‘Tis the season for another round of Indianapolis Colts football. The Colts open up the season at home against the defending AFC South Champions Jacksonville Jaguars. The Colts haven’t won a season opener since the 2013 season.
Since Andrew Luck’s abrupt and sudden retirement during the 2019 preseason, the Colts quarterback position has been in absolute chaos.
The Colts have had eight different starting quarterbacks since then, Jacoby Brissett, Brian Hoyer, Phillip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Jacob Eason, Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles and Matt Ryan. Now rookie Anthony Richardson, who was drafted fourth overall out of Florida has been given the reins.
His size, strength and athleticism stood out big time during training camp, earning him a starting spot over Gardner Minshew and Sam Ehlinger.
Richardson’s running ability is also a new aspect that can open the offense even more. During training camp, Richardson had nasal septum surgery to improve his breathing. Despite the early health issue, there is a huge buzz surrounding this rising star.
The last two seasons have been absolute disasters. In 2021 the Colts stood at 9-6 with two games left and needed one more win to get into the playoffs. But after a home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and an embarrassing blowout in Jacksonville, the Colts would miss the playoffs and that would be the end for Carson Wentz.
Last year was an injury-riddled mess of a season. The Colts lost leaders Jonathan Taylor and Quenton Nelson for parts of the season and only had defensive captain Shaquille Leonard for a few games.
The offensive line took a nosedive from the year before with a revolving door of different starting lines with back ups Danny Pinter and Matt Pryor filling in.
The Colts brought in veteran QB Matt Ryan in hopes of repeating what happened with Phillip Rivers, but that would not be the case.
The team would finish with a repulsive 4-12-1 record while dropping the last 7 games of the season, with deep questions left in the QB puzzle.
Head Coach Frank Reich was fired after week 9 of the season, so the Colts brought in former Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday, but after winning his first game, he would not win again as a head coach.
As bad as last season was, the Colts did beat the Chiefs, the eventual Super Bowl champs.
The Colts will be without star running back Taylor for the first four games as he is on the physically unable to perform list. There has also been a lot of coverage over Taylor’s floundering relationship with the Colts’ front office.
The disgruntled Taylor fought is fighting the organization as he is on the last year of his rookie contract. After a private talk with Colts owner Jim Irsay, Taylor requested a trade, the Colts granted a trade and gave Taylor and his agent a week to find a deal that would satisfy the Colts.
But Taylor and his agent were unable to find another team, so he is still a Colt. In 2021 Taylor won the rushing crown and was a star for the Indy, but last year was a different story as Taylor would be hurt for most of the season.
The NFL running back market is not that good as running backs are looked at as expendable. The entire Colts organization and fanbase is hoping that 28 will be back on the field in blue and white come week 5.
Regardless of the past few years, there is hope the Colts can play up a level and begin a route of rebuilding to prominence.
