The Indianapolis Colts have only a few more days left of training camp before head coach Shane Steichen is forced to name a starting quarterback.
Anthony Richardson Sr. has been the team's Week 1 starter for two consecutive years, but challenger Daniel Jones is pushing to take that spot away. The Colts' quarterback competition has been neck and neck through two weeks of training camp, but Steichen has made no indication of who has the lead at the moment.
As Richardson and Jones prepare for the team's first preseason game on Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens, two analysts on "Good Morning Football" debated who should be handed the keys in Week 1.
"The leader of the band, it's gotta be [Anthony Richardson]," Will Blackmon argued. "You look at this offense and what Shane Steichen does, this offense is designed to threaten you vertically [and] horizontally... As a coach, and I coach, coaches need to coach... Don't take the easy route and be like 'Okay, we're just gonna put in Daniel Jones because we know what he can do.' We've seen this movie before. This is like Jurassic Park 3. We've seen one and two, we see the third one, we know what's happening, we know what's going on. Sure, the T-Rex is gonna come out, but give me something new, give me the Adominus Rex."
"I feel like Anthony Richardson, what he can do, he's so effective, he's so explosive," Blackmon continued. "And also, I think he's still top five one of the youngest quarterbacks in the entire NFL. We know what we're gonna get if we put Daniel Jones out there. We've seen the story before. Let's not play it safe, let's set the tone for the fans, let's get Anthony Richardson rolling, let's get him going."
After Blackmon laid out his valid points, former Notre Dame star Manti Te'o took the opposite side and laid out a defense for Jones to be the starter.
"I mean, you talk about we know what we're gonna get from Daniel Jones, we also know what we're gonna get from Anthony Richardson," Te'o said. "The thing about football is this, ladies and gentlemen, football is the greatest team sport. Why? Because my success on the team depends on you. My success depends, as a quarterback, on my O-Line blocking. My success depends on my running back really getting those extra yards. My success depends on my receivers catching the ball."
"Now, when I can't depend on you because you 'tap out' on me in a game, in a critical game situation... I'm trying to think about how it would feel to be a teammate in that locker room when I witness my starting quarterback tap out in the middle of a game. I have never seen that happen ever."
Te'o went on to explain that as a teammate, it's hard to regain that sort of trust in the locker room. Te'o said Jones would never ask the coaches if Richardson could come in the game for him, no matter the situation.
To be fair, it was never a good look for Richardson. On the other hand, who cares anymore? It was one mistake from the youngest quarterback in the league. The point is to learn and grow from that mistake and not get caught up on it.
As Blackmon explained, we already know what Jones offers. Richardson may have the higher ceiling, and for the Colts, that choice makes more sense right now.
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