# Indianapolis Colts 2026: The Coverage Report — Second-Fewest Takes in the League, and Every Graded Award Pick Wrong

*Published 2026-09-06 — MissedTakes*

Part of a 32-post series on how the outlets MissedTakes tracks covered each club, graded against what actually happened. One caveat up front, stated once: this measures the sources in our database — the shows, sites and podcasts we log — not all of football media. A team can be enormous locally and small here.

The [Indianapolis Colts](/nfl/teams/colts) are small here.

## The coverage baseline: 31st in volume

Across all 32 clubs we hold 19,341 team-tagged takes, an average of 604 per team, of which an average of 212 are graded. The Colts have **368 takes, 151 of them graded** — second-fewest takes in the league (only the Falcons, at 323, drew less) and 29th in graded volume. The most-covered team, Buffalo, has 999 takes; Kansas City leads with 389 graded.

![Colts coverage vs. the league](/posts/visuals/423f3933-5713-4933-a01e-00726eae6bc9.png)

That gap shows up in the places where thin coverage actually costs you a reading. For 2025 season win totals, our database holds three Colts calls — [John Middlekauff](/pundits/john-middlekauff) at 9, Brady Quinn at 4, [Gregg Rosenthal](/pundits/gregg-rosenthal) at 7, against an actual 8 wins. Kansas City and the Giants drew 13 win-total calls apiece that same year. When the field is three people, "consensus" isn't a word worth using.

Is the light treatment deserved? By results, roughly. Indianapolis went 8-9 in 2025, 8-9 in 2024 and 9-8 in 2023, and the last playoff berth on their profile is the 11-5 team of 2020. Three straight non-playoff seasons in the same range is not a story generator. The Colts' takes still grade out mid-pack: 53.4 average accuracy, 18th of 32, with an average skill delta of +6.0 over the naive baseline.

## The cutdown: 13 calls, 2 graded, and none of them from this year

This series' news hook is the 53-man roster. Here the honest answer is short: we hold **13 roster-spot calls on the Colts across all time, and exactly two are graded**. Every call tied to the 2026 cutdown is still pending. There are no graded surprises to lead with, because nothing from August has been scored yet.

What is on the board is worth listing, because it will grade later:

- Andrew Moore, Aug. 30: "Not only does Richardson seem like a lock to make the roster, but he should also be viewed as the favorite for QB2." He also gave CB Kenneth Harris "an outside shot."
- Noah Compton, Aug. 29: "Day 3 defensive ends George Gumbs Jr. and Caden Curry have essentially forced their way onto the Colts' initial 53-man roster," with WR Deion Burks "still on the outside looking in ahead of cut day."
- Carter Bahns, Aug. 27: DT Jerry Tillery is "arguably good enough to make the roster, [but] there is only room for so many defensive tackles."
- [Nathan Jahnke](/pundits/nathan-jahnke), Aug. 22 and again Aug. 24: ["Laquon Treadwell locks into a roster spot."](/opinions/760054fd-7815-4b86-a9e3-bc9bdb0a730b) Raju Byfield had Burks "in jeopardy of not making the active roster" back on Aug. 10.

There is also a live disagreement about Anthony Richardson that nobody has been graded on. Jason Fitz, on March 1: "I think he's going to get cut. I don't think he's going to get traded." Moore, at the end of August, has him a lock. Both are pending.

The two graded roster-spot calls are instructive about the format more than about the callers. Rosenthal, in February, said DeForest Buckner was ["not getting cut"](/opinions/cd72584b-a2c7-48e5-a6c7-950bbe392b48) — 100 accuracy, skill delta 0, because the naive basis ("he was on somebody's 53 last season") got there too. [Danny Parkins](/pundits/danny-parkins) said in July 2025 he'd ["be floored if the Colts move off of Anthony Richardson"](/opinions/50f5acdf-a4f0-414f-aeac-222067b75938) — also 100 accuracy, also zero skill. Saying an established veteran will still be on the roster is a correct claim that beats nothing.

