Daniel Jones has cemented himself as the biggest surprise of the 2025 NFL season. The former top-six NFL Draft pick is witnessing a career renaissance with the Indianapolis Colts after a stunning 3-0 start, and the momentum is only building heading into Week 4.
But, before the sunshine and rainbows covered Colts land, the pairing of Jones and Indy was initially met with pushback from fans and media pundits alike. Some long-time supporters of the franchise even threatened to boycott the team ahead of the first regular season game.
At the time, it was hard to blame them. For much of the offseason, talk was rampant about an impending overhaul of the front office — from general manager Chris Ballard to head coach Shane Steichen — if the group underperformed again.
Adam Schefter makes sense of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones
After the Colts chose Daniel Jones — not Anthony Richardson — as the QB1, that pessimism only grew. Fans began seeing the worst-case scenario as an inevitability rather than a possibility. It was starting to feel like the 2025 campaign would be a lost cause.
Then, the organization’s white knight came riding in to save the day. It only took three games for most to accept that this new-and-improved version of Jones is here to stay. And with that, the Colts franchise is finally able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
NFL insider Adam Schefter said as much during a recent episode of his eponymous podcast, boldly proclaiming that Jones has become the story of the NFL season. “(Jones) has become the latest example of a quarterback who has taken another chance with another team and run with it.
“And we go back. And look around the league at all the guys doing it right now. Geno Smith… Baker Mayfield… Sam Darnold… Jared Goff. It feels like Daniel Jones is essentially on that same trajectory. He’s getting another chance in another city with an imaginative, creative, progressive-thinking head coach in Shane Steichen.”
According to Schefter, Jones not only “saved jobs” in Indianapolis, but he also has positioned himself to earn another lucrative contract and potentially seize the Colts QB1 role for the foreseeable future.
“And if it keeps up, then I would think he’s gonna want to resign with the Colts as much as the Colts are gonna want to resign him. And he’s gonna be the Colts quarterback of the future. They’re 3-0. They’re rolling. They’re playing the way they should. And this has got to be the most excited [Indy] has been about a football team since Andrew Luck.”
Now, the dissenters still exist, with many pointing out that the Dolphins-Broncos-Titans aren’t exactly a murderers' row of opponents to begin the season. While true, we have now seen enough on tape to feel great about Jones and his prospects of leading the Colts to a playoff berth. And potentially the first divisional title since 2014.
Jones, sporting the third-best passer rating in the NFL (111.7) has not only given the front office some security — he’s given the fan base a reason to dream. On top of that, Indy has restored its respect around the league and shown that it is no longer a laughingstock.
In only three short weeks, the narrative has completely flipped. Colts fans went from asking “why us?” to “why not us?” Give Danny Dimes his much-deserved flowers. Adam Schefter already has.