We now continue part two of “Injury to Insult.” You may follow along in your Bynum workbooks, starting on page 24.
The Colts signed Daniel Jones, a sixth year quarterback out of Duke to be Anthony Richardson’s “competition” for the 2025 starting QB job. Just to put that into perspective, Jones finished the 2024 season with the 2nd to worst passer rating in the entire NFL. Care to guess who had the worst? That’s right, Anthony Richardson. Jones was taken 6th overall in the 1st round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was the heir apparent to Eli Manning with the New York Football Giants. There were high hopes in Gotham City when he first donned the number 8 jersey.
Jones first game came in relief of Eli Manning in September of 2019. His first outing was one for the record books. Jones went 3-4 for a staggering 17 yards. If that weren’t enough to cement him as New York’s future starter, Jones also lost a fumble and led the team to a 17-35 shellacking by the Dallas Cowboys. In his first official start Jones threw for 336 yards with a 112.7 passer rating. Jones overcame an 18 point deficit in that game to lead the Giants to victory, 32-31. Jones ended the 2019 season with a 3-9 record. 2020 also saw the first of several injuries that would soon plague the young ball handler. Daniel injured his hamstring in week 12 causing him to miss two games. Immediately upon his return he injured his ankle. Daniel Jones finishes 2020 with a 5-9 record.
Daniel’s level of play picked up a bit in 2021. Unfortunately, so did the severity of his injuries. In week 12, (See a pattern here?) he suffered a neck injury causing him to miss the remainder of the season. He finished with a record of 4-7. 2022 ended up being his best year in New York. It was the year they spanked the Colts 38-10. He actually made it through the whole season injury free and led the Giants to the playoffs where they got man-handled by the Eagles 38-7. This was also the year that the Giants said, “Yeah we really aren’t interested in the 5th year option thing on your contract.”
In 2023 Jones did sign a new deal with Giants and he quickly rewarded them with a neck injury in week 5 that kept him out until week 9 where he promptly bowed out of the rest of the season with a knee injury. 2024 saw Jones getting benched for his (lack of) performance. After the benching, he requested, and was granted, his release out of his contract. Jones signed with the Vikings in November of 2024 and rode the pine for the remainder of the season.
This brings us to the conclusion of part two. Please…just kidding. I wouldn’t do that to you twice. March 12,2025 found Daniel signing with your Indianapolis Colts. Now we are all up to speed on Daniel Jones.
So, what do we have here kids? On one side we have a quarterback who lacks maturity, has shown a knack for getting injured, but also has shown signs of amazing greatness. On the other side we have a quarterback with proven leadership skills, a strong work ethic, and who has a beautiful plaque awarded to him by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for being one of their best and most reliable customers. Oh boy. Bring me some popcorn.
This “competition” is in my mind, choosing the lesser of two evils, or as my Dad would or said, “It is six one way, half a dozen the other.” Pick your poison I guess. To break it down to the simplest terms, I don’t want my team to suck anymore. I’m not sure about you all, but I have the feeling that I’m starting to become “one of those guys.” You know, the eternal optimist that says Anthony is going to buckle down, grow up, take the reps and become the player that we all want him to be. But is that reality or am I just being a Homer?
Is Daniel Jones going to learn from the culmination of his experiences, injuries, failures and successes or is he going to continue on this path of getting a half of season of good games out of him? We already have that with Anthony Richardson! Is that what Ballard saw? Hey, here’s a guy that at times shows signs that he’s the real deal but has a history of injury problems. He’s perfect! Daniel is Anthony’s brother from another mother, separated at birth. I don’t like this signing. Are they both going to sit on the bench midway through the season comparing injuries and telling old hospital stories? Hell, maybe that’s been the plan all along. Could Chris Ballard be playing 4D chess while we are all playing checkers? Is he doing the slow play to 2026 to get Arch Manning, or as I like to call him, Peyton 2.0? We all know Mr. Irsay loves him some Manning. Arch Manning could be the spark that reignites this franchise into the greatness we saw under Bill Polian. That or I’ve been drinking too much and have been over analyzing and fantasizing about the good old days. Either way, my head is not right. I do have optimism for the 2025 season. I just need to make sure it is not chemical and grounded in fact and not just me being eternal home fan. D’oh!
That is the Forged Truth from the Meanie
@BluemeanieColts
