The Colts are about to finish the offseason with some post-draft free agency moves, marking the 10th offseason under Chris Ballard. The decade of Ballard’s management has been a wild rollercoaster ride, albeit not all of it due to Ballard himself. But after this Ballard decade, how does the Colts roster stack up from 2026 compared to 2016, the last year of the Grigson era?
In this position by position series, we dive into who has the edge at every spot of the roster. So far we have gone through Quarterbacks and Running Backs, so next up is Wide Receivers.
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2016 TY Hilton was a menace to defensive backs. Luck relied on his favorite target heavily that season, with Hilton getting a career high 155 targets that season (16 more than his 2nd highest volume 2013 season).
The Ghost rewarded Luck’s trust by leading the NFL in receiving yards in 2016 with a career high 1,448 yards for 15.9 per reception and 6 TDs.
Part of the reason for Luck’s trust in Hilton? The lack of viable alternatives in the passing game that could win consistently at Wide Receiver. Moncrief played only 9 games, but flashed serious Red Zone upside with 7 TDs in that span. He needed more consistency outside of the redzone, with just 30 catches for 307 yards on his 56 targets.
Despite his inconsistency, missing Moncrief nearly half the season left a clear void on the outside. 2nd year 1st Round Wide Receiver Phillip Dorsett stepped into a larger role outside and offered more speed and Yards After the Catch than Moncrief. But Dorsett had a career worst 10.8% drop rate and struggled to earn targets. He had 59 targets in 15 games for 528 yards and 2 TDs. His inconsistency and poor hands contributed to him being traded to the Patriots just before the 2017 season in exchange for Jacoby Brissett.
Chester Rogers also got a pair of starts as a Undrafted Free Agent and had 19 receptions and 273 yards on 31 targets. He did a good job getting separation in the intermediate area of the field and had only 1 drop as a rookie, but also lacked the big play ability and Yards After the Catch skills as a rookie to earn a bigger role in the offense.
The 2026 Wide Receiver Core is in a transition period, as for the first time in half a decade they need someone to step into a possession outside WR role with Michael Pittman Jr. traded to the Steelers this offseason for cap relief. Freshly paid Alec Pierce is set to take on a bigger role in the intermediate routes in 2026 after getting a $29m per year deal this offseason.
Like TY Hilton, Alec Pierce is the top deep threat and big play generator for the Colts Offense, as the former Cincinnati Bearcat has led the NFL in Yards per reception in each of the last 2 seasons (22.3 and 21.3 respectively). But unlike TY Hilton, Alec Pierce has never been the top target of an Offense and his 2025 career high in targets is just 84. Still he is a remarkably efficient deep threat with similar straight line speed as Hilton, but on a far bigger and stronger frame and is a better contested catch grabber than the Ghost. While he did get his first 1,000 yard season in 2025 and is due for his biggest role yet as his route running and agility have steadily improved each year of his career… asking Pierce to match TY Hilton’s best season of his career is a tall order.
Josh Downs could take on a bigger role too in the Colts passing game with Pittman Jr.’s departure. The quick and efficient route runner with reliable hands in the slot has been 2nd fiddle to Pittman Jr. in the WR target share in each of his 3 seasons of his career, although his career best 2024 season was arguably ahead of Pittman with 107 targets in 14 games compared to Pittman Jr.’s 111 targets in 16 games. Downs also has thrived in the short to intermediate depth routes that Pittman Jr. frequented, so he could absorb a solid chunk of the workload there too.
One of the top separators in the NFL and paired with very reliable hands, Downs now has a chance to have his first 1,000 yards season. The closest he has gotten to that mark was 803 in 14 games in 2024 (975 yard pace in a full 17 game season). With this being the last year of his rookie deal, the Colts slot WR out of North Carolina could be primed for a big year.
But neither Pierce or Downs will likely be taking Pittman Jr’s actual spot at Z receiver in the lineup, as both are entrenched as X and slot roles respectively. That will likely come down to the 3 remaining WRs: longtime Special Teams star and WR4/5 Ashton Dulin, former Tennessee Titan Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and rookie 7th Round pick Deion Burks.
