There’s the incumbent Anthony Richardson, who completed 47 percent of his passes in his second season in the NFL. And there’s the veteran free agent signee Daniel Jones, who never entirely shed the bust label with the Giants.
One of them will start Week 1 for Indy. But who?
The Colts have decided to give them both ample leeway to find out. The plan is for them to split reps entirely right down the middle during OTAs, coach Shane Steichen told reporters.
“We’re breaking down the reps,” Steichen said. “They are both getting one reps. They’re both getting two reps. I think through OTAs, we’ve got nine good practices. They’ll both get about 170 reps a piece with those guys, with the ones and twos, and we’ll flip-flop them. You guys were out there today. You saw how it worked, and that’s how it’s going to go.”
Steichen went on to explain whey they’re flip-flopping mid-practice as opposed to having alternate days with the 1s and 2s.
“Just the way the practice is set up,” Steichen said. “So, we have like first-, second-down day, then we have a third-down day. So we don’t want one guy getting all the third-down reps with the ones. So, we’re going to flip it that way, and then we go to a red zone day. It’s the same reason.”
Richardson still has a tantalizing mix of talent with his great arm strength and imposing running ability. He’s also been injury-prone and inconsistent, though.
Jones has many of those same consistency issues, and the Colts have even less invested in him.
Further down the QB depth chart to learn from the two in front of him is sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard.
The Colts just hope somewhere at the quarterback position, there’s a solution that really hasn’t existed since Andrew Luck’s shock retirement.