Colts' Veteran Takes Lead For WR3 Role After Strong Spring

The Indianapolis Colts just wrapped up their three-day veteran minicamp, a mandatory portion of the offseason calendar that brought the entire roster together for the first time this year.

With that, rookies and veterans finally had the chance to compete at full strength, but the real roster movement will happen once the team comes back from summer break in late July for training camp.

Still, OTAs and minicamp served as a great first step in determining the eventual regular-season depth chart, especially for skill players on the offensive side of the ball. Positions that directly involve the ball get better looks in these practice sessions given they can still operate normally whereas linemen are more or less forced to wait until the pads come on during training camp so they can physically showcase their progression (or lack thereof).

One of the Colts' biggest position battles of the offseason that features a skill position is of their competition at wide receiver.

Alec Pierce is the definitive No. 1 option moving forward, and Josh Downs is the go-to slot option who can also line up out wide, but the third starting receiver spot remaisn up for grabs, and one longtime depth piece proved to be the leading option to fill said void after putting on a strong spring performance.

The Leader in Question

Longtime Colts' special teams ace Ashton Dulin is the leader of the pack as the team breaks for summer.

His career receiving resume of just two seasons with double-digit receptions suggests this is just hype from a byproduct of an uninspired bottom half of the current position room, but his promising spring says otherwise.

Dulin had numerous strong showings throughout the team's OTAs period, hauling in multiple touchdowns from starting quarterback Daniel Jones. He then continued that into the Colts' three-day veteran minicamp where his biggest highlight came on a red zone touchdown grab over superstar cornerback Sauce Gardner.

Head coach Shane Steichen was asked about the position in question to kick off mandatory minicamp, and explained who is in contention for the opening role before revealing what exactly it is they're looking for when determining who ultimately earns the spot.

"I think there is – that's going to be an open competition," Steichen said of the opening at wide receiver. "Obviously, (Ashton) Dulin's been here. He's taking a lot of reps right now, but we got (Laquon) Treadwell and we signed (Nick) Westbrook-Ikhine, who's a good player that's played this league for a while.

“I think the biggest thing is consistency. Who's going to be the most consistent there, day in and day out, play in and play out, to go help us win games.”

Dulin has certaintly been the most consistent, and productive, receiver through the spring. Now, our eyes look to training camp to give us a better idea of how the competition will shape up.

Dulin's Mindset

Ashton Dulin is one of the longest-tenured Colts of the Chris Ballard era and has been apart of mulitple offense's receiver rooms.

He tore his ACL ahead of the 2023 regular season, thus missing out on Shane Steichen's first-year offense, but he still views his experience within the system as a worthwhile one. The Colts' previous offense under Frank Reich had a similar terminology and approach, which only gives Dulin more confidence as he competes for a major role on offense.

“I think it definitely helps, just being able to understand the same terminology for eight years because obviously Frank (Reich) had the same mindset, same philosophy as far as terminology, things like that. So, being in this offense for this long definitely help," Dulin explained.

Dulin has exclusively been a depth piece on offense throughout each of his six seasons in the NFL, but his reliability and production across his few opportunities during that time suggests that he can take on a larger role if called upon.

How the Colts will divvy up his involvement on both offense and special teams will be tricky to navigate, given that Dulin is such an important piece to the third phase of the game, but the seventh-year wideout feels confident that he could take on an increased workload thanks to his mindset he's maintained over the years.

“For me, changing my mindset, nothing really changes because I still prepared it as if I was a starting receiver beforehand – even we had Pitt (Michael Pittman Jr.)," Dulin explained his approach to the competition in question.

"So for me, it's doing the same thing, staying in the playbook, knowing every position, doing my role on special teams and being available when my number’s called.”

As alluded to, Dulin's previous experience and consistent mindset pair to make a legitimate case for him to earn the WR3 role on top of his special teams duties.

“Like I said, just preparing throughout the week – throughout the years honestly, just being able to know that the more I can do, the better. So with that, the playbook is first and foremost, knowing your job first and then knowing talent (will) take care of the rest...To be able to still make an impact on both sides of special teams and offense is definitely something I could do. Would challenge myself to do that, and I have no problem doing it as well.”

The Colts may very well add a veteran free agent to the mix between now and training camp to supplement its current wide receiver room and therefore provide more competition, but don't sleep on Ashton Dulin even if that happens.

Indianapolis is prepared to embrace a committee approach at wide receiver, so even if the Colts add a veteran free agent who winds up earning the starting spot, a rotation could find Dulin playing an even larger role than before.

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