The Indianapolis Colts may have drafted Riley Leonard as a developmental project, but there’s a growing sense that his path to playing time could materialize much sooner than expected. At least NFL Analysts at PFF believe so.
PFF recently listed rankings for the best rookie quarterback situations and fits, with Leonard to the Colts coming in at number seven out of a possible twelve. NBC NFL analyst Denny Carter was also recently quoted as saying, “Leonard should have a shot to start for the Colts in 2025.”
The reasoning behind the sentiment that Leonard could end up being the starter centers around Shane Steichen’s affinity for RPO concepts and the base set of throws in the Colts’ offense being of the shorter variety and well within the arm-strenght range of Leonard as the main reason for the belief that circumstances could lead to success for the former Fighting Irishman in year one. Also, there simply isn’t much faith in the other two quarterbacks that Indianapolis currently has on the roster.
Anthony Richardson has had a turbulent beginning to his career in Indy. The former Florida Gator has not been able to stay healthy, and when he has been healthy, he has had very mixed results. Daniel Jones, the former Giants quarterback that the Colts signed in free agency, is only on a one-year contract, so there is no long-term investment there that the Colts’ higher-ups have to feel beholden to or to see play out.
Finally, there are the factors of mobility, experience, and being a winner. Leonard, while not known as the most gifted passer in this past NFL Draft, is a very talented runner, and that always helps young quarterbacks out when all else fails. Also, Leonard has played a lot of football and has done so for two highly intelligent offensive minds in David Cutcliffe at Duke and Mike Denbrock at Notre Dame. Drawing upon his experience with those two will be a plus for Leonard. Leonard is just a winner as well. He helped lift Duke to new heights while there and took Notre Dame to the precipice of a national title.
FanDuel has the Colts’ win total at 7.5 heading into the 2025 season. In the AFC South, anything can happen, and we’ve seen teams around the .500 mark be just fine when it comes to the playoff picture. However, if the quarterback play is lacking early on by way of Richardson and Jones, don’t be surprised if Leonard gets his welcome to the NFL moment perhaps much sooner than expected