The Indianapolis Colts have a dilemma at quarterback. It’s been noted previously that general manager Chris Ballard is currently prepared to go into the season with a competition (and possible time-splitting…always a bad idea) at the quarterback position.
The two men that would currently battle for the starting job are former first-round picks Anthony Richardson (fourth overall in 2023) and Daniel Jones (sixth overall in 2019). Most would agree that neither are a ticket to playoff success (unless Richardson somehow shows something we haven’t seen yet, because we know what Dan Jones is as a starter).
But, it doesn’t sound like Ballard is comfortable with just these two guys as a potential starter. He said he’s always looking to add quarterbacks, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
“I think if you look every year — even when we had Andrew [Luck] — we brought quarterbacks in,” Ballard said. “I think you do that all the time. And we also, believe it or not, we worked out a couple. We went and visited a couple. I think you do that every year.
“The one thing you can see with the quarterback position now, you better get to know them in the draft process because you never know when it’s going to come back to you. That’s the one thing, I always kind of giggle when a quarterback turns us down, like, ‘No we’re not going to visit with you.’ Three years from now, we’ll see how that plays out — because you just look at it. The changing of teams now, the lack of patience, guys are… And everybody’s developmental curve and journey is different. So you never know when it’s going to come back around to you.”
Would the Colts spend a high pick on a quarterback?
Ballard is open to all options when it comes to drafting a signal caller in the upcoming NFL Draft.
“You don’t ever want to pass up a player you think has a chance to be really good,” Ballard said. “I think you say that for every position, but especially at quarterback. Like, I mean, I think Green Bay just in their history has done it back to Ron Wolf to Ted [Thompson] to Brian [Gutekunst] now, even when they didn’t need one, if one hit on the board that they liked and believed in, they would take him. And I think you’ve got to take an open mind to that.”
Is spending a first-round pick on a quarterback is a possibility
The Colts hold the No. 14-overall pick in the draft and speculation is all over the place in terms of what they could do with that selection. With Miami QB Cam Ward being the consensus No. 1-overall pick, the rest of the quarterback field is wide open.
So, would Ballard pull the trigger in the first round?
“If there’s a player we deem is worthy of it, absolutely,” Ballard said. “Why wouldn’t we?”
There is a chance the Colts get a shot at Colorado QB Shadeur Sanders. They’ll likely get a crack at Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart or Alabama’s Jalen Milroe. But, with so much uncertainty in this year’s quarterback class, they could also sit tight and grab one of these players in a later round.
They do have other options at the quarterback position if they opted for the trade route. Would they be in on the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes? Aaron Rodgers is out there, but who knows what his plans are? Maybe they’d consider a trade with head coach Shane Steichen’s old team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Tanner McKee has put some good football on tape in the last year and could be a low-cost, high-upside option if hey choose to go that route.
Colts fans, get your popcorn ready.
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