The Jacksonville Jaguars will need to look over their shoulder next season. The Houston Texans will be their biggest threat to repeat as the AFC South champion in 2026. However, they cannot afford to take the Indianapolis Colts lightly even though they failed to qualify for the playoffs last year. One big reason is that Daniel Jones is back at full strength after tearing his Achilles last season. Having said that, Indy has a glaring weakness that other teams in the division could exploit.
The Colts signed veteran Keenan Allen heading into the regular season. Even though the veteran wideout is no longer in his prime, he registered over 700 yards last year and will provide valuable depth in the Indianapolis wide receiver corps.
On the other hand, Indy had to sign Allen precisely because of its dearth of depth at receiver. Moreover, his arrival casts doubts about Alec Pierce's availability for the start of the regular season.
The Colts WR corps leave much to be desired even after signing Keenan Allen
Alec Pierce is recovering from an ankle injury he suffered last year. He's yet to return to the team. Compounding the issue is that he reportedly got a second PRP injection in his ankle after getting one at the end of 2025. General manager Chris Ballard has since refuted it, but the fact remains that the veteran receiver remains unavailable, and his readiness for Week 1 of the regular season remains in question. For this reason, it wasn't particularly shocking to see Indy sign Keenan Allen.
Whether Pierce is ready or not for the start of the season, the Indianapolis receiving room leaves much to be desired. Ashton Dulin, Josh Downs, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine are the top options. All three are solid players, but none of them will keep opposing defensive coordinators awake crafting a game plan to contain them. Enter Allen.
A second-round pick in the 2013 draft, Allen spent 12 years with the Los Angeles Chargers. In 156 games with 137 starts, he caught 985 passes for 11,307 yards with 63 touchdowns. The former California Golden Bear bolted for the Chicago Bears in 2025 and ended up hauling in 70 receptions for 744 yards with seven touchdowns.
Allen became a free agent in March but remained unsigned for several months before Indianapolis came calling.
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The Jaguars defense has a good matchup vs. Keenan Allen and the Colts
There's no doubt that Keenan Allen could become a trusted target for Daniel Jones right off the bat. Having said that, he's more of a possession receiver at this point in his career. The Greensboro, North Carolina native isn't a threat to stretch the field. Then again, he never truly was. Of course, the Jaguars cannot afford to overlook him, but they most definitely have the firepower to neutralize him.
With Alec Pierce's availability in question, no other Colts receiver needs to be double-teamed. Jacksonville could easily zero in on Allen. Travis Hunter and Montaric Brown could shadow him, and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile could have either Eric Murray or Antonio Johnson keep track of his every move on the field.
Again, the Jaguars can't just uncork the champagne yet, but they could most definitely have a favorable matchup on defense when they face the Colts, even after the Keenan Allen signing.
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