more home runs than the previous season. It was the first 1,000-yard season for a player with an aDOT over 20 since the turn of the century. There have only been five 20+ aDOT seasons accompanied by even 700 yards over that timeframe. Naturall
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The Colts spent this offseason implementing the Seahawks method of roster construction. Retaining one side of the ball, while making wholesale changes on the other in order to get younger and to fit the scheme of the new coordinator. However, there are still holes on this roster. Not 2024 secondary sized holes, but significant holes that need to be patched up between now and week one. At this point in the year, you’re rarely going to be able to make a season-altering move, but you can still make small improvements to the roster. Here are three guys that could do that I am still very high on Keenan Allen. Why’s that? Last year he probably was pound-for-pound one of the best value signings in the league. He caught over 80 passes for 700+ yards on a 1-year $3million dollar deal. Chargers are running a really basic concept called “Smash-Drive”. Keenan and Ladd are running a smash concept where they are putting a hi-lo stretch on the boundary corner. Herbert will throw the ball to either Ladd or Keenan based off of the reaction of that corner. If none of that is there, there’s a drive concept working back into his line of vision from the backside. Watch Keenan’s release on this play. He’s trying to make it look like some sort of pick route. That gets McDuffie to plant on the flat route from Ladd and prevent him from sinking on the 7 route in the end-zone. If nothing else, it shows that it’s possible to have a WR at his age be a valuable role player. Keenan Allen is known for his football IQ and he could still be a quality depth piece for the Colts, especially as they lost their veteran presence in Michael Pittman Jr. The ceiling is very low, but the floor can be solid. If you asked me to choose between Keenan Allen, Ashton Dulin , or Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.. I don’t think there’s anyone overly outstanding. That means the more depth the better. I think we have to address the elephant in the room for this exercise. Both the Colts and Anthony Richardson REALLY REALLY REALLY want to work out a trade. It’s for the best. The Colts are doing everything they can to pump up his value, but the reality is that there isn’t any right now. And to be honest, I think that’s probably fair. Ask yourself this: How many GMs and HCs can afford to give up assets to develop a fourth-year QB with very limited reps who is coming back from a very serious eye injury? Not many. If Anthony Richardson was a free agent, I think his market would be more lucrative. I think a lot of people would love to take a flyer on Anthony Richardson, they just don’t want to pay to do it. That being said, desperation will kick in or Anthony’s team will probably just request his release. I will never say never, but I think the chances are very slim that the Colts just let Anthony Richardson sit on the bench for the remainder of his rookie contract. (People around the league are thinking this too by the way). And when the Colts make that move, they’ll need a QB to replace him. Who could that QB be? Cooper Rush could be intriguing. I think he had some sub par starts, which is what you’d expect if he ever had to start a game in a pinch. If Jimmy G doesn’t decide to retire, that’s the type of QB that could move the needle for this coaching staff. But those aren’t really exciting. This might sound crazy… But then again, the Colts just brought Philip Rivers out of retirement. So is anything really off the table anymore? What if the Colts brought back Gardner Minshew ? I know he’s coming off the injury, but other than that, you know EXACTLY what you’re getting with him. He knows the system, the coach loves him, and a lot of the same players have played with him. That’s all you could want in a backup QB. Whether it’s part of a trade, or an eventual signing, I think that’s a move the organization would welcome. 8.5 sacks last year… Does Clowney have any gas left in the tank? He might? This would be an uncharacteristic move, but you have to at least form some sort of link be
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Westbrook-Ikhine will work to carve out a depth role with the Colts after having flopped in Miami last year, totaling just 11 grabs for 89 scoreless yards across 15 regular-season appearances - a far cry from the 32-497-9 line he logged with the Titans back in 2024. WRs Alec Pierce and Josh Downs and TE Tyler Warren are locked in as Indianapolis' top playmakers in the receiving game, but after the team traded Michael Pittman to Pittsburgh there is a clear opening for the No. 3 spot at his position. Ashton Dulin, Deion Burks, Anthony Gould and Laquon Treadwell all represent competition for Westbrook-Ikhine to secure such a gig
Ashton Dulin and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine are competing for a starting wide receiver spot with the Colts following Michael Pittman Jr.'s departure. Dulin, a long-time special teams player, sees a major opportunity to step into a larger role, while Westbrook-Ikhine was added as a veteran free agent. Arden Key is also mentioned in the context of vying for a starting position on defense
