As the Colts enter Week 6 with the highest-scoring offense in the NFL (32.3 points per game) and the most points they've scored through six games since moving to Indianapolis (194), they do so with just three players on that side of the ball they did not draft or sign as an undrafted free agent.
Quarterback Daniel Jones, of course, is one. Backup running backs Tyler Goodson and Ameer Abdullah are the other two.
To put it another way: Of the 3,870 total snaps played by Colts running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen, 99.6 percent have been taken by players the Colts either drafted or signed as undrafted rookie free agents:
| Player | Position | Snap % | Acquired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernhard Raimann | LT | 99.7% | 2022 3rd round pick |
| Tanor Bortolini | C | 96.4% | 2024 4th round pick |
| Braden Smith | RT | 94.8% | 2018 2nd round pick |
| Quenton Nelson | LG | 94.6% | 2018 1st round pick |
| Michael Pittman Jr. | WR | 84.2% | 2020 2nd round pick |
| Matt Goncalves | RG | 84.2% | 2024 3rd round pick |
| Jonathan Taylor | RB | 82.4% | 2020 2nd round pick |
| Tyler Warren | TE | 80.4% | 2025 1st round pick |
| Josh Downs | WR | 53.5% | 2023 3rd round pick |
| Alec Pierce | WR | 51.9% | 2022 2nd round pick |
| Mo Alie-Cox | TE | 45.7% | 2017 undrafted free agent |
| Drew Ogletree | TE | 29.5% | 2022 6th round pick |
| Adonai Mitchell | WR | 27.4% | 2024 2nd round pick |
| Ashton Dulin | WR | 23.0% | 2019 undrafted free agent |
| Dalton Tucker | G | 21.2% | 2024 undrafted free agent |
| D.J. Giddens | RB | 11.9% | 2025 5th round pick |
| Jalen Travis | T | 6.5% | 2025 4th round pick |
| Danny Pinter | C | 3.6% | 2020 5th roun dpick |
| Anthony Gould | WR | 3.1% | 2024 5th round pick |
| Ameer Abdullah | RB | 2.1% | 2025 practice squad signing |
| Tyler Goodson | RB | 2.1% | 2023 practice squad signing |
| Will Mallory | TE | 1.3% | 2023 5th round pick |
| Ulysses Bentley IV | RB | 0.2% | 2025 undrafted free agent |
Abdullah is a 10-year veteran who signed with the Colts' practice squad in September. Goodson began his career on the Green Bay Packers' practice squad in 2022 before joining the Colts' practice squad early during the 2023 regular season.
Combined, those two running backs have played 16 snaps.
Another way to think about this: Jones has handed the ball off to a Colts draft pick (Taylor, Giddens, Warren) or undrafted free agent (Dulin, Bentley) on 134 of his 137 handoffs for 672 yards, good for an average of 5.0 yards per attempt. Of his 129 completions for 1,502 yards, a Colts draft pick or UDFA has caught 127 of those for 1,493 yards.
And every single offensive lineman who has blocked for Jones was drafted by the Colts or signed as an undrafted free agent with the team. It's a full 100 percent hit rate on the O-line.
"I think especially up front, you talk abut the offensive line that — there's some new guys in different spots this year — but I think just the way they communicate, the kind of culture of the room, the standard of the room, you can tell that's extremely consistent," Jones said. "And guys who understand that, I think it goes a long way — throughout the offense, guys who know each other well, who've been in the system, know how to play together, how to help each other in certain situations."
The collection of players surrounding Jones has grown together. Nelson and Smith have been stalwarts of the Colts' offensive line for seven years; Pittman and Taylor came into the league together in 2020; Pierce and Raimann were part of the same 2022 class; Downs immediately established himself in 2023; Goncalves and Bortolini were added with consecutive selections in the 2024 NFL Draft; Warren has looked like a Rookie of the Year candidate after being the 14th overall pick earlier this spring.
"One of my pillars is consistency, and I think consistency builds stability within an organization," head coach Shane Steichen said. "Guys get to know each other, they know how each other ticks, they know their work ethic. We got a lot of great leadership, a lot of veteran leadership that's setting the standard for a lot of young guys coming in. That's a credit to Chris (Ballard) in putting together the roster the way he has."
The Colts have spent to keep this core together with extensions for Taylor, Pittman, Nelson and Smith, so it hasn't been a roster-building approach based in frugality on offense. Defensively, sure, the Colts have used resources to acquire and/or retain players like DeForest Buckner, Samson Ebukam, Charvarius Ward Sr. and Cam Bynum, but those moves could happen because Ballard and his staff have hit on so many draft picks on offense.
And it's now Jones, who leads the NFL in QBR entering Week 7, who's been the rising tide for all those draft picks and UDFAs. All 99.6 percent of them.
