Colts Make Puzzling Quarterback Signing in Latest Prediction
Regardless of your feelings on the 2022 Indianapolis Colts, it feels safe to say that most observers are on board with them going all-in to stop this roller coaster and finally find their long-term solution at quarterback next offseason.
Since Andrew Luck retired in 2019, it's been a parade of other teams' aging cast-offs to play the most significant, difference-making position in sports, with very little to show for it outside Philip Rivers' 2020 season.
However, Bleacher Report recently projected where the NFL's quarterback dominos will fall next offseason, and it still leaves much to be desired for Colts fans.
"The Colts take a short-term swing—yes, another—with Mike White in addition to drafting a mid-round quarterback to compete with Sam Ehlinger," BR predicts.
So, while current quarterback Matt Ryan is released in this scenario, he is replaced with New York Jets quarterback White, a fifth-year pro with just seven games' worth of experience under his belt and who has never been a team's originally-planned starter. Paired with him is a mid-round rookie quarterback, which rarely amounts to being a long-term answer at quarterback. White and the rookie would then compete with current Colts backup quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who has played in two games in his two seasons.
Essentially, next offseason would be a punt at the quarterback position, which seems unfathomable given the drastic moves that Colts owner Jim Irsay has made this year in relation to losing.
The Colts entered this week slotted at the ninth-overall draft pick with the possibility of getting pretty close to the top five depending on how other teams ahead of them did. In all likelihood, by the time the draft gets here, they'll be picking comfortably inside the top 10.
Behind the widely-regarded top two NFL Draft quarterback prospects, Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, are Will Levis and Anthony Richardson, either of whom the Colts should be able to select. The Colts will probably even be high enough in the order to make a move up the board for Stroud if they want to.
Settling for White and a mid-round rookie to mix in with Ehlinger wouldn't even be the gamble that Rivers, Ryan, or Carson Wentz would; it would feel like they were rolling over.
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