The Indianapolis Colts have been one of the best teams in the NFL to start the season, with free-agent signee Daniel Jones being one of the most surprising revelations so far in 2025.
Jones, who primarily spent the 2024 season as a backup with the Minnesota Vikings after getting released by the New York Giants, has been off to an incredible start, throwing for 816 yards and three touchdowns. He’s currently completing 71.6 percent of his passes, leads the league in EPA/play, and still poses enough of a rushing threat.
Entering the season, Jones was in a quarterback competition with former first-round pick Anthony Richardson, but things cleared up after the latter suffered an injury in the preseason, although Jones always seemed like the favorite to win the starting job.
So far, he’s proving that head coach Shane Steichen has made the right decision, as the Colts are one of six undefeated teams so far.
What can we take away from Jones’s early success, and what does that mean for Anthony Richardson going forward?
Through three games, Jones looks like a different quarterback. He’s been much more accurate downfield, albeit in a smaller sample size, and has been very efficient while limiting turnovers, which had been his biggest problem in New York.
Jonathan Taylor has been on a tear to start the season, which has made Jones’s life easier. But, he looks the part of a starting-level quarterback, and it would take unexpected circumstances for him to lose the job at this point.
As for Richardson, Colts general manager Chris Ballard made it clear before the season that the team had no interest in trading the former first-round pick. But, with Jones’s ascension, it feels like that could potentially change to give the 2023 No. 4 overall pick a fresh start.
Richardson has started only 15 games in his career, due to a series of injuries. A quarterback clearly in need of development entering the NFL, the Florida Gators product started only four games in his rookie year and struggled in his sophomore campaign over 11 starts, throwing 12 interceptions in that span.
It was clear that the Colts were going to bring in competition this offseason. And now that Jones has shone, it’s hard to envision a path for Richardson to start in Indianapolis. He could very well be expendable now, as there are teams that could look to tap into his potential and development.
Do you think the Colts should try to trade Richardson? What would a trade compensation package look like? Which teams might be interested? Weigh in below in the comment section.
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