When Shane Steichen announced that Daniel Jones was chosen to be QB1 for the Indianapolis Colts over Anthony Richardson - the team's first-round pick selected at No. 4 overall - it's safe to say the decision was shocking. Fans and analysts alike felt sure that Richardson had the job in the bag, especially considering he had shown improvement during training camp and the preseason.
Richardson has struggled throughout his short NFL career, but Jones has, too. His stats were marginally better than Richardson's, and it was assumed that he had none of Richardson's talent, potential, and upside.
It took just two weeks of playing with the Colts to prove that assumption to be drastically wrong. His comeback has been nothing short of legendary, and he's making it clear that he has much more talent and potential than anyone realized. And one Hall of Fame quarterback thinks he knows why it took coming to Indianapolis for Jones to finally shine.
Kurt Warner gets real about Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones
Kurt Warner is a legendary quarterback who has a lot in common with Jones; like Danny Dimes, his career seemed to be done, without much expectation of a bright future. He started as an undrafted free agent and ended as a Super Bowl champion, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, the Walter Payton Man of the Year, and a Hall of Famer.
While it's obviously too early to say that Jones might end up with any of those accomplishments, it's also safe to say that no one expected him to succeed in Indy - no one, that is, except for Warner. Speaking with Rich Eisen for the NFL Network, Warner explained why Jones has been able to flourish with the Colts under Steichen.
"I really felt like what Shane Steichen likes to do, a lot of RPOs, a lot of movement of the quarterback, kind of the pure progression read type stuff. I thought it really fit Daniel Jones well," Warner said. "He's a mobile quarterback, he does a nice job with the RPOs and reading that stuff, but he's just playing really good football right now."
While it's not known if Richardson's career in Indianapolis is over - Chris Ballard, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, and Steichen are all insisting it is not - the simple reality might be that Richardson has struggled because he didn't fit well into Steichen's offense. And Jones, according to Warner, does.
"Daniel fits their system very, very well. It's not a lot of spread out, drop back, have to read the whole field," he said. "You know, they designed it around trying to make the game easier for the quarterback. And as long as they stay on schedule, which, you alluded to it, they stayed on schedule. I mean, they've stayed ahead of the chains and they're scoring every time they touch the football. They're finding way to put points on the board because they're doing that. And so all of that stuff plays perfectly into who I believe Daniel Jones is as a quarterback. And so I just think right now, it's a perfect fit with how this team is playing and what the skill set is of Daniel Jones."
It's fair to point out that it's still early in the season, and Jones hasn't faced a real test yet; as Warner pointed out, he hasn't had to lead a comeback from behind yet. But so far, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about Jones and the future of the Colts.