The Indianapolis Colts were a tale of two halves last year. Before the bye week, they were a very watchable team that was sitting at 8-2 and poised to make the playoffs and win their division. After the bye week, they never won again and were incredibly difficult to watch.
That seems to have been a heavy factor in ESPN’s Ben Solak'swatchability rankings for the 2026 NFL season.
Solak put the Colts at No. 19 in the league, which is next-to-last among teams in the AFC South. Here is what Solak had to say about Indianapolis:
“The Colts were 19th in my preseason watchability rankings last season, as I penalized them for starting Daniel Jones -- whom I called a "cautious, unexplosive thrower" -- over Anthony Richardson Sr. Wrong! Jones and the Colts were as watchable
as it gets in the first 10 weeks of the 2025 season. They were historically productive as an offense.
"If anything, the 2026 Colts demand your time simply to see whether they can do it again. They almost certainly can't -- even if everyone were back and healthy, regression is a cruel inevitability. But with Jones still working back from a right Achilles tear, and Pierce and fellow receiver Josh Downs still not practicing, it might take a few weeks for the Colts to pick up steam.”
When all else fails, the Colts still have running back Jonathan Taylor, who is always fun to watch, along with Tyler Warren, who was one of the more productive tight ends in football last season as a rookie.
Taylor has been impressing fans around the NFL since he was drafted in 2020 and is coming off a monster season last year when he led the league in rushing attempts, rushing touchdowns and first downs.
And while watchability often focuses on the offensive side of the ball, a Colts' secondary that features Sauce Gardner, Cam Bynum, and Charvarius Ward could generate some highlight-worthy plays as well.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Where do the Indianapolis Colts land in ESPN's watchability rankings?
