The Indianapolis Colts will only go so far this season unless Daniel Jones proves he can make the big plays as well as the consistent plays. Entire games of six-yard pass attempts aren't going to put this team in the win column.
Daniel Jones won the starting gig for the Colts for what truly seems to be no discernible reason. Yes, he's more consistent than Anthony Richardson.
But even in the single year that coach Shane Steichen insists his new QB was so great - you know, 2022, the one year out of six he led his team to a winning record - Danny Dimes was the 18th-ranked QB by Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Other than that season, he's been terrible to mediocre at best.
While the Colts insist that Jones has a long leash, that's laughable. If he has a few of his absurdly awful games like his 14-20 for 119 yards and six sacks like he did against Miami in 2023, or 14-21 for 99 yards and seven sacks versus Philadelphia last season, he has to sit down. We know the ceiling for Jones. It's hardly AR5's fault that the Colts handled his development so poorly.
Indianapolis Colts' Daniel Jones has to be consistently good, not just consistent
Consistency is a fine quality in any endeavor, and football is no different. Efficiency is important as well. That's obviously one of the advantages Jones had over Richardson this offseason.
Of course, maybe, just maybe, if Indianapolis had considered Jones as the backup from day one and gotten Richardson as much work as possible with the first unit, the guy with the high ceiling might have been able to improve that part of his game. You know, done the smart thing, not the whatever you call this.
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Meanwhile, Jones will be out there throwing his guaranteed six-yard crossing patterns all day, and rarely stretching the field. He attempted all of five passes over 20 yards this preseason and connected on one, per PFF.
If you think that's an aberration, Jones attempted 31 deep balls in 10 games last season and found his target a whopping eight times. That's a putrid 26 percent, with two scores and one pick. Even the new Mad Bomber, Jameis Winston, connected on 37 percent of his deep throws, for seven TD versus two INTs.
Unless Jones picks up his game, he's going to cripple this offense. As much as Colts fans will be watching him, we'll be watching Coach Steichen to see if he has the sense to get his choice back on the bench if (and more likely when) his decision goes south.