The Indianapolis Colts are in an odd predicament. Many times, NFL teams will sit their starters during preseason games so as to not risk them to injury before the regular season begins. Indy is taking a different approach.
Head coach Shane Steichen has decided to make the quarterback battle a truly public one and have Anthony Richardson play a bunch in preseason Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, and Daniel Jones do the same in Week 2 versus the Green Bay Packers. That kind of rotation implies Steichen has lost control over the situation.
The Colts and Ravens held a joint practice in the days leading up to Thursday's game. As offenses and defenses both keep things pretty vanilla in the preseason, the joint practice should have given Steichen more insight into who should be QB1.
Why you should watch the Indianapolis Colts play the Baltimore Ravens in preseason Week 1
That doesn't appear to be the case, and that means the quarterback situation is one of the reasons to watch Indy take on Baltimore. We can start there.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson should be a star
Where Richardson truly struggles is on short and intermediate passes. He is extremely inaccurate, and last year appeared not to be worried about his mechanics. That has somewhat changed in training camp so far, where AR5 has been slightly more efficient.
The issue with the preseason, however, is that Baltimore is more concerned with how their own players do in certain situations than if Richardson is passing for 250 yards. In other words, Richardson should look fantastic against a defense not designed to stop him. If he doesn't look good, that is very bad for his chances to start in 2025.
Kicker battle
Yawn, right? Who cares about kickers? Peyton Manning certainly had his strong opinions. The issue is that kicker performance can win a game or two unexpectedly, or lose one or two. That could be the difference between the Colts making a run at the postseason or not.
Second-year pro Spencer Shrader has been a bit better than rookie Maddux Trujillo in camp, but what happens when the bright lights come on? Plus, this isn't just about field goals. If one kicker is more effective on kickoffs, that matters. That said, if Shrader performs well, he might cement his job as Indy's kicker this season.
Interior offensive line rotation
Last year, the Colts' quarterback play might not have been good, but that wasn't the offensive line's fault. But Indianapolis is doing a bit of a revamp in training camp. At center, second-year pro Tanor Bortolini has been rotating with Danny Pinter for first-team reps. No team has trusted Pinter to be a starter for them yet, and Indy shouldn't either.
The hope is that Tanor Bortolini plays at a high level versus Baltimore and earns the starting gig moving forward. He is just 23 years old, and could be a long-term answer along the interior of the O-line. That would be one less thing to worry about.
AD Mitchell could shine
With Richardson playing a lot versus the Ravens and Jones playing a bit less, one might assume that the Colts will play their presumed starting wide receivers, too. That might not be the case, however. (This honestly makes AR5 and Jones playing so much in the preseason even more puzzling.)
Mitchell, though, might play a lot. He was underwhelming as a rookie in 2024 and suffered a case of the drops. More recently in training camp, he has looked like a second-round pick should. But can he be consistently good? To get there, he needs a lot of reps. He could be a star for the Indianapolis Colts versus the Ravens, as he might be Richardson's top target.