The Indianapolis Colts have had a lot of wide receiver movement in recent days.
It started when Alec Pierce got injured during Sunday Night Football, and he’s going to have to miss some time.
It continued when the Colts signed the veteran wideout Darius Slayton, who had up to this point spent his entire NFL career with the New York Giants.
And another move was added to the equation on Wednesday morning. The Colts announced that they have signed Eli Pancol, a 6-foot-3 wide receiver, to the practice squad.
Pancol is a particularly cool signing because he’s a local Indiana kid, having attended Pendleton Heights High School.
As a practice squad signing, there’s no guarantee that Pancol gets into a game anytime soon, but him coming to Indy is already a fun move by the Colts.
Who is Eli Pancol?
Pancol is now 26 years old, having celebrated his most recent birthday in July, and he’s a 6-foot-3 wide receiver from Pendleton, Indiana.
He was a star at Pendleton Heights High School, where he was a four-star recruit. He went to play his college football at Duke for the Blue Devils.
Pancol spent six years in college overall, including missing the entire 2023 season with an ankle injury.
He broke out finally in 2024 for Duke when he had 60 catches for 798 yards and nine touchdowns. That earned him third-team All-ACC honors.
During the pre-draft process, Pancol ran a 4.40-second 40-yard dash, which likely helped gain him some extra attention.
He wasn’t drafted, but the Jacksonville Jaguars signed him as an undrafted free agent. Pancol spent the summer of 2025 with the Jags before being cut.
The Colts then signed Pancol in November to the practice squad, and he was with Indy the rest of offseason and through this summer.
They cut him at the end of August, though, and Pancol spent the first couple weeks of the season as a free agent.
Now, he returns to the Colts’ practice squad.
Colts WR Depth Chart
The Colts could use the reinforcements.
As mentioned, Alec Pierce is going to miss time with an injury. Ashton Dulin is also hurt.
That leaves slot receiver Josh Downs, veteran Keenan Allen and the newly signed Darius Slayton as the top-three wideouts in the room.
The Colts have Deion Burks, a speedy seventh-round rookie, and elevated Anthony Gould in Week 2 from the practice squad in place of Dulin.
The Indianapolis practice squad also includes the well-traveled veteran Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, who hasn’t appeared in a game yet for the Colts since joining them this offseason.
Pancol might simply be some more depth and still be a longshot to get into a regular season game, but it’d sure be a cool story if he broke through and got on the field.
Colts Sign 6-Foot-3 Local WR