Daniel Jones' Achilles Injury Spurs Fantasy Football Benching of Michael Pittman Jr
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The Colts have fallen to 8-5 and now they must complete their season without Daniel Jones at Quarterback. The veteran play-caller tore his achilles in Sunday's loss, and now they will look to Riley Leonard. This drastically impacts this Colts offense and could render many of their weapons useless in the world of Fantasy Football. We will break down this matter and guide you to aimed success in the face of adversity.
Fantasy Football Impact
Colts QB Daniel Jones is out for the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles. pic.twitter.com/qsgRL8SlPU
— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2025
The Colts are turning to their 6th round draft pick, Riley Leonard, to take over at Quarterback. Leonard stepped in for Jones in Week 14 and he played mediocre. Leonard went for 145 Yards and 1 Interception on a 62% Completion Percentage.
Leonard is provide to be a huge downtick as he is not known for being a pure passer. Leonard hails from Notre Dame and Duke before that. They ran a run-heavy offense where Leonard was a dual threat. His legs were always more dangerous than his arm, and he should no expect to be a high-end passer of the ball. Do not pick him up in Fantasy Football.
Riley Leonard finds the endzone for his first nfl career TD.
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 7, 2025
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/0gejudImht
Jonathan Taylor should be the least affected player on this offense. This team will go evenb more run-heavy, and that will benefit the volume of Taylor. However, for any volume he gains, he may lose Touchdown upside in an offense that may struggle quite a bit.
If Shane Steichen can pull it off, I would try to run a Notre Dame 2025 style offense that run effectively and often. They may be able to pull it off with their stout offensive line.
Between worse pure-passing, more running, and less efficiency to be anticipated, many Colts pass-catcher will fail to meet their previous upside.
Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, and Josh Downs will all see anywhere from 20-40% of a decrease in their output. Jones had been dishing out nearly (250) Yards per Game. We would be smart to expect less than (200) Yards per Game from Leonard, and maybe even closer to (150).
Tyler Warren will also be affected. However, Warren could enter a dynamic role which may limit his downtick is performance. The Colts tend to use Warren in the screen game and sometimes, behind center. Warren had (8) Rushing Attempts, mostly being QB-sneaks. I would expect Warren to trend closer to a 20% decrease, rather than the 40% floor.
Stock Watch
Riley Leonard is a low-ceiling player and should not be rostered. He will often be ranked around the bottom few Quarterbacks of the week.
Jonathan Taylor may lose only 5-10% of his current output, if any at all. He is still a Top-3 Running Back.
Michael Pittman Jr. drops to a Flex play, as does Alec Pierce.
Josh Downs is a must-bench, and could be a drop candidate after we learn more this week.
Tyler Warren drops from a Top-3 Tight End to a mid-tier Tight End, but still a must-start for the time being.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.