The Indianapolis Colts brought in Daniel Jones to see what they have with 2023 draft selection Anthony Richardson. After 15 games of overall mediocre quarterback play, Richardson had to be competed with, thus the signing of the veteran and former New York Giants starter.
Former NFL offensive lineman and host of the Ross Tucker Podcast, Ross Tucker, wrote about why he thinks Jones can be this year’s Sam Darnold. For reference, the thought-to-be-bust QB Darnold revived his career with the Minnesota Vikings, logging his first Pro Bowl.
“Now, he’s in Indianapolis in what is being called a “competition” with recent top-five pick Anthony Richardson. However, the Colts are clearly paying him $14 million this season for a reason,” said Tucker, “with a general manager in Chris Ballard and head coach in Shane Steichen clearly needing to win this season, they can’t afford to continue to endure Richardson’s growing pains.”
Richardson had a somewhat promising rookie year. I mention ‘somewhat’ because he only saw four games of action. He completed 59.5 percent of his passes en route to three touchdowns tosses to only one interception. He also tacked on four rushing touchdowns.
However, he took massive steps back in almost three times the sample size (11 games), dipping to 47.7 percent pass completion, eight touchdown passes, but twelve interceptions and nine fumbles. He was able to knock in six touchdowns, but the regression was real.
This is why Jones is with the Colts.
Tucker continued on how this is arguably one of the best teams Jones has ever played with.
“This will immediately be the best skill position group that Jones has ever played with. Not only do the Colts have an elite running back in Jonathan Taylor, but they have an above-average receiving corps featuring Michael Pittman, Alec Pierce, and Josh Downs.”
The trio of Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, and Alec Pierce are underrated across the NFL, and can immediately help Jones in the short, intermediate, and deep passing game. This will be a massive help for him if he starts over Richardson.
Shane Steichen will also help Jones avoid holding onto the ball for too long, getting it out of his hands quickly for efficiency and, hopefully, fewer turnovers. Jones took an immense number of sacks through 70 career games (208) and will get the protection he needs behind Indy’s offensive line.
“Jones will also very likely have the best offensive line of his career, although the Colts have some work to do there after the losses of Ryan Kelly and Will Fries to the Vikings.”
Tucker mentions the departure of Ryan Kelly and Will Fries, but Tanor Bortolini and Matt Goncalves look to be ready for starting positions in year two. Tack on Bernhard Raimann, Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith and Jones can operate without worrying about taking nearly three sacks per game.
If everything lines up for the former Giants field general, he might be able to start over Richardson. If this happens, it’s glory for Jones to revitalize his NFL tenure, while it’s a sign of the end for Richardson in Indianapolis. The Colts, however, want Richardson to succeed after putting in the work to try and develop his freaky traits into a full-fledged franchise quarterback.