Colts: Are We Headed For A Year In Transition?
After months in the valley, the NFL season is upon us. The time for (most) NFL fan bases to be excited about the new season, optimistic of what could be ahead the next few months and looking forward to plopping on the couch to watch their favorite team every Sunday. How excited are Colts fans heading into this season? It’s hard to tell. It sure seems like 80-percent are somewhere between apathetic and disjointed ahead of Week 1. Sure, there are always those who are ride or die with the team but the majority of fans seem as disinterested in an upcoming season as I can remember. It’s hard to blame them. The season opening streak is still intact as is the losing streak at Jacksonville and on top of those annual issues is the additional frustrations with “Team Run It Back” with Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen at the helm still while Anthony Richardson is riding the bench in what is supposed to be a make or break Year 3.
This seems like a team in total transition from the top on down. The passing of Jim Irsay on May 21 meant a transition in power as his daughters took over the franchise. With free agency, the draft and even minicamps already in the rearview mirror there was no way Carlie, Casey or Kalen were going to be able to put their thumbprints on any of the roster decisions ahead of this season. They were going to have to run in place for at least one season with Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen getting one last season to prove themselves. This seems like a season where the change in ownership can have a snowball effect. Should the Colts once again fail to make the playoffs and have another middling season, the Irsay daughters could say enough is enough and hand Ballard and Steichen their walking papers at the end of the season. They could also see the failed experiment of Anthony Richardson and send him on his way via trade or by outright releasing him. They have no loyalty to Daniel Jones and even if he balls out like Sam Darnold did last season, he can go get a bag of cash from one of the other NFL franchises.
Everything I listed above not only seems like the most logical conclusion of this season, but one that fans would actually be willing to tolerate if they knew that was the endgame that awaited them. As of now, it seems like the Colts are willing to run in place and hope they can get steady quarterback play from Jones, get a couple of good bounces in close games and sneak into the playoffs. Is that the best-case scenario though? Does making the playoffs as a Wild Card and getting bounced in the first weekend save everyone’s jobs? I’d sure hope not. I’d hope the standard would be higher than that.
The fan base is clearly at a point where they have begun to tune out. From seeing opposing teams’ fan bases flood Lucas Oil Stadium last season to this year’s noticeable dip in attendance at training camp and low TV ratings during the preseason games, fans are telling ownership and the front office they are on the verge of losing their interest. The Pacers run to the NBA Finals certainly has put the pressure on the Colts to get it turned around quickly, but it looks like it may be at least one more year of middling to finally get the changes fans have been calling for the past couple of seasons.
To me, an ideal situation would be for the Colts to bottom out this season. Leave no doubt it’s time for full changes and get yourself a top-10 pick for April on top of it. Cut bait with Ballard and Steichen, wave goodbye to Daniel Jones, allow Anthony Richardson to continue his development elsewhere and send veterans like DeForest Buckner and Jonathan Taylor off to contenders in exchange for some draft compensation. Clean slate in 2026. New GM, maybe a team president(?), new head coach and staff and an opportunity to draft a new quarterback. Would it suck to go through yet another season like the ones we’ve previously had? Of course! But if the end result means actual legit changes, I think most fans would be on board with that over an 8-win season and nothing to hold on to. The extreme alternative is that somehow someway, everyone just figures it out in this make or break year. Ballard’s draft picks hit, Steichen’s play-calling hits on all cylinders with Daniel Jones and the team makes a postseason push and a run at the AFC South. Could it happen? Yes. But that also means running back a lot of what hasn’t worked in the past.
What would you like to see when it’s all said and done for the Colts this season?
