Who Should I Start? Blake Grupe or Charlie Smyth

Tuesday, July 21, 8:08 PM

Indianapolis Colts kickers Spencer Shrader (knee) and Blake Grupe will compete for the place-kicking job in Indy in training camp this summer, per Paul Bretl of Colts Wire. Shrader was 13-for-14 on field goals and a perfect 14-for-14 on extra points in five games last year before suffering an ACL injury in his knee. He was replaced by Grupe in Week 14, and he went a perfect 10-for-10 on field goals and 11-for-11 on his extra-point tries to close out the year before being re-signed in the offseason. Bretl thinks that Grupe should have the advantage going into the 2026 season because he has 105 career attempts under his belt compared to Shrader's 19, and he's also not coming off a significant knee injury. The 27-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame has made 81.9% of his 105 field-goal attempts (19-for-27 from 50-plus yards) and 98% of his extra points in his three years in the NFL. Fantasy managers in 12-team leagues can avoid the Colts' kicking situation to begin the year.