Riley Leonard helped the Seattle Seahawks reach a goal this season, and he did so against the Houston Texans. The Indianapolis Colts finally gave Leonard a chance to start in Week 18 after the team passed him over for Philip Rivers. The rookie, though, was so good against Houston that he made the Rivers decision look poor.
Indy lost the game 38-30, but Riley Leonard leading his offense to 30 points was legit. The Texans came into the game with the lowest-scoring defense in the league, and they played their starters through the first half when Leonard and Indy put up 17 of their 30 points.
Indianapolis getting as many points as they did pushed the Texans' points-per-game allowed to 17.4 for the season, which caused them to finish second to the Seahawks. This week, Seattle safety Julian Love, a two-time Pro Bowler with the team, gave a shoutout to Leonard for pushing the Seahawks into first place.
Indianapolis Colts' Riley Leonard gets his flowers from the Seattle Seahawks' Julian Love
While speaking to the media, Love said, "That’s cool. Thank goodness for Riley Leonard."
Of course, there is a tie from Love to Leonard. Both played college football at Notre Dame, so clearly, Love giving Leonard his flowers was partly based on that connection.
The question moving forward for the Indianapolis Colts is what to do with Riley Leonard. The presumption would be that he is once again QB3 when the 2026 season begins. That is assuming that Anthony Richardson is still on the roster and healthy, and the team re-signs Daniel Jones.
This issue is that Leonard was so good against a Houston team that was trying to win the game that maybe the quarterback should have a chance to at least be QB2. His passing accuracy is still a question, but that might only improve with more playing time. His ability to use his legs to pick up first downs and touchdowns is not in question, though.
That last part is likely why he should have been starting instead of Rivers in the last few weeks of the season. Rivers knew the offense well and could change alignments as needed, but he had little arm strength and couldn't run. He limited Shane Steichen's offense.
Leonard might have made more mistakes than Rivers, but he would have added an element of potential explosiveness that opposing defenses knew Rivers didn't have. Would Riley Leonard have gotten the Indianapolis Colts one more win? Fans will never know.