Starting Daniel Jones Will Set the Colts Back a Decade.
We’re starting this one off with a simple factual statement: If you’re an Indianapolis Colts fan and you want Daniel Jones to start… you are out of your mind.
Now let’s get into why.
There are two potential outcomes if Anthony Richardson is given the reins this season — and both are better than starting Daniel Jones.
Scenario one: we let AR cook. We give him the keys and finally allow him to build some real momentum — something he’s never had due to injuries constantly cutting him off mid-stride. This is his first true, uninterrupted offseason and training camp. So let’s see what happens when he actually has a chance to develop rhythm.
If he balls out — fixes those short and intermediate accuracy issues, leads Indianapolis to the playoffs, shows growth — then congratulations. You’ve got your franchise quarterback. Extend him, invest in him, build around him.
Scenario two: he struggles. Maybe the accuracy doesn't improve. Maybe he's still completing around 50% of his passes like last year. That’s not ideal — but it’s still a win, because at least we’d know. We’d have clarity. And if AR struggles, odds are the Colts are picking high enough to take a swing at a legit quarterback prospect. Someone who could actually shift the trajectory of the franchise. Then you go into the offseason with a young first-rounder and Riley Leonard — and let them battle it out. Either way, the future stays wide open.
Credit: Evan Dammarell | Clutchpoints
You know what doesn’t keep the future open?
Starting Daniel Jones.
Starting Daniel Jones doesn’t just stall progress — it creates more questions about Anthony Richardson than ever before. Yeah, the Richardson experiment has been bumpy so far. He’s had some bad injury luck. The team around him hasn’t exactly been healthy. His receivers developed a sudden allergy to catching footballs. And the scheme? Let’s just say it hasn’t always made things easy. But here’s the thing — the experiment isn’t over. Not even close.
Let’s rewind to Richardson’s NFL debut:
He set the record for most completions by a Colts rookie QB in a debut (24), posted a 64.8% completion percentage — the highest ever by a Colts rookie in a debut — and became just the fifth QB in NFL history to record a rushing and passing TD in his first career game.
Fast forward a bit — and Richardson became just the third quarterback in NFL history to tally 10+ passing touchdowns and 10+ rushing touchdowns in his first 15 games, joining only Josh Allen and Cam Newton in that club. You know… no big deal.
Before we get away from Josh Allen comparisons, let’s look at the numbers through their first 14 starts:
They are shockingly close. Richardson has fewer interceptions, a better passer rating, nearly identical rushing output, and a higher yards-per-completion rate (13.4 to Allen’s 12.2) — and he’s doing it all while throwing to receivers with one of the highest drop rates in the NFL, and facing one of the highest pressure rates in football in 2024.
Now, I’m usually not the “comparison guy.” But this one matters. It matters for two reasons:
One — because legends like Peyton Manning were given time. Time to throw 28 interceptions as a rookie. Time to learn. Time to grow. And we’ve lost that luxury in today’s NFL. Quarterbacks are expected to be elite immediately. No growing pains allowed.
Two — because Josh Allen’s rookie season was ugly. He completed 54.7% of his passes, threw 12 touchdowns and 14 picks, and had mechanical issues all over the place. His throwing motion was a mess — off balance, side-arm angles, lower and upper body out of sync. It was off balance, inconsistent, and inefficient.
So what did Allen do?
He got to work. With Jordan Palmer, his private QB coach, Allen broke down his footwork and overhauled his throwing mechanics. Palmer emphasized a more compact, consistent delivery — fixing the wild angles and timing issues that made Allen so erratic.
Then came Chris Hess, the founder of Biometrek, who used 3D motion capture to digitally map Allen’s entire throwing motion. They broke it down to a science — analyzing pelvis rotation, elbow extension, internal shoulder rotation — and optimized every inch of it.
That next season? Allen came back a different player. Cleaner mechanics. More velocity. Better balance. And most importantly — more accuracy.
And here’s the part Colts fans should care about:
Anthony Richardson spent the majority of this offseason working with Will Hewlett, a private quarterback coach, and Dr. Tom Gormely, a mechanics expert and sports scientist.
They focused heavily on his footwork and throwing base. A narrow base often led Richardson to miss high last season — something that showed up consistently on tape. This offseason, they drilled a wider base and more consistent footwork to make those corrections second nature by the time training camp rolled around.
We’ve seen this story before — raw talent, cleaned-up mechanics, breakout season.
Now it’s up to AR — and the Colts need to let him prove it.
Ultimately, taking AR off the field now just muddies the waters. The whole point of drafting a guy like AR was to find out if he can be the guy. The only way to do that is to let him play.
Daniel Jones would almost certainly lead this team to an 8- or 9-win season. No more, no less. He is the physical embodiment of “middle of the road” at the quarterback position.
That said, I do think people are disrespecting him a little too much. Back in New York, when he had Saquon and even some competent targets, that squad made noise in the playoffs, winning a wild card game in 2023. They beat good teams in close games. Danny Dimes is a better athlete — and a smarter decision-maker — than people give him credit for.
And yes, the Colts can win games with him under center.
But here’s the key point — and I cannot stress this enough:
Starting Daniel Jones drops this franchise right back into the veteran QB purgatory they’ve been stuck in since Andrew Luck retired.
Credit: Michael Hickey | Getty Images
The organization has to find out if AR is the guy. And if he’s not, then draft a quarterback — simple as that.
This league runs on quarterback play. If you don’t have a difference-maker under center, you’re not winning anything that matters. And the Colts? They don’t have the luxury of being a premier free agent destination. Indianapolis needs to gain an edge through the draft.
Speaking as a lifelong Colts fan, I’ve watched this team cycle through 10 different starting quarterbacks since 2018. Ten. That’s not just instability — that's an identity crisis. The Colts don’t need a mediocre QB rental. They’ve done that. This franchise needs a new direction, and drafting Anthony Richardson felt like the first bold step toward that.
But we can’t pull the plug on the experiment right before the conclusion. The data is still being collected — and for now, Ballard’s hypothesis still has legs.
Anthony Richardson can make real noise in this league.
I’m genuinely excited to see his improved mechanics in action, and I hope this coaching staff gives him the keys in Week 1 — let the kid show us what he’s really made of. With a deep receiving corps, one of the best running backs in football, a solid offensive line, and (finally) a defense that might be able to give him some breathing room on the sideline?
I still believe in Anthony.
