PALM BEACH, Fla. – The winner of the Colts' quarterback competition – whether it's Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones – will be whoever best embodies two descriptors head coach Shane Steichen emphasized on Monday.
"Who's the most consistent, who's the most productive will be the starter," Steichen said at the NFL Annual Meeting at the Breakers in south Florida.
The Colts, too, will not approach their evaluations of Richardson and Jones with any end goal (i.e. the winner being a certain quarterback) in mind. The process will play out, and at some point this year, a starter will be named.
"The best scenario is we win football games," general manager Chris Ballard said. "That's the best scenario — no matter who the starting quarterback is, we win football games. That's what it comes down to. You figure all the rest of it out as you go along."
Which quarterback the Colts collectively believe will give them the best chance to win, then, will start. But Ballard and Steichen both said there's no timetable on when a starter will be named; getting the decision right is more important than rushing to a conclusion.
"I think it just happens when it happens," Ballard said. "I'm not going to put a timeline on that. Of course, we'll lean heavily on Shane and his staff with where they're at right now, of course with Mr. Irsay and I definitely having our eye on it and say on it. But I'm not going to put a timeline on it."
Richardson and Jones will evenly split first-team practice reps beginning with OTAs this spring and then continuing into training camp. That split might occur even on a practice period-to-period basis to make sure both quarterbacks are able to get certain situational work in with the Colts' first-team offense.
For example, if the Colts on a Wednesday are focusing on installing third down plays, Richardson and Jones could have a 50/50 split of those reps on that day. This is as opposed to a rigid first/second-team switch on a daily basis (i.e. Richardson takes all the first-team reps Tuesday, second-team reps Wednesday, first-team reps Thursday and second-team reps Friday). There could still be some of that, but Steichen and Ballard are taking a deliberate, intentional approach to how they'll split those valuable first-team reps between the two quarterbacks.
"I think it'll be pretty seamless," Ballard said. "I think with any competition, you gotta spend the reps evenly and then everybody make a decision on who's going to be the guy."
Who that guy is will come down to Richardson, the incumbent, and Jones, the newcomer.
The Colts in March signed Jones, who started 69 games for the New York Giants from 2019-2024, as a free agent. The 27-year-old former No. 6 overall pick had an up-and-down tenure with the Giants – he was part of a playoff run in 2022, surgically picking apart the Minnesota Vikings' defense for 301 yards with two touchdowns in a wild card weekend win, which was New York's first playoff victory in over a decade. But the Giants would go 3-13 in Jones' final 16 starts, and his passer rating dropped to 76.6 in 2023 and 2024.
Jones was released by the Giants after 10 starts last fall. He caught on with the Vikings but did not appear in a game.
Both Ballard and Steichen pointed to the season Jones had in 2022 as being among reasons why they brought him in as a free agent.
"If you look at his skillset, he can run the football with the zone read game, obviously can throw the football as well," Steichen said. "Career completion percentage is 64 percent, which is pretty good, has had some production, won a playoff game, high football IQ - really high football IQ - which is really good."
As for Richardson, the Colts still very much believe in the 2023 No. 4 overall pick's talent and potential. But for Richardson to win the Colts' competition with Jones, he'll have to show improved consistency from where he was in 2023, when he completed 47.7 percent of his passes and missed six games – four due to injury and two when he was benched in the middle of the season.
"We gotta get the consistency," Ballard said. "I think competition — I think competition is a good thing. It is. Over time it's been proven that to get better, what's the best way to do it? You have to be able to press yourself each and every day for high performance. And you do that by having as many good players as you can at that position in the building."
