Andy Borregales or Spencer Shrader: Who Should You Start?

2026 Week 1 · deterministic head-to-head · Verdicts based on PPR scoring.

Start Shrader — the projection and game script edges are too wide to ignore.

Spencer Shrader projects 8.2 to Borregales's 6.9 and plays in the better game script (23.0 implied team points to 20.5). Borregales's edge is red-zone opportunity, 1.6 to 1.4 stalls per game. The gap is narrow.

Andy Borregales

Andy Borregales

K20NEvs SEA

Projected Points

Sit
Spencer Shrader

Spencer Shrader

K17INDvs BAL

Projected Points

Toss-Up· medium

Why Andy Borregales

Sit

Starting K with strong leg. Accurate placekicker handling all field-goal duties.

Sit — K20 by consensus, projects K32 this week: 1.6 red-zone stalls a game, and 6.9 pts projected vs SEA.

  • Calm forecast at kickoff.
  • 1.8 FG tries projected, just under the 2.0 league median this week.
  • NE's offense stalls in the red zone 1.6 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
  • Vegas has NE at 20.5 points as 3.5-point dogs.

Why Spencer Shrader

Toss-Up· medium

Starting placekicker with a strong leg. Limited career sample and kickoff-touchback value.

K17 at 8.2 projected: dome, 93% accuracy and a 23.0 implied total are fine, but the reported kicking competition caps confidence in the job.

  • Calm forecast at kickoff.
  • 2.1 FG tries projected, just over the 2.0 league median this week.
  • IND's offense stalls in the red zone 1.4 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
  • Vegas has IND at 23 points as 3.5-point dogs.

The call

  • Environment is a plus: retractable roof with a calm forecast either way, so no wind or precipitation tax on a 1.8-of-2.1 field-goal projection plus 2.0 extra points.
  • Volume is only adequate — 23.0 implied team total and 1.4 red-zone stalls per game give him a real but unspectacular floor, which is why he lands at K17 rather than a set-and-forget starter.
  • Job security is the swing factor: he's listed PK1 with no designation, but colts.com (2026-08-23) described him as "in a close kicking competition," and only one 50-plus make (long 52) means limited bonus-range upside.
  • Tipping point: if he's confirmed as the unquestioned kicker on game week, the indoor script makes him a fine streaming start; any hint of a shared job and you take a top-12 kicker instead.

Latest on Shrader

Role

Spencer Shrader remains in a close kicking competition after making both of his field-goal attempts in the game.

5 Colts Things: Seth McGowan, Spencer Shrader, CJ Allen and other notes from preseason Week 2colts.com · Aug 23, 2026

Shrader was, and remains, the only kicker on the Colts' initial 53-man roster when it was released Sunday.

colts.com · Sep 4, 2026

Shrader connected on field goals from 60 and 61 yards during the preseason and emerged from a tight competition with Blake Grupe to be the Colts' kicker in 2026.

colts.com · Aug 30, 2026

Reported by the sources listed — not independently verified.

Head-to-head stats

MetricAndy BorregalesSpencer Shrader
Projected points
Consensus rankK20K17
Projected FG attempts1.82.1
Red-zone stalls / game1.6(2025)1.4(2025)
Kicking conditionsCalm forecast at kickoffRetractable roof, calm forecast either way
Implied total · spread20.5+3.523.0+3.5
Field-goal %84.4%(2025)92.9%(2025)
Depth chartK1K1
Start/Sit record00+1 toss-up

Signal breakdown

  • 6.9 vs 8.2 projected PPR pointsSpencer Shrader +
  • Rank 20 vs 17Spencer Shrader +
  • 1.8 vs 2.1 projected attemptsSpencer Shrader +
  • 1.6 vs 1.4 red-zone stalls per gameAndy Borregales +
  • 5 mph, 75°F, overcast vs 5 mph, 88°F, cleareven
  • Implied 20.5 vs 23.0 team pointsSpencer Shrader +
  • No injury designationseven

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