Time to investigate for malpractice, right?
Shane Steichen has decided to stick with Daniel Jones as the Indianapolis Colts’ starting quarterback, he told reporters Monday. Apparently, being whooped 42-7 in Jacksonville after 21 games with Jones wasn’t enough to convince Indy’s fourth-year coach to make the same change he did after 10 starts with his first draft pick.
I’m not here to say Jones is the whole problem in Indianapolis, but you’d be wrong, Shane. Jones is in the middle of the least productive season of his eight-year NFL career. Through eight games, the veteran quarterback has career-lows in completion rate (60%) and passer rating (68.7), with just five passing touchdowns against nine interceptions and 12 total turnovers. Since signing with Indy, Jones has scored 30 total touchdowns against 17 interceptions.
Steichen explained his decision by noting that “it goes back to preparation and the command he has on offense”, doubling down on saying he believes Jones gives the Colts the best chance to win right now.
Somebody slam the buzzer, because once again, you’re wrong. Indianapolis sits at 2-6 after four straight losses, coming off their worst performance in Duval County. The Colts have lost 13 of their last 15 games since the 2025 collapse, while Jones has lost nine of his last 11 starts. Note that Richardson is 8-7 in 15 career starts.
The Colts have already started a fire sale, trading All-Pros cornerstone Quenton Nelson (2027 third, 2028 fifth) to Seattle and DeForest Buckner (2027 fourth) to San Francisco for future draft compensation. Whatever playoff aspirations remained on Halloween effectively vanished overnight. The Colts are waving the white flag in 2026, so there’s a legitimate argument to start Anthony Richardson in the final year of his rookie contract.
I attended every training camp practice at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, and will start by saying the ongoing concerns are obvious. Richardson struggled with handling snaps, pre-snap reads and the finer details of running an NFL offense.
Jones fully runs Steichen’s run-pass-option offensive scheme, of course, with the starters. Richardson was stuck competing for the backup job while playing on the second unit, and sometimes the third unit. Indy’s lack of progress with Richardson will at some point become a talking point on what exactly not to do with a first-round QB.
Those concerns didn’t magically disappear, but at some point, the young quarterback had to get out of timeout and learn fast. Remember how rusty Richardson was after losing his rookie season? That’s what rusty Jones looks like now and it’s halfway through the season.
Development requires playing time, and Indianapolis has done very little to give the former fourth overall pick a legitimate chance to get out of the dog house. Richardson offers a different look without Jones just having a torn Achilles.
Richardson’s athleticism, mobility, arm strength and ability to threaten defenses with his legs and arms is something opponents are “foaming at the mouth” when facing the Colts today. Those were the words from star running back Jonathan Taylor after Sunday’s penalty loss.
Sure, Jones is more comfortable running the play-action and run-pass-option concepts that have been Steichen’s bread and butter, but this approach isn’t producing results. The Colts allowed six touchdowns Sunday, while their offense has scored just five touchdowns combined over the last four games.
Jones is getting crushed, struggling to push the football downfield and repeatedly putting the defense on short fields with too many turnovers. Indy has a $100 million financial commitment to Jones from 2025 to 2027, but at this point, that investment can’t continue to dictate who plays quarterback. Ed Dodds needs to pull a Moneyball style trade to send Jones or Richardson to Baltimore, so at least he’ll do what’s best for the organization moving forward.
The Colts have four games before their bye week, with a struggling Dallas defense coming into town. Steichen may believe Jones gives Indianapolis the best chance to win right now, but the better question is why Jones was given a different leash than Richardson, who was benched after 10 NFL starts.