Michael Pittman

A 2020 second-round pick, Pittman has improved upon his totals for targets and receptions with each passing season, establishing himself as one of the league's better possession receivers whilst dealing with subpar QB play. The best he's seen was the final year of Philip Rivers' career, at which point Pittman was a rookie and only the No. 3 receiver behind T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal. While he's been the clear No. 1 for Indianapolis ever since, Pittman has been saddled with Carson Wentz, a brutal final season from Matt Ryan and then Gardner Minshew last year. Anthony Richardson might end up being miles better than all those guys after an injury-marred rookie year, but even if he is, it doesn't guarantee Pittman will improve his production. What might happen instead is Pittman improving his efficiency but losing volume, as an offense with Richardson and RB Jonathan Taylor presumably will have a lot of rush attempts. At 6-4, 223, with 4.52 speed, Pittman is perhaps better suited to his familiar possession role in any case, while rookie second-round pick Adonai Mitchell can work as more of a field-stretcher. 2023 third-round pick Josh Downs is the wild card, potentially impacting Pittman's dominant share of short targets.

Pittman took a step back rather than forward, as many expected, in 2022, dropping from 1,082 yards the year before to only 925 despite seeing 12 more targets (in one fewer game). The volume, at least, was promising, and some of the efficiency decline was out of his hands in an offense torpedoed by Matt Ryan's downfall and Jonathan Taylor's injury woes. Free-agent addition Gardner Minshew at least figures to be an upgrade on the 2022 version of Ryan, and there's not much in the way of target competition for Pittman. While never likely to be much of a deep threat with 4.52 speed, Pittman did show competence as an intermediate target in 2021 with a 9.8 aDOT before dropping to tight-end range in 2022 at 6.9. New coach Shane Steichen should take notice after doing fantastic work in Philadelphia last year, though there's some chance Pittman ends up catching passes from an unpolished rookie Anthony Richardson, the 14th overall pick in the draft, rather than Minshew in what could essentially be a rebuilding year for the Colts.

Pittman enjoyed his first 1,000-yard season in 2021, playing 17 games and catching more than twice as many passes as any Colt. The 2020 second-round pick had shown promise as a rookie, including 101 total yards in a playoff loss to Buffalo, but he wasn't at the top of many lists last spring for second-year wideout breakouts. No matter, Pittman quickly established himself as Option A in an otherwise lifeless passing game, with six or more catches in four of Indy's first five matchups. Through eight weeks, Pittman averaged 74.3 yards and 0.5 TDs on 8.1 targets per game from QB Carson Wentz, who finished 20th in YPA (6.9) and 27th in completion percentage (62.4). It eventually caught up to Pittman, who dropped to 4.8 catches for 54.2 yards and 0.2 TDs on 7.1 targets in the final nine games. The silver lining is that his target share remained steady throughout, with the dip in volume a product of Wentz averaging a mere 27.3 pass attempts in the final nine games. The Colts will still lean on Jonathan Taylor and a strong offensive line this season, but they likely won't hide new QB Matt Ryan the way they often hid Wentz. If nothing else, Ryan makes fewer mistakes, and some of his decline the last two seasons was due to the mess around him in Atlanta. The Colts are betting on a bounce back, and Pittman is a huge favorite to lead them in targets after they passed on top wideouts in free agency, instead drafting second-round pick Alec Pierce.

Last year's 34th overall pick, Pittman missed three games after having surgery for compartment syndrome, but then showed flashes when he was healthy, even with shot-putter Philip Rivers throwing him the ball. Pittman finished with 8.2 YPT, two catches of 40-plus yards and a 100-yard game in Week 10 against the Titans. Not included in Pittman's season totals are his stats from the wild-card loss to Buffalo, in which he put up a 10-5-90 receiving line with an 11-yard run, to boot. At 6-4, 223, Pittman is massive, and he moves well for his size - 4.52 40. (Think a slightly smaller Mike Evans.) The Colts' receiving corps is wide open, featuring a past-his-prime T.Y. Hilton, physically gifted but never healthy Parris Campbell and the steady but unspectacular Zach Pascal. It's possible none emerge as a true No. 1, but Pittman might be the best bet among the four, especially with Hilton starting the season on IR after neck surgery.

The Colts had some WR depth with T.Y. Hilton, Zach Pascal and Parris Campbell, but they took Pittman with the 34th overall pick anyway. At 6-4, 223, Pittman is massive for a wideout, and he runs a fast-for-his-size 4.52 40, specs similar to those of Tampa Bay's Mike Evans. Pittman is a good route runner and can use his size and ball skills to win jump balls over top of overmatched defensive backs. He didn't do much until his senior year, but exploded for 1,275 yards and 11 touchdowns in 13 games for USC. It's unclear whether Pittman can beat out last year's second-rounder Campbell and/or Pascal for a role opposite T.Y. Hilton, but he should get a chance whenever training camp opens this summer.