Some NFL analysts remain at least slightly skeptical that former New York Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones will win the Indianapolis Colts’ QB1 job over 2023 first-round draft pick Anthony Richardson this summer.
For a piece updated on Thursday, Colts reporter James Boyd of The Athletic suggested that general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen are hoping Jones will help improve Richardson’s behind-the-scenes work en route to the 22-year-old remaining atop the Indianapolis depth chart through at least Week 1 of the 2025 season.
“I believe Jones’ dedication is one of the biggest reasons the Colts brought him in for their open QB competition,” Boyd explained. “Time will tell if Indianapolis is serious about potentially moving on from Richardson before he starts another game for the franchise, which still feels like a long shot, but the team wanted someone to light a fire under Richardson. The easiest way to do that? Putting Jones right beside him as a constant reminder of what it means to be a professional.”
Richardson’s inconsistent play coupled with his admitting that he took himself out of a game because he was “tired” made it easy for Steichen to bench the young signal-caller for a pair of November contests this past fall. Steichen later indicated that Richardson needed to show “great growth in all aspects,” such as “the daily process of the meetings and the walkthroughs and the practice.”
In December, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner revealed that he and other veteran Colts players met with Richardson during the quarterback’s demotion to let him know “that the standard wasn’t being met” and “that he [needed] to pick it up.”
Meanwhile, Jones’ dedication to the cause never came into question during his Giants tenure, even after the “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” program made it clear that general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll wanted to find Jones’ long-term replacement during the 2024 NFL Draft. The Giants benched and subsequently released Jones when the club was 2-8 in November.
“He’ll come in, I’m sure, with a big chip on his shoulder because he was pretty p—– off with how everything went down last season,” Giants reporter Dan Duggan said about Jones for Thursday’s article. “Not only did they try to trade up and get rid of him, they also documented it on ‘Hard Knocks.’ So, he’ll never really show it, but when you talk to people around him, it definitely bothered him.”
Perhaps some of Jones’ motivation to silence doubters will rub off on Richardson between the start of springtime workouts and Indianapolis’ final preseason game this August.
