An awful lot went wrong for Michael Pittman Jr. during the 2024 NFL season, creating a complex evaluation of the wide receiver’s future as he prepares for the next phase of his career with the Indianapolis Colts. Pittman’s campaign was hindered by a multitude of challenges, including, but not limited to, Anthony Richardson’s struggles with passing accuracy and consistency. Compounding the situation was the rapid emergence of teammate Josh Downs. The second-year slot receiver carved out a significant role in the offense, getting nearly as many targets as Pittman despite playing two fewer games over the course of the year.
Further complicating Pittman’s season was the reality of playing through a lingering back injury from Week 5 onward. The physical toll became so severe that there was internal discussion within the organization regarding placing Pittman on injured reserve or shutting him down completely to protect his long-term health. Yet, displaying his trademark toughness, Pittman battled through the pain and managed to close out the season on a strong note, racking up 181 receiving yards across Weeks 17 and 18 while catching passes from veteran backup Joe Flacco.
Believed to have avoided the need for offseason surgery, Pittman is set to return to a wide receiver room that features a crowded field of talent. He enters another campaign alongside three other Day 2 draft picks—having been selected in the second round himself back in 2020—joined by Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, and Adonai Mitchell. While players like Pierce and Mitchell may occupy different roles that do not inherently eat into Pittman’s traditional volume projections, Downs certainly presents a formidable presence underneath. Additionally, the arrival of rookie tight end Tyler Warren adds a third primary candidate for short and intermediate targets within the passing game.
During the stretches last year when Joe Flacco was under center, there were plenty of manufactured touches and targets to go around for both Downs and Pittman. However, the distribution dynamic shifted noticeably when Anthony Richardson reclaimed the starting nod, resulting in a scarcity of targets for the team’s primary pass-catchers. Analysts note that Richardson’s playing style and developmental profile suggest he may never emerge as a natural, highly favorable quarterback for possession-style receivers, even if he improves drastically as a passer. Consequently, some observers suggest that the best-case scenario for Pittman’s fantasy and statistical value might paradoxically mirror a struggling offense where a quarterback like Daniel Jones is forced to sling a high volume of short, quick passes for a subpar team, effectively replicating the high-target environment Flacco provided the previous year.
Looking back at his journey since entering the league as a 2020 second-round pick out of USC, Pittman has steadily improved upon his totals for targets and receptions with each passing season. He has firmly established himself as one of the National Football League’s more reliable and physical possession receivers, despite constantly navigating a revolving door of subpar quarterback play. The highest caliber quarterbacking Pittman has experienced in a Colts uniform was the final year of Philip Rivers’ storied career. Back then, however, Pittman was merely a rookie operating as the clear number three receiver behind veteran stalwart T.Y. Hilton and complementary piece Zach Pascal.
Ever since stepping into the undisputed number-one wide receiver role in Indianapolis, Pittman has been saddled with a succession of signal-callers, including Carson Wentz, a brutal and declining final season from Matt Ryan, and eventually Gardner Minshew. While Anthony Richardson possesses the athletic traits to potentially end up miles better than all of those predecessors following an injury-marred rookie campaign, such development does not automatically guarantee an immediate boost in raw production for Pittman. Instead, a more likely outcome for Pittman might involve enhanced efficiency paired with a dip in overall target volume. An Indianapolis offense spearheaded by Richardson and star running back Jonathan Taylor is naturally constructed to feature a heavy volume of rushing attempts. Standing at a formidable 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds with a 4.52-second forty-yard dash, Pittman is exceptionally well-suited to his familiar possession-receiver role in any offensive scheme, whereas rookie second-round pick Adonai Mitchell can stretch the field vertically. Meanwhile, 2023 third-round pick Josh Downs remains a notable wild card capable of continuing to impact Pittman’s historically dominant share of short-area targets.
Pittman’s career trajectory has also encountered temporary speed bumps along the way, such as when he took a step back rather than forward during the 2022 campaign—a season where many expected him to make a massive leap. His numbers dipped from 1,082 receiving yards the year prior down to just 925 yards, despite drawing 12 more targets across one fewer game played. The raw volume of opportunities, at least, remained promising, meaning much of the efficiency decline was completely out of his control within an Indianapolis offense that was essentially torpedoed by Matt Ryan’s rapid downward spiral and Jonathan Taylor’s persistent injury woes.
Prior to that, the 2021 season marked a major milestone for the wideout as he enjoyed his first career 1,000-yard campaign. Playing in all 17 games, Pittman caught more than twice as many passes as any other player on the Colts roster. The former USC standout had already shown considerable promise as a rookie, highlighted by a strong playoff performance featuring 101 total yards in a postseason loss to the Buffalo Bills, though he entered the subsequent spring largely overlooked on lists of second-year breakout candidates. He quickly silenced any doubts by establishing himself as Option A in an otherwise stagnant passing game, hauling in six or more passes in four of Indianapolis’s first five matchups.
Through the first eight weeks of that 2021 season, Pittman averaged 74.3 receiving yards and 0.5 touchdowns on 8.1 targets per game when catching passes from Carson Wentz. While Wentz struggled efficiency-wise—finishing 20th in yards per pass attempt and 27th in completion percentage—Pittman’s target share remained remarkably steady throughout the year. The eventual dip in his overall game-to-game volume during the final nine weeks was largely a product of Wentz averaging a mere 27.3 pass attempts per contest down the stretch, rather than a lack of trust in his top receiver.
Even further back during his rookie season, selected 34th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, Pittman faced early adversity when he missed three games following emergency surgery for compartment syndrome. Once he returned to full health, however, he immediately flashed his immense potential on the field, even while catching passes from a declining Philip Rivers. Pittman finished that abbreviated rookie campaign averaging 8.2 yards per target, recording multiple explosive receptions of 40 yards or more, and securing a breakout 100-yard receiving performance in Week 10 against the Tennessee Titans. He carried that momentum into the playoffs, turning in a stellar 5-catch, 90-yard receiving line alongside an 11-yard rushing attempt in the wild-card matchup against Buffalo.
Standing out physically with his towering 6-4, 223-pound frame and surprising functional speed, scouts frequently compared his physical profile to a slightly smaller version of Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Evans. Known as a polished route runner capable of leveraging his size and superior ball skills to win contested jump balls against overmatched defensive backs, Pittman’s path to the NFL was built on a late-career college explosion. After a quiet start to his collegiate tenure at USC, he erupted for 1,275 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns across 13 games in his senior season, catching the attention of NFL talent evaluators.
As the Indianapolis Colts continue to retool their roster and navigate the ongoing development of their young quarterback room, Michael Pittman Jr. remains the anchor of the team’s receiving corps. Whether he is operating in a possession role alongside dynamic playmakers like Josh Downs or adapting to the shifting offensive philosophies under the coaching staff, Pittman’s durability, physical traits, and proven productivity ensure he will continue to play a central role in the team’s long-term offensive plans.
