Colts head coach Shane Steichen ‘very close’ to naming starting quarterback

According to head coach Shane Steichen, he’s ‘very close’ to naming a starting quarterback between the pair of contenders, Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson, following his team’s Week 2 preseason game at home on Saturday against the Green Bay Packers (via WISH-TV News):

It sounds like Steichen may already have his winner in mind, but may want to think on it just a little bit longer before officially naming his 2025 Week 1 starter.

Both Jones and Richardson played reasonably well in the Week 2 preseason home game against the Green Bay Packers. While neither was spectacular, each was solid and led the Colts offense to scoring points on sustained drives. Neither player turned the football over either.

Richardson was arguably the slightly stronger of the two competitors and arguably has been for the majority of this year’s training camp. At the very least, no one can say that Jones has clearly outplayed him.

However, Colts fans and members of the local media don’t get to see all of the things that happen quietly behind the scenes, such as extra film study, practice habits, physical training sessions, workouts, etc. that go on without the public eye.

There’s two things to think about:

1. If Richardson is named the Week 1 opener’s starter and fails on the field before being benched in favor of Jones, this rollercoaster ride is probably over for good. The Colts would likely need to pivot at QB1 next offseason.
2. That being said, if Richardson can’t beat out Jones for the initial starting job, what does that say about him?