The Kansas City Chiefs are set at the quarterback position after selecting Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft. What was once an unknown project out of Texas Tech has become the face of the NFL, leading the Chiefs to three championships and five Super Bowl appearances since taking over as the team’s full-time starter in 2018.
As a result, most teams are trying to “find their Mahomes,” which can lead them to a championship. But most teams just make a string of bad decisions chasing it.
New Chiefs quarterback Gardner Minshew knows this feeling as a journeyman quarterback who has been a stopgap in most teams’ search for a franchise QB. But as he gets ready for his new gig in Kansas City, he can’t help but laugh at one of his former team’s attempts to find one.
Daniel Jones has been named our starting QB.
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Colts Bench Gardner Minshew’s Former Teammate for Daniel Jones
The Indianapolis Colts announced that Daniel Jones will be the team’s starting quarterback when they open the year against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 7. Jones was a free agent signing from the Minnesota Vikings this past offseason, but his installation as the starter effectively throws in the towel on former first-round pick Anthony Richardson.
Richardson was the fourth overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 draft but has failed to live up to his tantalizing potential. While he was a project coming out of Florida, his 6-foot-4, 244-pound frame and bazooka arm had the Colts believe he could be their next great quarterback. But it didn’t happen for several reasons.
A shoulder injury forced Richardson to miss the final 13 games of his rookie season, and Minshew stepped in, completing 62.2% of his passes for 3,305 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while leading Indianapolis to a 7-6 record and just short of a playoff berth.
The arrow figured to be pointing up when Minshew left for the Las Vegas Raiders and Richardson returned the following season, but his second season was a struggle, completing 47.7% of his passes for 1,814 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Things got so bad, the Colts benched Richardson for Joe Flacco last November and opted to sign Jones to provide competition during camp.
A right shoulder injury doomed Richardson from the start, but it’s not clear whether the Colts are better off with Jones. A failed draft pick by the New York Giants, Jones was released two years into a four-year, $160 million contract extension last November and spent the remainder of the season trying to learn how Kevin O’Connell transformed Sam Darnold into a functional quarterback in Minnesota.
The decision basically lights a former top-five draft pick on fire and forces the Colts to either sell it for pennies on the dollar or let it walk for nothing next offseason. Maybe in a “4D Chess” moment, the Colts are using Jones for a better chance at Arch Manning in next year’s draft. But as they’ve shown, they probably wouldn’t have any idea how to use Manning to their advantage.
After likely winning the backup QB job in Kansas City, Minshew and the rest of football fans have something to laugh about.
