Indianapolis, IN
PFF projects Indianapolis Colts’ starting offense for 2025 season
We have a long ways to go before decisions have to be made, but PFF has projected what the Colts’ starting offense will look like in 2025.
We have a long ways to go before roster decisions have to be made and starting lineups have to be constructed, but Pro Football Focus has taken an early swing at projecting who will be starting and playing key roles on offense for the Indianapolis Colts.
The quarterback competition will draw a lot of eyes during training camp and the preseason, but there is also playing time up for grabs along the offensive line and at the backup running back spot.
Here is how Pro Football Focus sees things shaking out for the Colts.
Quarterback: Anthony Richardson
As Shane Steichen has described, Richardson and Daniel Jones will be splitting starting reps throughout the summer, and ultimately, it will be the most consistent of the two who wins the job.
For both the 2025 season and beyond, it’s clearly in the Colts’ best interest that Richardson takes control of the competition. As the younger, higher upside player, the ceiling for this Colts’ offense is greater with Richardson under center.
Steichen and Chris Ballard believe that the competition will elevate the play of both Richardson and Jones. While not an apples-to-apples comparison, after returning from being benched last season, we did see improved play from Richardson, which included leading two fourth-quarter comebacks.
A main focus for Richardson this offseason has been on his footwork, which is where accuracy begins at the quarterback position.
Running back: Jonathan Taylor, Khalil Herbert
We know that Taylor will shoulder the workload at the running back spot, but the backup role is one where Ballard said the Colts need more production this season. So of note, PFF has Herbert listed as the backup over Day 3 draft pick DJ Giddens.
Herbert, who has been in the NFL since 2021, has experience on his side, while Giddens showcased his big-play abilities at Kansas State, which included averaging 6.5 yards per carry in 2024 and generating the 15th most rushes of 10 or more yards. However, like any first-year player, Giddens will be navigating the learning curve that comes with making the jump to the NFL level.
The Colts’ offense would also benefit greatly if one of Herbert or Giddens can carve out a role as a pass-catcher and add that element to Shane Steichen’s playbook, creating another dimension for defenses to contend with. This is an area where Giddens may have the upper hand.
On paper, there will be a backup running back, but I’m guessing right now that we’ll see both Herbert and Giddens this season, although how that playing time breaks down between the two remains to be seen.
Wide receiver: Michael Pittman, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce
No real surprises here. We will also see AD Mitchell in the mix, but a big part of the equation when it comes to him earning more opportunities is showcasing more consistency. However, with three well-established players on the depth chart ahead of him, along with the Colts now having Tyler Warren at tight end, they aren’t exactly hurting for snaps, especially with how little four wide receivers are utilized at one time in this offense.
“That next step is like, alright, let me learn my role, let me focus on the things I can control and move from there,” said Reggie Wayne about Mitchell. “He’s backing up Alec right now. I mean, you can’t throw Alec away. Alec just had a great year. Just coming in understanding, and understanding your place, but when your number is called, let’s make sure we hit a home run and not just a base hit.”
Tight end: Tyler Warren
Again, no surprises here. The rookie will immediately step in and be a top option at this position. But we will still continue to see a fair amount of Mo Alie-Cox and Drew Ogletree as well. Two tight end sets were the Colts’ second-most utilized personnel grouping last season.
Offensive line: Bernhard Raimann, Quenton Nelson, Tanor Bortolini, Matt Goncalves, Braden Smith
I’m assuming that this is the configuration that everyone expects to see. Offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. has said that Bortolini is competing with Danny Pinter at center, and Goncalves is competing with the other guards on the roster–likely Dalton Tucker and Josh Sills–but the expectation is that Bortolini and Goncalves will win those jobs.
INDIANAPOLIS — One person is in critical condition following a shooting on Indy’s near east side.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, around 8:10 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on reports of a person shot.
Upon arrival, police located a 50-year-old man with injuries consistent with a gunshot wound.
He is currently reported to be in extremely critical condition.
No additional information has been made available at the time of this article’s publication.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on June 17 gave AES the nod to raise electricity rates enough to earn an additional $71 million each year, a decision that drew reproof from Indiana lawmakers who called it another blow to cost-burdened consumers.
