The Indianapolis Colts' 53-man roster projection has changed following eight picks in the 2026 NFL draft. GM Chris Ballard's new additions will significantly impact the team's lineup for Week 1.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
With eight picks made in the 2026 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts 53-man roster projection is going to look a bit different than prior to the draft.
So, taking into account the newest additions made by GM Chris Ballard, let's predict what the Colts' Week 1 roster looks like.
Daneil Jones, Riley Leonard
Anthony Richardson is still on the roster, but the Colts have to find a trade partner at some point, right? ...Right? We'll believe that for now. Shane Steichen has often preferred to roster three quarterbacks, but this year, that roster spot can be better utilized elsewhere, while Seth Henigan can develop on the practice squad.
Jonathan Taylor, DJ Giddens, Seth McGowan
McGowan will compete with Giddens for the RB2 role behind Taylor.
Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, Ashton Dulin, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Deion Burks, Anthony Gould
Burks will compete with Dulin and Westbrook-Ikhine for playing time.
Tyler Warren, Mo Alie-Cox, Drew Ogletree, Will Mallory
The Colts' roster has been updated with new players added through eight draft picks, affecting various positions ahead of Week 1.
General Manager Chris Ballard is responsible for the Colts' selections in the 2026 NFL draft.
The Colts will finalize their 53-man roster ahead of Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.
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The same room as last year.
Bernhard Raimann, Quenton Nelson, Tanor Bortolini, Matt Goncalves, Jalen Travis, Luke Tenuta, Jimmy Morrissey, Dalton Tucker, Jalen Farmer
The Colts believe that Farmer can also play tackle, so with that addition, I had him replace Blake Freeland on the roster. Freeland missed all of last season with an injury.
Laiatu Latu, Arden Key, Micheal Clemons, JT Tuimoloau, Caden Curry, George Gumbs, DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Colby Wooden, Jerry Tillery, Adetomiwa Adebawore
The defensive end room became quite crowded, but I expect Ballard to find a way to keep them all on the roster. He's more than willing to roster additional defenders up front. One notable cut is that Derrick Nnadi -- a free agent signing and primary run defender -- is not on the team.
CJ Allen, Akeem Davis-Gaither, Bryce Boettcher, Jaylon Carlies
The Colts rostered just four linebackers on last year's initial 53-man, so I'll go that route again, with there not being much experienced depth at this position. I'll give Carlies the benefit of the doubt as a recent draft pick over Austin Ajiake, who has more experience on special teams.
Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward, Justin Walley, Cam Taylor-Britt, Mekhi Blackmon, Cameron Mitchell
Like with Richardson, we'll assume for now that the Colts find a trade partner for Kenny Moore. I also have Mitchell beating out Johnathan Edwards and Jaylon Jones for the final roster spot.
Cam Bynum, Jonathan Owens, Juanyeh Thomas, Hunter Wohler, AJ Haulcy
Not included due to the roster math not allowing a sixth safety is Nasir Adderley. Not having played since the 2022 season, one would guess that there will be some rust to shake off.
Grupe and Spencer Shrader will presumably be competing for the kicking job. For now, I'll go with Grupe since he has more experience and isn't coming off a major injury.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: 2026 NFL draft: Predicting Colts 53-man roster after 8 picks