Jones is not a "safe" option at quarterback.
NFL analyst says starting Daniel Jones gives the Colts ‘zero upside’ originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Indianapolis Colts have settled on a starting quarterback for the 2025 season, opting in favor of free agent signing Daniel Jones over their former first-round pick Anthony Richardson Sr.
While there’s been no shortage of criticism pointed towards the Colts brass for how badly they’ve screwed up Richardson’s development, CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin doesn’t think that Jones moves the needle that much further.
“We've already seen the best and (mostly) worst of what he is as a quarterback. And the best is simply not very good,” Dubin said. “In the season that got people most excited about Jones, the Giants succeeded by taking almost everything off his plate and asking him to do little else other than check the ball down and operate in the designed run game.”
Jones threw 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in that 2022 season with the Giants as they went 9-7-1 en route to a first-round playoff exit. Dubin makes a valid point— that’s not all that impressive.
“Even if Jones shockingly performs at that 2022 level rather than the one he has maintained for the other five years of his career, there's no guarantee that the Colts actually make a playoff run in the AFC,” Dubin wrote. “And even if they do, they'll just be in the same situation the Giants were in three years earlier, where they have to decide whether they want to bring Jones back or move on to another quarterback.”
Jones really doesn’t give the Colts many answers in the long term. General manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen frustratingly have the team going in circles.
“What is the best-case scenario for the Colts here?” Dubin wrote. “That Jones replicates what he did in New York and they make a run at a wild card spot, then get blasted in the opening round of the playoffs? What does that accomplish for anyone? Does it even save Steichen's and Chris Ballard's jobs? It probably shouldn't.”
Category: Football
