How many of the game’s top wide receivers will this new-look Indianapolis Colts’ secondary have to go up against during the 2025 NFL season?
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently constructed his ranking of the top 10 wide receivers in 2025 based on insights from NFL executives, coaches, and scouts.
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Of the top 10 wide receivers in these rankings, the Colts are set to face just two of them.
Nico Collins, Houston (Twice)
Outside of the top 10, there were wideouts who were named honorable mentions and those who received votes for the top 10. From this group, the Colts will face nine of them.
Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville (Twice)
Ladd McConkey, LA Chargers
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle
Calvin Ridley, Tennessee (Twice)
This was a Colts’ defense in 2024 that ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in passer rating, pass deflections, yards per pass attempt allowed, and completion rate.
To remedy this, GM Chris Ballard spent big in free agency, signing cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Cam Bynum. He also prioritized bolstering the depth by drafting Justin Walley and Hunter Wohler, along with signing veteran Corey Ballentine.
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Also, a key part of the equation when it comes to getting improved play from the secondary will be the addition of Lou Anarumo as defensive coordinator.
In this scheme, we will see a variety of coverages and a heavy usage of disguises to keep quarterbacks guessing and to help put the defenders in position to make plays. This will also be a more aggressive Colts’ defense under Anarumo as well.
“Really the aggressive mindset,” Bynum said of Anarumo’s defense when asked how it compares to Brian Flores’ defense. “That’s one thing that they share and they have in common, and that’s the mindset that I love to have on defense.
“That we’re going to send pressure, that we’re going to mix things up, variations of everything, but at the end of the day we want to go down with our best guys being aggressive and that’s the mindset I like to have. I don’t want to sit back and just let things happen in front of us, I want to be able to command the offense to be able to do what we want them to do.”
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This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts’ secondary has 11 of NFL’s top wide receivers on 2025 schedule