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The Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback battle during training camp has come to an end, with new addition Daniel Jones surprisingly winning the starting job over Anthony Richardson. That came as a surprise to many, but the former top five pick seems to be on the outs in Indianapolis.
Richardson is entering his third season and has played in just 15 games over his first two years. while the production has been up-and-down at best and downright terrible at worst, the Florida product came into the league as a project quarterback with a high ceiling that was going to need some time to develop and get over those growing pains.
Now, the Colts are taking that opportunity away from Richardson at the start of this season and going with Jones instead, who is looking to revive his career after parting ways with the New York Giants during the 2024 season. The Duke product hasn’t lived up to his billing as a former top 10 pick so far in his career, but he has clearly made a strong impression on Shane Steichen and the rest of his staff at training camp and during the preseason.
This current regime of Chris Ballard and Steichen made a big bet on Richardson, and for now it seems like they are folding their cards on the young quarterback.
Even if Jones is able to produce something close to his best football, that feels like it would be middling quarterback play at best. That won’t be enough to get a Colts roster that has a lot of holes to where it wants to go, so Richardson could get called back into action at some point.
Let’s look at the Colts’ schedule and see when the youngster could finally get back on the field as the starter in Indianapolis.
With Jones playing in Steichen’s system for the first time this season, he will likely get a bit of a longer leash to start the season while he gets comfortable and gains familiarity with the ins and outs of the system.
However, that doesn’t mean that he will make it through the entire season. Jones has shown time and time again that the lows in his inconsistent game are far too low to justify the patches of steady play, especially when the highs are not very high. The Giants didn’t give him a great ecosystem to succeed, but he is hardly playing with an All-Star cast in Indianapolis either.
The biggest thing that has haunted Jones over the course of his career are the turnovers. He has thrown 47 interceptions and fumbled the ball 50 times in just six seasons while playing in only 70 games, so it’s clear that opposing defenses can take advantage of that when he is in the game.
Jones will make his first start for Indianapolis at home against the Miami Dolphins before getting thrown to the Wolves in Week 2 against the Denver...