The approved rate represents less than half of the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It’s also less than the $91 million increase proposed in an October settlement agreement between AES, the city of Indianapolis and major electricity consumers like Kroger and Walmart.
But the new rate is still significantly more than what the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing ratepayers in the case, recommended in September. The OUCC’s proposal would have capped AES’s annual operating revenue at $21 million less than the current level.
The rate increase authorizes AES to earn a total of nearly $2 billion each year, or an estimated $384 million in profit.
The higher base rate comes as a double whammy for Indianapolis-area households, who are already paying more for electricity this summer after AES temporarily raised rates to account for higher-than-anticipated fuel costs during last winter’s storms. The increase also arrives against the backdrop of inflation, which rose to a three-year high last month, and surging gas prices due to the war in Iran.
Gov. Mike Braun wrote in a Wednesday post to X that he was “deeply disappointed” by the IURC’s approval of the rate increase.
“Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions,” Braun wrote. “It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
The IURC’s decision also drew fire from the other side of the aisle. In a June 17 news release, five Democrats representing Indianapolis in the state Senate – J.D. Ford, Andrea Hunley, La Keisha Jackson, Fady Qaddoura, and Greg Taylor – chastised Indiana’s Republican supermajority for failing to rein in rising utility costs.
“Hoosiers pay more. Monopoly utilities collect more. And the leaders in the super-majority who promise affordability over and over again show those are just empty words,” the news release said. “Instead, they continue to defend a system that takes more and more out of our paychecks.”
The consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition also slammed the rate increase. Ben Inskeep, CAC’s program director, said the decision left him “less optimistic that this commission is willing to do things differently and to actually hold utilities accountable.”
He said the IURC should have penalized AES for issues that plagued customers after the utility updated its billing system in 2023, including duplicated withdrawals for the same monthly bill.
The rate increase will take effect in two phases, with rates going up in July 2026 and January 2027. AES officials anticipate the hikes “will be less than $5 per month per phase” for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, according to a Wednesday news release from the utility.
“The IURC’s decision reflects a thorough, transparent process and balances the need for continued investment in the electric system with a focus on customer affordability,” the news release stated.
Under a state law that Braun signed in February, AES cannot ask for another increase to its base rate until January 2030 — though electricity bills could still go up for other reasons, like the fuel adjustment charge hitting consumers this month.
Three members of the five-member IURC signed off on the rate increase: Andy Zay, David Veleta, and David Ziegner. Commissioner Bob Deig dissented. Commissioner Anthony Swinger recused himself from the decision because he worked on the AES rate case for the OUCC before he was appointed to the IURC by Braun in January.
“None of this was taken lightly,” Zay, the IURC’s chair, said at the Wednesday hearing, adding that the commission and its staff had carefully weighed concerns about affordability. The commissioners did not go into further detail at the hearing.
But the commission’s order shows some of the debates that played out during the rate case. One point of contention was AES’s authorized return on equity — that is, how much the utility can earn each year in profits. Other disputes hinged on how AES forecasts its operating expenses.
The OUCC accused AES of including more than 100 “phantom hires,” vacant positions it did not necessarily intend to fill in its calculations. Last year, AES said that the rising costs of vegetation management, or trimming trees around power lines, also drove the need to raise rates. The OUCC recommended keeping vegetation management costs flat.
One factor that’s not driving higher prices? Data centers.
AES does not currently provide service to any data centers and did not include them in its calculations, AES president Brandi Davis-Handy said in testimony before the IURC.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
Interactive radar | Weather alerts by county
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE
(WRTV) — A tornado watch has been issued through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday for much of Indiana, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.
The watch area covers 47 of Indiana’s 92 counties, and includes Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.
Counties in the watch area are Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, and White.
WRTV Meteorologist Ryan Morse says Wednesday afternoon’s rain was the first of two rounds coming to the Hoosier state. A line of supercells were expected to form in Illinois and travel into central Indiana.
In neighboring Illinois, dozens of counties are under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT/11 p.m. EST.
All threats of severe weather were on the table: damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail, and flooding.
Severe storms should exit Indiana in the early morning hours.
WISH-TV Meteorologist Keith Gibson says people should have multiple ways of getting alerts and have electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power.
The next chance for rain after these storms could be on Saturday.
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