The Indianapolis Colts are an unsolvable riddle. The overall makeup of the team is solid. The defensive line is one of the best in football. The secondary, when healthy, is quite good. The offensive skill position players are very good.
The quarterback play, though, no one can be quite sure how good or bad it will be. Daniel Jones was named the starter for Week 1, and presumably for the entire season. Meanwhile, 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson must have failed again in the eyes of the coaching staff.
The biggest loser from the Colts' preseason is clear because of that. While Richardson hasn't turned out to be the QB Indy hoped he would be, the real problem lies with head coach Shane Steichen. Steichen could be on the verge of sinking the team with his terrible preseason.
The Indianapolis Colts' biggest loser from the preseason is head coach Shane Steichen
For one, he let the quarterback battle play out in public view. The assumption was that either Jones or Richardson would be the obvious front-runner for QB1 duties after a couple of preseason games, and Steichen could make a decision on a starting quarterback that most could agree with.
But the experiment blew up in his face. While neither Jones nor Richardson was special, one might expect AR5 to have a slight lead because of his seasons with the team, while Jones lost his way with his former team, the New York Giants. Jones also does not create splashy plays for his offense, one that eventually gets bogged down.
Richardson is far from perfect. He is inaccurate and makes unwise decisions on when to pass and when to take off and run. He is also often injured. To be fair, had Shane Steichen made the announcement in training camp that Daniel Jones was going to start in Week 1, it would have made sense.
Richardson was missing a number of practices after coming back from injury, but Jones was available every session. Steichen instead looks obviously weak by not doing something most coaches do: He didn't decide who was going to start based on what his own eyes were telling him in practice.
Moreover, a public display of a quarterback battle is a good way to lose fans and players on the team. Those players can also see which quarterback is more efficient in drills. Maybe that wasn't Richardson, but it's doubtful Jones was much better. He was especially atrocious at the start of the Colts' joint practice with the Green Bay Packers.
The head coach now seems like a lackey. He might have had little say in who should be QB1. Possibly, general manager Chris Ballard was the real decision-maker.
Possibly most damning, though, is that Shane Steichen is supposed to be an offensive-minded head coach who can take a decent player and make them good. He hasn't done that with Anthony Richardson. He won't do it with Daniel Jones. Steichen could no longer be the Indianapolis Colts' head coach by midseason.