## What the graded record actually shows

Nineteen claim types carry at least one graded Colts take. The split is stark: process claims grade well, outcome claims grade at zero.

![Colts takes by claim type: average accuracy](/posts/visuals/2fc46b2f-1850-4d1a-abae-b255096cc1ce.png)

| Type | Graded | Avg accuracy | Avg skill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depth Chart Calls | 24 | 96.5 | +0.7 |
| Mock Draft Picks | 20 | 65.4 | +34.9 |
| Game Outcome Picks | 17 | 70.6 | +14.1 |
| Award Picks | 17 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Trade and Signing Calls | 16 | 87.5 | +75.0 |
| Positional Finishes | 11 | 47.7 | +15.4 |
| Division Winners | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Playoff Picks | 8 | 12.5 | −138.1 |

The depth-chart number is the tell. Twenty-four graded calls at 96.5 accuracy and a skill delta of +0.7 is almost entirely one prediction repeated: Daniel Jones wins the starting job. [Rich Eisen](/pundits/rich-eisen) ("I think he's gonna beat out Anthony Richardson"), Middlekauff four separate times ("This race is over"), Rosenthal, Bobby Skinner and Matt Hasselbeck all logged it, all graded 100 — and all at skill 0, because the baseline slotted Jones first anyway.

Award picks are the opposite extreme: 17 graded, **zero of them right**. Six panelists picked Jonathan Taylor for Offensive Player of the Year in September 2022 (Justin Jefferson won); [Richard Sherman](/pundits/richard-sherman) revived it in October 2025 — "he'll be Offensive Player of the Year because that's the standard deal there" — and Jaxon Smith-Njigba won. [Manti Te'o](/pundits/manti-te-o) had Tyler Warren for Offensive Rookie of the Year; Tetairoa McMillan won. Three graded coach-award picks, all for Frank Reich in 2022, all lost to Brian Daboll. Division winners: nine graded, zero right, including [Colin Cowherd](/pundits/colin-cowherd) in October 2025 — "I think they're going to run away now with this division."

Playoff picks are where the damage lands. Eight graded, 12.5 accuracy, average skill −138. Middlekauff took two −200s on the same June 2025 show; [Nick Wright](/pundits/nick-wright) took a −178 in October ("let's just say the Colts keep doing what they're doing and they're in those five teams"). The one hit is Dan Pizzuta calling the 2020 division winners.

The best work on this club is drafting and transactions. [Kyle Crabbs](/pundits/kyle-crabbs) put Tyler Warren at No. 14 to Indianapolis in two separate 2025 mocks and Warren went 14th, worth +41.2 and +35.7 in skill; Rosenthal had the same pick. [Daniel Jeremiah](/pundits/daniel-jeremiah) called Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez for the Colts in the second round of the 2026 draft — he went 43rd. On the transaction side, Dan Graziano and Jourdan Rodrigue both called the Daniel Jones retention in February for +100 skill apiece.

## Who has a record here

Seven pundits clear our five-graded-take floor on the Colts, and only one clears 10:

- Rich Eisen — 26 graded, 51.3 accuracy, −20.4 skill
- Middlekauff, Chris Brockman, Cowherd and Crabbs — 9 graded each
- Rosenthal — 7 graded (93.0 accuracy)
- Nick Wright — 5 graded

Below 10 graded takes we won't rank anyone, and that means we won't rank anyone here except by listing them. By outlet, The Herd with Colin Cowherd leads with 38 graded Colts takes; Overreaction Monday has 25 at 29.3 accuracy and −43.7 skill; Around the NFL has 17 at 83.8.

The summary is unglamorous and probably fair. Our sources rarely talk about the Colts. When they do, they're good at saying who will start and where a prospect will go, and they have been 0-for-17 on handing this team an award and 1-for-8 on putting it in the playoffs. The cutdown calls that would test the roster-spot record are on the board, unresolved. We'll grade them when the season does.