5 Reasons Daniel Jones Can Become Great with Colts

Jones has the talent and experience to win the starting job over Richardson and potentially succeed. Here are five reasons why Jones can ascend and find winning ways leading Indy's offensive attack.

Protection He's Never Had

Jones was with the New York Giants for six seasons, starting 69 of 70 games. While Jones could have been better in the Meadowlands, he took a multitude of sacks, with plenty of blame rightfully for his offensive line.

Jones was taken down in the backfield a whopping 208 times, averaging to a career of three sacks sustained per game. No NFL quarterback will stay comfortable getting racked that many times. The 2023 season was especially horrific. While Jones played just six games, he was sacked an unacceptable 30 times, bad enough for five per game.

Luckily, the Colts invested in their offensive line with great talents like Bernhard Raimann (left tackle), Quenton Nelson (left guard), and Braden Smith (right tackle). Indy also replaced center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries with their promising draft picks Tanor Bortolini and Matt Goncalves.

While Bortolini and Goncalves are unproven outside of some snaps taken in their respective rookie campaigns, this offensive line is already more capable than what he had. If Jones can be protected, who knows what he might be able to accomplish?

Established Ground Game

Jones isn't the super athlete Richardson is, but he can still get the job done at an above-average level with his feet. Throughout his NFL tenure, Jones has toted the pigskin 399 times for 2,179 rushing yards and 15 scores on the ground.

Jones is a capable runner, which is a perfect fit for Steichen's scheme. Turning back to Jones' most efficient year (2022) to look at his rushing metrics is a great reference to what he can do. That year, Jones found great success with 708 yards on 120 carries and seven touchdowns.

While Jones doesn't have now-Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley in the backfield, he still has Jonathan Taylor. Taylor is a top-three running back in the NFL and can be the best any given game day. After another great campaign in 2024, where Taylor secured his second career Pro Bowl, he'll look to continue that momentum in 2025.

Steichen wants to run the football, plain and simple. Now, the Colts drafted DJ Giddens and signed veteran Khalil Herbert to add to the backfield and help Taylor. This points to plenty of ways to attack a defense with the rushing game, and Jones factors into that well.

QB-Centric Head Coach

While Steichen hasn't had resounding success as a head coach through two years (17-17; 9-8 in 2023, 8-9 in 2024), he's still a great asset for any QB under his teachings. Steichen has a history of doing great work with the most important position in football, and perhaps Jones can be a beneficiary of that knowledge.

Steichen has coached the likes of Philip Rivers, Justin Herbert, and Jalen Hurts. So far it's been rough coaching Richardson into better operation as a QB, but Jones has the experience and accuracy where Steichen might be able to bring the best out of Jones.

Jones' career record isn't anything to behold, falling to a brutal 24-44-1 mark, which finishes with a sad 34.8 winning percentage. However, referencing the aforementioned offensive line subject, the Giants didn't give Jones much offensively to succeed, so the record can't be placed on him exclusively.

Jones' career passer metrics point to his ability to protect the football (minus his first two years). Throughout his six years, he's thrown 70 touchdowns to 47 interceptions. While these aren't incredible statistics, he boasts a plus-23 TD/Int ratio. Steichen can coach this type of production, even if Jones hasn't thrown more than 24 scores in a season.

Best Scheme Fit

The Giants implemented a scheme highlighting Jones' rushing ability and short/intermediate strengths throwing the football. However, Steichen's game plan can fit him even better, given how his offensive play calls deceive an opposing defense.

While Jones isn't necessarily known for the deep ball, Steichen will still likely test his ability to push the ball down the field. Names like Pierce and Adonai Mitchell can operate well with Jones, but especially Steichen's emphasis on RPOs and quick release tosses.

Jones doesn't need to be a stud and take complete control of the offense to be successful, and the Colts have piles of talent around the former sixth-overall pick (2019). Jones is known for shorter passes anyway, so RPO calls can assist him with avoiding sacks and taking further care of the football.

It's not to say Steichen won't tweak his offense to fit Jones' strengths, which differ from Richardson's, so it's expected that this reality will happen. However, Jones can thrive in this scheme and look as good, or better, than he did in 2022 when he played his zenith of football.

Best Supporting Cast He's Had

Minus Barkley, the Giants didn't help Jones much with weapons to work with. Now, he has everything in Indy that he didn't in New York. Jones is surrounded by players with unique skills that create a formidable offense when put together, but only if the QB position is stabilized.

Starting with Pittman, the veteran leader sustained a bad back injury that limited his production to 69 catches for 808 yards (led team) and three scores. Pittman figures to bounce back and will help Jones in big ways. Next is Downs, the slot specialist. Downs showed an ability to be more than a short-yardage threat, leading to him as the top dog with catches (72). Downs is poised for a third-year breakout.

Pierce needs no introduction, as he's arguably the biggest deep threat in the league. In 2024, Pierce caught only 37 passes but for an astounding 824 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. This was good enough to top the NFL in yards per reception (22.3). Pierce will help Jones with the deep ball, and so can Mitchell if he bounces back from an underwhelming rookie tilt.

Rookie tight end Warren will help Indy immensely at the position. Warren specializes as a safety blanket in the short game, perfect for Jones' tendencies. Warren also has the skills to dominate the middle of the field, which gives Jones a reliable target. Lastly, as pointed out before, Taylor is one of the best backs in the league, giving Jones a talent to lean on if the ground game is humming.

The Bottom Line

Jones' career has been a rollercoaster with bad context for his struggles. Yes, he has been underwhelming and can be far better as a starter, but the Giants let him down and showed their lack of understanding of how to build an offense around a to-be franchise QB.

The Colts have supplied the next quarterback with plenty to work with, but that also means the excuses are gone for Jones if he gets the starting gig. The pressure is definitely on Richardson to succeed, but possibly more on Jones.

If Jones can't get the starting position or falls apart after securing it, leading to a benching, his career as an offensive leader is over. He'll be relegated to backup duties or a potential career as a spot-starter, veteran bridge QB.

This isn't what Jones wants; rather, he wants to prove that he was worth the $160 million deal after his solid 2022 campaign. This is his best chance to make that happen and prove the detractors wrong. We'll see how things pan out for the former Duke Blue Devil.

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