In an early look ahead to the 2026 season, who is a breakout candidate for the Indianapolis Colts?
Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus recently selected a breakout candidate for each NFL team, and when it came to the Colts, he selected offensive tackle Jalen Travis.
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Travis was the Colts’ fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft. He didn’t see extensive playing time until Week 14, when he took over for Braden Smith.
In those games, Travis held his own, allowing one sack and 12 pressures over 175 pass-blocking snaps. He also graded out well as a run-blocker by PFF’s metrics.
“In those five games, four of them at right tackle, he earned a solid 72.1 PFF overall grade while allowing just one sack,” Wasserman wrote.
With Smith set to be a free agent this offseason, it’s possible that Travis will enter 2026 as the Colts’ starting right tackle.
As a collective offensive line unit, PFF ranked the Colts very highly. However, through the second half of the season, this unit did struggle to create consistent running lanes for Jonathan Taylor. That lack of a run game did not help the offensive performance.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: OT Jalen Travis selected as Colts’ breakout candidate for 2026 season