There is an easy fix to all of this. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback room is full of players who have so far shown one thing in their careers: They cannot be counted on to be good, long-term QB1s. Anthony Richardson has been a bust through two seasons. Daniel Jones is the same through six.
But there's an easy fix. One of Indy's quarterbacks simply needs to play up to the level that everyone assumes they had long ago. Can they do that? No one knows.
ESPN certainly doesn't think so. In a recent ranking of 10 different position groups for each team in the NFL, the Colts' quarterback room isn't the worst in the league. Nope, it's the 30th. In other words, third-worst.
Indianapolis Colts quarterbacks get an atrocious ranking in new ESPN poll
The only other two teams behind them are the Cleveland Browns, whose presumed starting quarterback is an off-field mess and will likely miss the season after tearing his Achilles tendon in 2024, and the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans had presumed QB1 Derek Carr would suddenly retire this offseason, so the team had to unexpectedly start over.
In many ways, the above makes the Indianapolis Colts quarterback situation the worst. Injuries aren't the issue currently, but past bad play is. Neither Richardson nor Jones has been able to take control of the starting spot in training camp, either.
Both Indy quarterbacks are bad, and they remain so. Still, both presumably have promise and could still shock the world by being good.
It is unlikely the ESPN rankings took a team's potential QB3 into account. Many teams don't even keep three quarterbacks on the active roster. Indianapolis's third QB would be rookie Riley Leonard, who has trouble throwing with accuracy.
As far as Indy's AFC South rivals, the Houston Texans rank 16th, the Jacksonville Jaguars are 22nd, and the Tennessee Titans, who will be starting rookie Cam Ward, are 28th. (That's right; ESPN thinks more of a rookie quarterback than it believes in either Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones.)
The relatively good news is that in only one other position group do the Indianapolis Colts rank in the 20s. The Colts' inside linebacker group is 26th. The interior defensive line in third, though, while the running backs are sixth.
This would imply that if a Colts quarterback can finally play well, Indianapolis could win a lot of games. The team just needs Richardson or Jones to do that.