Three of the past four Colts’ seasons are impressively similar, a team good enough to win games, not good enough to beat elite teams, and bad enough that they lose games that they definitely should not be losing. You also have an excruciatingly painful moment in each of those, with the infamous Duval Collapse in 2021 where the Colts needed to beat the tanking Jaguars to make the playoffs but lost 26-11, the drop in fourth down by running back Tyler Goodson against the Texans in Week 18 of the 2022 season, again in a win and in situation, and most recently Jonathan Taylor’s goal-line fumble on what would have been a long touchdown run.
The main thing I am looking for once this season is over is certainty. I am tired of not knowing who the quarterback will be in Week 1, I am tired of not knowing whether this is a team that has what it takes to make it to the playoffs or not, and I am tired of a general manager that is always one season away from being fired. For good or bad, what I am tired of is the mediocrity.
There are three possible outcomes in my opinion, either the quarterback situation remains unsolved, the team sucks, and we get a high draft pick where we can reset with a potential franchise quarterback for the future, as this draft class is loaded with talent. Of course we still have to enter into the equation what this season of college football gives, but just keep an eye out for names like Cade Klubnik, Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar, Archie Manning, and LaNorris Sellers.
Another outcome is the positive one, where either AR finally blossoms into a serviceable and consistent NFL quarterback, or Daniel Jones manages to win the starting job and starts showing the potential that made the Giants draft him. With proper quarterback play the Colts manage to make the playoffs, and while they might not have the blue-chip talent required to win it all, at least they make it there, and give the fans something they have missed since the 2020 Philip Rivers’ season.
The third, and the worst possible outcome, one that would set this team back probably another decade, is another mediocre year. This Jeff Fisher era for the Colts has been a pain to watch. The 4-12-1 season did not hurt nearly as much as all the other 9-8 / 8-9 seasons did, because at least when you are that bad you know not to get your hopes up, and you can start thinking about the future, which is what we had when we drafted AR. Now I am not saying that if the Colts suck, and get any of the aforementioned quarterbacks in the class, all our problems will be magically solved, there is always the chance that the quarterback does not pan out, but at least we will know what we have. It all depends on whether Richardson has what it takes to take that next step and becomes that franchise quarterback, or if he gets injured again or his work ethic flails, anything in the middle would put the Colts in an awkward situation.
I understand that there are some fans that are content with competence and not having to watch an awful squad, personally I prefer either having a shot at the Super Bowl, or maximizing that window in the future. Anything in between seems like wasting time to me. I enjoyed watching the Rams approach to team building, where it is all in and we’ll worry about the future later. Other teams have followed the same approach to a lesser extent of success, but it was fun and exciting to watch. In the end I think it boils down to that, boom or bust is exciting, consistent mediocrity is not, and in the end, this is entertainment we are talking about.
The franchise also has a new owner, so the playoff or bust narrative has the chance to finally materialize, as perhaps Carlie Irsay-Gordon prefers to start fresh with a new quarterback, a new head-coach, and a new general-manager at the wheel. All the Colts know as of this moment is that they know nothing, so guess we will just have to wait and see how this complicated conundrum unfolds.
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