The Colts had one of the more unusual roster battles in the NFL this summer.
Both Spencer Shrader and Blake Grupe are good enough to be starting kickers. Grupe has been perfect for Indianapolis since joining the team late in 2025, making all 11 of his field-goal attempts and all 10 extra points, including a franchise-record 60-yarder. Shrader, meanwhile, is coming back from a torn ACL and MCL that ended what was also a great 2025 season. Before the injury, he made 13/14 field goals and all 14 extra points. There really is no obvious wrong choice.
Grupe has been the more consistent kicker through most of training camp, while Shrader has had some rough stretches. When the games began, however, the competition was reversed. Shrader went 5/5 during the preseason, including two field goals from at least 60 yards. The group finished 2/4. Special teams coordinator Brian Mason said at the time that game kicks would likely carry more weight when the final decision was made, and the Colts ultimately kept Shrader.
Five games later, that decision looks great!
Shrader is 16/16 on field goals this season, including 6/6 from beyond 50 yards. His only miss of any kind was an extra point. He has the most catches of any kicker in the NFL and the most returns of more than 50 yards. Whether he’s definitely the best kicker in football for five weeks is debatable, but there’s little argument that he belongs in that conversation.
Last Sunday in Pittsburgh may have been his best performance yet.
The Colts moved the football repeatedly before stopping in Steelers territory, and Shrader was basically their offense for large parts of the afternoon. He tied the franchise record with five field goals, opening the scoring from 57 yards and then drilling another from 56 later in the first quarter. He added makes from 22, 40 and 28 yards and ended up being responsible for 16 of Indianapolis’ 22 points.
The 57- and 56-yarders were the standouts. Those are not kicks where simply doing so is expected. Shrader both hit an outdoor turf environment on the road in Pittsburgh and made them regulars. Nothing even close to missing.
This follows a pattern we’ve seen during the preseason, and it’s why I favored Shrader when the Colts had to make their decision.
Kicking competitions remind me a lot of what you see at a golf driving range. There are many golfers who can stand on the range and hit good shot after good shot. The lie is perfect, the target doesn’t change and no one rides on the outcome. Put the same golfer on the 18th tee with water on the right side and something actually on the line, and suddenly the swing can look different.
The kicking is not exactly the same, but the pressure element is comparable.
Kicks are obviously important in training-camp. You want consistency, and Grupe deserves a lot of credit for being a better kicker over the summer. The Colts also had to figure out which player they trusted when the operation was live, the defenders coming off the sideline and actually making the kick count and Shrader continues to answer that question.
He did it in the preseason. He did it against Houston when he went 4-for-4 and hit the game-winning late field goal. Now he’s in Pittsburgh and made five more, including two from over 50 yards.
That doesn’t mean Grupe is a bad option. The tough part about the competition is that Indianapolis likely has two NFL-caliber kickers and knows it has to let one go. Grupe already showed last season that he can handle the job.
The Colts just picked better.
For at least five games, Shrader has given them almost everything they could ask for. He has range, has been perfect on field goals and has delivered in key situations. In a season where Indianapolis has had a lot of problems elsewhere on the roster, kicker has become one of the positions no one should worry about.