With the Indianapolis Colts seemingly set on their evaluation of Carson Wentz, and the Philadelphia Eagles still holding out hope that a desperate team will offer them at least one first-round draft pick in return for his services, it wouldn’t be surprising if the front office already started considering other options at quarterback.
The Colts were never going to push all of their chips to the center of the table for Wentz after the season he put together in 2020, but what makes this such a tough decision for them is that he’s undoubtedly better than some of the guys media pundits have endorsed as potential solutions.
When it comes to ESPN’s “First Take,” both co-hosts proposed signal callers that won’t instill much confidence in the fan base. First up, Max Kellerman explained why Jets starter Sam Darnold would be a good fit with Indianapolis. Darnold obviously wouldn’t be our first choice in light of his third straight underwhelming campaign, but he’s not a terrible contingency plan by any stretch.
Then came Stephen A. Smith’s opinion, which is guaranteed to make some fans in Indy want to vomit. The longtime ESPN personality seems to think that the Colts should give Jacoby Brissett another season pulling the strings of the offense.
Stephen A. Smith probably didn’t win over Colts fans with his take on the team’s quarterback situation.
Smith isn’t one to shy away from a scorching take, but we honestly didn’t think this sort of lunacy was in his locker. We don’t mean this as a slight to Brissett, but anybody who watched the Colts this past season realized how much he was holding back the offense in 2019 after veteran Philip Rivers led them to an 11-5 finish and a wild card berth in the playoffs.
That isn’t to say that Rivers didn’t have more help in terms of surrounding talent, but that’s really the only argument you can make in defense of Brissett. The former third-round pick’s stats from two years ago certainly looked good — 2,942 passing yards and 18 touchdowns to just six interceptions — but he simply isn’t dynamic enough to help Indianapolis reach its ceiling, which is arguably a Super Bowl if everything falls into place.
Darius Leonard was shocked by Philip Rivers' retirement, open to new QB as long as he puts the team firsthttps://t.co/qfRKl2xYE2 pic.twitter.com/2tfCdxSgo0
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) February 16, 2021
The only thing Brissett really has going for him is the respect of the front office and locker room, and that he takes care of the football. However, if that was all the qualification it took to come out on top of the Colts’ quarterback search, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation, because it would’ve ended already.
We have great respect for Brissett, but it speaks volumes about his ability (or lack thereof) to lead a team to the playoffs that Indy enjoyed a four-win differential in 2020 compared to when he was the starter two seasons ago.
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