The winner of the Indianapolis Colts' kicking competition has been decided.
According to Mike Garafolo, the Colts are releasing Blake Grupe, which means Spencer Shrader will be Indianapolis' kicker this season.
This ended up being quite the come-from-behind victory for Shrader.
The #Colts are releasing K Blake Grupe. Spencer Shrader wins the job after hitting his second 60+ field goal of the preseason. Grupe had a 90% make rate in camp. A close battle, with Shrader just barely edging Grupe out. pic.twitter.com/HzaKbgKb30
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 30, 2026
Throughout the training camp practices, Grupe was the more effective kicker, and it wasn't particularly close.
However, the tide turned in the preseason games.
Shrader would go 5-for-5 on his attempts, which included making three
kicks from over 50 yards out. Grupe, meanwhile, was just 2-for-4 on field goal kicks.
Early in training camp, special teams coordinator Brian Mason said that the preseason games would carry more weight in the evaluation process.
Shrader would unfortunately suffer a season-ending ACL injury early in the 2025 season after he was run into on a field goal attempt. Before the injury, he was 14-for-14 on extra points and 13-of-14 on field goals, which included hitting a game-winner against Denver.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts select winner of kicking competition
