Why Riley Leonard Has Inside Track to Colts' QB2 Role

The Indianapolis Colts enter year four of the Shane Steichen era with another quarterback battle set to take place this summer, but this is not a competition for the team's starting quarterback spot as Daniel Jones has that locked up for the forseeable future.

The position battle in question will be between Anthony Richardson Sr. and Riley Leonard, two quarterbacks still on their rookie contracts.

Richardson entered last summer ready to compete with Jones for the starting role, but after he lost the battle and had his season cut short due to a freak orbital fracture injury in pre-game warm-ups, his outlook as a Colt became bleaker than ever.

On the flip side, Riley Leonard finds himself with a great opportunity entering year two of his NFL career. Not only is he competing for the QB2 spot within Shane Steichen's offense, but he actually has the inside track to earning said role.

Anthony Richardson's aforementioned season-ending injury, albeit a bizarre situation, was just another footnote in his unfortunate career thus far. In a season where he wasn't playing, Richardson's outlook somehow worsened, whereas Leonard proved in his brief run as a rookie that he at least belongs in the NFL.

Leonard played in five games down the stretch, starting his lone game in the season finale against the Houston Texans after the famous 'unretire Philip Rivers' experiment ultimately failed and the Colts missed the playoffs. Indianapolis would have likely just rolled with Leonard to conclude the season, but he, too, was dealing with a knee injury he suffered in his relief for Daniel Jones in Week 14.

As a rookie, Leonard went 39-67 (58.2%) for 415 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and three interceptions while also adding two rushing touchdowns and two fumbles on the ground.

This wasn't a definitive performance that makes Leonard the quarterback of the future, but it did suggest that Leonard is best suited as the Colts' QB2 in Shane Steichen's offense, particularly this version that was curated for Daniel Jones and Co.

Leonard spoke about the trials and tribulations he faced as a rookie in a recent interview with J.J. Stankevitz on The Colts Show, then discussed his mindset and approach heading into year two.

"I think last year, coming in, I had no clue what I was doing, what was going on, and, you know, whether I had an opinion or not, or I was right on that opinion, nobody would have taken me seriously last year. So I just kind of kept my mouth shut, went to work, and tried to prove that I knew what I was talking about, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help the team," Leonard said on The Colts Show.

Leonard was open about his rookie season, but now he feels light-years more comfortable entering year two of Shane Steichen's offense and is thankful to have a place in the offense, even if it's a secondary role.

"So now that I think I proved that throughout the year last year, I'm able to have more critical conversations with guys and ask, you know, questions that can really help our offense grow. So, it's cool for me to have a voice now and a platform to speak up," Leonard continued.

"But I think I've, like I said, I'm not taking the approach of I'm the guy. I'm filling in right now for the place of Daniel [Jones] and trying to help everybody else on this offense grow."

Shane Steichen's POV of Riley Leonard

Head coach Shane Steichen recently discussed the QB2 battle in question following OTAs practice on Wednesday and provided some insight into Anthony Richardson's place in it, and dove deeper into Riley Leonard's continued development as an NFL quarterback.

“He’s been really good," Steichen said of Leonard's OTAs performance so far. "He’s got great command in the huddle. He’s continuing to learn the offense, growing in that nature, going through his reads, going through his progressions, working on his accelerated vision and going through that stuff. It’s been good to see."

Riley Leonard previously said that he is trying to take the next step in learning Steichen's offense, specifically the why of it all. He wants to know why certain things matter and why Steichen calls each play.

Coach Steichen acknowledged this strategic effort, and gave a detailed answer on why the why's matter so much.

“Yeah, for sure. I think those take place in the meetings rooms of how we’re trying to attack certain coverages from a pass game standpoint, from a run game standpoint – things we’re looking for, trying to take advantage of," Steichen explained.

"That’s where the accelerated vision will come into play. The more you know the offense and why we’re doing certain things and you see certain looks and certain things on tape that the defenses are doing, obviously you can speed up your process when it comes to that.”

Steichen then followed that up be claiming that he's seen firsthand Leonard digging more into the why of it all throughout the offseason so far, and is excited to see some early dividens already pay off through just two practices in OTAs in the books.

“He’s a guy that’s studying like crazy in that classroom and taking it to the field," Steichen said of Leonard's determination to improve schematically and operationally. "Just the conversations that we have, things popped up today where he made some good plays – some conversations that took place and obviously came to life here on the practice field.”

Daniel Jones is not expected to be fully cleared until at least training camp later this summer, so Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson Sr. will have plenty of opportunity to leapfrog ahead of the other in the meantime.

Jones will be a limited participant throughout the rest of the summer, barring no setbacks, but the team periods and everything else outside of individual periods will be for the two young quarterbacks to continue proving themselves.

The Colts likely wanted Leonard to win the job, as Anthony Richardson Sr. has one foot out the door, as he is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer after the Colts declined to exercise his fifth-year option earlier this offseason. With Leonard having three years left on his deal (including 2026), it makes more sense for the Colts to pivot to him if need be, but Leonard still has to earn said role.

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