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Dulin has been a spot starter with 7 starts since 2021. He has had 623 receiving yards and 4 TDs on 40 receptions (70 targets) in his 6 year career with the Colts, never amassing more than 207 yards or 22 targets in any single year. While the only incumbent on the Colts active roster, he is perhaps best used as depth and on special teams than as a starter.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was a longtime Titan who stuck around the AFC South rival for 6 years. The former Indiana Hoosier returns back to Indiana after a brief stint with the Dolphins in 2025 that was the worst year of his career post-rookie year, racking up just 20 targets, 11 catches, 89 yards, and no scores. Still his Titans production was decent as their usual 4th option in the passing game, as he saw 213 targets, 123 catches for 1,740 yards, and 19 TDs (9 of which were in 2024) while earning 38 starts from 2021-2024. If he can bounce back from his 2025 down season, he has a solid shot at starting for the Colts as a 4th or 5th option in a passing game once again.
Rookie Deion Burks has fascinating upside, especially for a late 7th Round pick. Burks was graded as a Day 2 (usually Round 3) prospect by the entire online media, as every big board published in the pre draft process had him as a top 100 player in the 2026 Draft class.
His freakish athleticism (4.3 speed in 40 yard dash, 42.5” vertical jump, T2nd All Time 26 bench press reps) with top notch agility and smoothness in and out of his breaks for exciting Yards after the Catch and route running ability on tape.
He vastly improved his hands since transferring from Purdue to Oklahoma were all enticing parts of his profile. But limited collegiate production (in large part due to poor QB play), a pair of major injuries (2022 Bowl Game head/neck injury requiring hospitalization, 2024 concussion and then a severe thigh contusion ending his season) along with a 2024 DUI arrest (for alcohol, open container, speeding, all misdemeanors) could’ve combined to cause his draft fall.
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If Burks is healthy, stays out of trouble by learning from his 2024 DUI, and can continue to hone his craft, his talent could be enough to earn him the Colts starting WR job as a late Round 7 Rookie.
Advantage: 2016 Colts
While the Colts depth of 2026 is intriguing and I do believe in the talent of Alec Pierce (my top graded WR remaining on Day 2 of 2022 Draft), Josh Downs (my top graded WR remaining on Day 2 of the 2023 Draft), and Deion Burks (my 93rd overall prospect of the 2026 Draft), there are still questions about how the incumbent’s roles will change and how much work Burks will get in 2026 (as well as if he can beat out the other Colts WRs). 2026 has the edge in terms of depth at the position even with these questions.
But peak TY Hilton in 2016 is a tall task to top for the 2026 group. TY got only 6 TDs but was one of the best receivers in the NFL outside of the RedZone with elite deep threat ability and Yards After the Catch skills. Moncrief when healthy was one of the most dangerous Red Zone threats of 2016, filling in the biggest receiving weakness of Hilton very well.
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Alec Pierce and Josh Downs have a lot of potential as a duo, but expecting more production than 2016 TY and Moncrief is tough. The 2026 advantage of depth (2026 Colts could very well have the better WR2-4) makes this a surprisingly close contest, but the question of Z WR impact and/or the amount of growth from both Pierce and Downs would need to be emphatically answered to push this unit past a career Hilton year.
And with the 2026 Colts Wide Receivers getting passes from either Daniel Jones off of an Achilles injury, Anthony Richardson, or Riley Leonard instead of 2016 Andrew Luck (and one game of Scott Tolzein), this years’ Colts wideouts likely won’t have the same quality of QB play as their 2016 counterparts to try to surpass them. The 2016 Colts Wide Receivers put up in 16 games:
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177 Catches / 314 Targets = 56.4% Catch%
And the 2025 Colts Wide Receivers produced (without Michael Pittman Jr.) in 17 games:
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192 Catches / 296 Targets = 64.9% Catch % (112 Catches / 185 Targets = 60.5%)
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2,465 Yards (1,681 Yards)
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12.8 Yards Per Reception (15 Yards Per Reception)
Simply put, the 2026 Colts Wide Receiver core as of now isn’t striking the same amount of fear as prime TY Hilton leading the charge in 2016.
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Still, it is a more worthwhile debate that Luck vs Jones or Taylor vs Gore in prior articles in the series with more starting spots and rotational duties to debate at Wide Receiver than Quarterback or Running Back, so leave a comment if you think the 2026 Colts WR room is better than the 2016 unit or vice versa!
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