After a red-hot start to the season, the Indianapolis Colts saw injuries and playing against better competition take a toll, and the team will miss the playoffs again. Indy knew this before the Week 17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and that is important to remember.
The team could have handled the final two ultimately meaningless regular season games as if they were preseason games. No matter if Indy won or lost would make no difference, but the team could learn even more about some players who might still be trying to prove they belong on the 2026 roster.
This includes rookie quarterback Riley Leonard. He was a sixth-round draft pick for Indianapolis in 2025, but a bit raw. His throwing accuracy was in question, and his ability to consistently produce when dropping back to pass was, too.
Indianapolis Colts clearly have no faith in quarterback Riley Leonard
The obvious way to get answers to those questions could come with the QB getting real reps against the starters of other teams. This wouldn't be about whether Leonard needs to be QB1 at any point, either. Even if he is expected to be a long-term backup, he has to prove he is worthy of being so.
The Colts made it perfectly obvious after Daniel Jones was injured in Week 14 that they didn't trust Leonard yet to make a positive impact. Instead of going with the rookie (who was decent in Week 14 after Jones tore his Achilles tendon), the team was desperate enough to sign 44-year-old Philip Rivers, who had been retired for five years.
Rivers literally left coaching high school football, signed with Indianapolis, practiced for three days, and was the starter in the next game. If that doesn't tell another quarterback how little faith a team has in him, nothing will.
Or maybe something will, and that would be to keep playing the once-retired quarterback even when the games no longer mattered. That was the case in Week 17 when head coach Shane Steichen started Rivers over Leonard.
Why? Because, in the coach's view, to have Leonard start wouldn't be "fair" to the rookie, whatever that means. That implies Steichen has so little belief in Riley Leonard that even after nearly a full season of learning the coach's system, the quarterback wouldn't be efficient against the Jaguars.
That might be true, but the team wouldn't know that unless Leonard started. He didn't.
Philip Rivers was once again solid but not good enough to lead his team to a victory against the Jaguars. He also had another late interception, his third in as many games. He was 17 of 30 passing for only 147 yards, a touchdown pass, and the pick. His inability to be mobile limited the offense.
It is telling that Leonard entered the game for the final futile play simply to throw a Hail Mary that Rivers didn't have the arm strength to do. The jump ball was intercepted.
Even if Riley Leonard played, was sacked six times, threw three interceptions, and his team lost 40-0, who cares? The season was already done before the game started, and the only way to truly get better as a player is to actually play.
Of the two QBs, Riley Leonard is the one who might be in the Indianapolis Colts' long-term plans. Philip Rivers shouldn't be. He's been solid in his return, but he limits what Indy can do offensively because of his physical limitations. In other words, the Colts should have taken a look to the future and started Leonard in Week 17, and the decision not to is simply another odd one for Indy in 2025.