Indianapolis Colts Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet For 2026: Josh Downs, Jonathan Taylor and More

The Colts were arguably the biggest surprise of the 2025 season, scorching through their competition until an unfortunate injury to Daniel Jones spelled an end to their storybook season. With a full offseason to recover, how are the Colts positioned behind Jones in 2026?Ian Hartitz and Dwain McFarland bring you everything you need to know about the Colts for fantasy football with their fantasy football cheat sheet, highlighting their fantasy football rankings, projections and more.

Indianapolis Colts Team Cheat Sheet For 2026

2025 Record / Rank in PPG: 8-9 / 27.4 (8)
2026 Proj TDs per game: 2.4 (rank: 14)
Head Coach: Shane Steichen
Offensive Playcaller: Steichen (OC Jim Bob Cooter)
Projected Plays Per Game: 59.5 (rank: 26)
Projected Dropback Rate: 59% (rank: 20)
Matthew Freedman’s Projected Win Total: 8.3
Offensive Line Grade: B
Key Departures: Michael Pittman
Key Additions: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Seth McGowan

Colts Fantasy Football Rankings and Depth Chart

QB: Daniel Jones (QB27) | Riley Leonard (NR)
RB: Jonathan Taylor (RB5) | DJ Giddens (RB81)
WR: Alec Pierce (WR38) | Josh Downs (WR48) | Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (NR)
TE: Tyler Warren (TE4)

Fantasy Football Team Overview For the 2026 Indianapolis Colts

Daniel Jones averaged career-best marks in pretty much every efficiency metric out there prior to 2025's season-ending Achilles injury. Reduced mobility won't help matters in fantasy land, but Jones (again) stands out as a very solid mid-to-late-round option in superflex/two-QB formats.

Jonathan Taylor averaged 27 PPR points per game (RB1) in Weeks 1-10 … and 12.6 (RB23) in Weeks 12-18 once Jones was injured. Good news: Taylor set career-high marks in receptions (46) and receiving yards (378), elevating the floor in full-PPR formats. He's locked in as a consensus top-5 back ahead of 2026. DJ Giddens is the next man up, but it'd likely be a committee situation should JT miss any time.

The decision to trade Michael Pittman to Pittsburgh condenses this WR room around $116M man Alec Pierce and shifty slot maven Josh Downs. Credit to Pierce for leading the NFL in yards per catch and per target in each of the past two seasons, but Downs and TE Tyler Warren project as the more likely beneficiaries from Pittman's vacated underneath-and-intermediate targets. Caleb's older brother is a fun late-round breakout candidate: Downs is still just 24 years young and has flashed elite separation ability during his three-year career. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine isn't expected to supply much fantasy goodness as the likely No. 3 WR, but that time he caught 9 touchdowns in 2024 sure was wild!

Like Taylor, Warren's breakout season was largely undone by Jones' season-ending injury. Before the Colts' Week 11 bye, Warren averaged 13.6 PPR points per game (TE6). After? Well, he posted 7.2 (TE26). The return of Jones and exclusion of Pittman suddenly has Warren looking at a salivating situation ahead of 2026—he's Fantasy Life's consensus TE5, and the disparity in fantasy football ADP between him and Colston Loveland seems awfully wide.

Utilization Notes For The 2026 Colts

Josh Downs may never earn a full-time complement of routes in a run-balanced Colts offense, but the door is open with Michael Pittman traded to the Steelers. The 2023 Round 3 NFL Draft pick ranks 24th in targets per route (24%) and 41st in yards per route (1.75) of all WRs with at least 500 routes over the last three seasons. Indianapolis added Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, who isn't much of an obstacle as a receiver, but the team might prefer his run blocking on base downs. Downs is a WR4 with WR2 upside if playing time breaks his way.

Players Mentioned in this Article

DanielJonesQ
QBIND
PPG
17.0
Proj
260.4
JonathanTaylor
RBIND
PPG
19.7
Proj
281.4
JoshDowns
WRIND
PPG
6.7
Proj
131.3
TylerWarren
TEIND
PPG
8.7
Proj
157.1

Published May 15, 2026, 6:45 ET