Daniel Jones' 'vanilla' personality impressing Colts teammates amid MVP talk

Zak Keefer of The Athletic recently shared that Daniel Jones of the Indianapolis Colts "might be the most vanilla quarterback in the NFL." 

On Wednesday, rookie Colts quarterback Riley Leonard touched upon how Jones' personality has made him an ideal fit for the 5-1 club and kept him focused on the team's goals amid talk suggesting Jones is now a legitimate MVP candidate. 

Daniel Jones staying humble amid MVP talk

"There are times, yeah, you go one or two weeks and you’re like, 'Alright, I’m going to keep it humble,' but the way he’s been playing, I think it takes so much mental power to stay as consistent as he has," Leonard said about Jones, per Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. "I can only imagine how I would be in that situation. But I think he’s been in the league so long and has so much wisdom that he’s like, 'Dude, we’ve got a lot of season left.'" 

Jones became a punchline in NFL circles as he went 3-13 over his final 16 starts with the New York Giants before they showed him the door last November. He then agreed to a one-year "prove it" contract with the Colts in March of this year and has since become arguably the top value signing of the offseason. 

ESPN stats show that Jones enters Week 7 of the campaign leading qualified players with a 79.7 adjusted QBR and ranked seventh with 1,502 passing yards. According to StatMuse, only five quarterbacks tallied more combined passing and rushing touchdowns than Jones (12) over the campaign's first six weeks. 

"Dialed" Daniel Jones is everything Colts wanted and more

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Jones 12th among the betting favorites at +4500 odds to claim the MVP Award for the ongoing season. Leonard indicated Jones is paying no attention to that type of information this fall. 

"There’s no better guy to look up to, when it comes to how you operate, how you go about your day-to-day routine," Leonard added. "The dude’s dialed, and obviously it’s working on Sundays."

As Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith noted, Jones was asked on Wednesday what it means to have his name mentioned in MVP conversations. 

"Not much after six weeks," Jones responded.  

On Thursday, ESPN BET had the Colts as 1.5-point underdogs for this coming Sunday's game at the Los Angeles Chargers (4-2).