The Indianapolis Colts were among the eleven NFL teams to kick off their OTAs today.
Their current OTA schedule is May 26-27, May 29, June 1-2, and June 4th.
OTAs are voluntary spring practices, where included is non-contact 11-on-11 on-field work with both rookies and veterans (who participate) alike.
Additionally, Colts players and coaches can review the playbook, begin to install base sets and core offensive, defensive, and special teams schemes, run practice drills, perform strength and conditioning,
and build overall camaraderie among new and returning teammates for the upcoming 2026 campaign.
It sets the table for mandatory team minicamp, which for the Colts, will occur just a few weeks later on June 9-11th of this early (and rapidly) approaching summer.
While I believe that the primary positional competitions will be actually determined during the ensuing mandatory team minicamp and largely training camp (and perhaps some initial preseason games) in mid-July, it does lay the ground work for some of those starting battles—and also an opportunity for younger players to better stand out when some veterans, whether for rehab or other training reasons, likely will not show up yet.
With all that being said, especially compared to prior years, there’s at least a handful of Colts starting positions up for grabs including at linebacker, the right side of their offensive line at both right guard and right tackle, left defensive end, and strong safety among potentially others.
For those Colts players reasonably competing for those starting jobs, it would be surprising if the returning players didn’t show up for these voluntary team activities to try to make an early impression on coaches and begin to earn those 1st-team spots over their primary competition. For the rookies competing, it’s another initial time to shine outside of rookie minicamp a few weeks ago.
