1 of 5 | Former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (pictured) won a competition against Anthony Richardson to earn starting duties for the Indianapolis Colts. File Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo
The Indianapolis Colts will start Daniel Jones at quarterback this season, coach Shane Steichen announced Tuesday. Anthony Richardson will be Jones’ backup.
“I thought the competition in training camp was great by both of those guys. I thought they both competed really hard. It was good to see them cheering for each other and battling the way they did,” Steichen said.
Steichen told the quarterbacks his decision Tuesday morning. The Colts’ coach emphasized his commitment to Jones as the season-long starter by saying he didn’t “want to have a quick leash” on the veteran.
The Colts signed Jones to a one-year deal in March. The New York Giants, who selected Jones with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, released the six-year veteran in November. He signed with the Vikings five days later.
Jones spent time on the Vikings practice squad and was promoted to their active roster ahead of their wild card playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams. He served as the emergency third-string quarterback.
Jones completed 63.3% of his throws for 2,070 yards, eight scores and seven interceptions over 10 starts last season for the Giants. He completed 64.1% of his throws for 14,582 yards, 70 scores and 47 interceptions over the first 70 appearances of his career. Jones also ran for 2,179 yards and 15 scores over his first six seasons.
Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, completed just 47.7% of his throws for 1,814 yards, eight scores and 12 interceptions over 11 starts last season.
He completed 50.6% of his throws for 2,391 yards, 11 scores and 13 interceptions over the first 15 starts of his career. Richardson also ran for 635 yards and 10 scores over his first two seasons.
Richardson missed several games over the last two seasons due to being injured or benched. He completed 2 of 3 passes for 21 yards in the Colts’ 24-16 preseason-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which he started.
Jones completed 10 of 21 passes for 144 yards against the Ravens. He then started the Colts’ second preseason game, a 23-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Saturday in Indianapolis. Jones completed 7 of 11 throws for 101 yards in that matchup.
Richardson completed 6 of 11 passes for 73 yards and ran for 9 yards against the Packers.
“You guys heard me talking about the consistency,” Steichen said. “That’s really what I was looking for. The operation at the line of scrimmage, the checks, the protection, the ball placement, the completion percentage, all of that played a factor in it.
“I think Daniel did a great job doing that and I think A.R. has made strides in that area, but I feel like he still needs to continue to develop in those areas.”
The Colts listed “Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson” at starting quarterback on their first unofficial depth chart. Rookie Riley Leonard was listed behind Jones and Richardson. Jason Bean is the only other quarterback on the Colts roster.
The Colts will face the Cincinnati Bengals in their preseason finale at 1 p.m. EDT Saturday in Cincinnati. They will host the Miami Dolphins in their regular-season opener Sept. 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
