With Anthony Richardson Sr. Hurt, Colts Exploring Quarterback Market
INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts are exploring the need to add a quarterback.
Who that quarterback is and what exactly the role will be for that guy remains to be seen though.
On Tuesday, the Colts had the following 4 quarterbacks at their team facility for a tryout:
-Jeff Driskel (32 years old, 12 career starts): Driskel has been on a half dozen teams since being drafted in 2016. The oldest player at Tuesday’s tryout, Driskel was on the Raiders practice squad for the first month of the ’25 season before they cut him last week. The 2023 season marks the last time Driskel threw a pass in an NFL game.
-Jaren Hall (27 years old, 2 career starts): The Colts, with Shane Steichen, actually worked Hall out in-person leading into the 2023 Draft (when they took Anthony Richardson 4th overall). Hall was a 5th round pick of the Vikings in ’23. He has 2 career starts in the NFL and spent most of 2024 on the Seahawks practice squad. Hall is a shorter quarterback with some injury history, and produced some nice numbers as a dual-threat QB in college at BYU.
-Tanner Mordecai (25 years old, 0 career starts): The lightest resume of the 4 quarterbacks in the Colts complex on Tuesday comes from Mordecai. He has yet to play in an NFL game, spending the 2024 season on the 49ers practice squad. Collegiately though, Mordecai played 3 seasons with Oklahoma, 2 with SMU and then his final year at Wisconsin. At SMU, Mordecai put up some impressive numbers. But he went undrafted in 2024. Mordecai has played in 2 preseasons with the 49ers, going 19-of-29 for 227 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
-Kyle Trask (27 years old, 0 career starts): Weirdly, despite being a former 2nd round pick, Trask has yet to start an NFL game. That’s what happens when you play behind Tom Brady and then Baker Mayfield. Trask was a 2nd round pick of the Bucs In 2021. He’s played 7 NFL games, but has 0 starts. The Bucs cut Trask at the end of training camp.
Along with those quarterbacks, the Colts also brought in trio of wideouts for tryouts on Wednesday (likely to help with the workout): Mecole Hardman, Jordan Kerley and Colton Dowell.
As of Tuesday evening, the Colts had yet to make a quarterback move, although they have an open spot on the practice squad. One would think a move is needed for some 3rd quarterback before the team gets back to the practice on Wednesday.
A freak eye orbital fracture to Anthony Richardson Sr. has the Colts looking for a quarterback with Week 7 here.
On Monday, Shane Steichen confirmed that Richardson will indeed miss some game action.
“He will miss some time for sure,” the head coach said of his backup quarterback. “I don’t have a timetable on, it but he will definitely miss some time.”
Following Steichen’s press conference, the Colts placed Richardson Sr. on injured reserve. That means he will miss at least 4 games (5 weeks, including the bye): at Chargers; Titans, at Steelers, Falcons. The Colts have their bye following the Falcons game in Germany.
Even if the Colts feel rookie Riley Leonard is ready for backup duties for a month, the Colts need a third quarterback, with no other signal caller on the roster/practice squad.
“Chris (Ballard) and his staff are working through some things,” Steichen said. “We will work through some things in the next 24 hours.”
Daniel Jones has been healthy for every meaningful snap through the first 6 weeks of the season. But his injury history would indicate the Colts are likely to have to rely on another quarterback at some point in 2025. In the last 3 years, more than 40 percent of playoff teams have had multiple quarterbacks start games for them in that season. That was the case for Shane Steichen in his two seasons as the play caller for the Eagles.
On Sunday, Leonard was thrust into the backup role after the pre-game injury to Richardson. Leonard, a 6th round pick out of Notre Dame, has been the team’s 3rd quarterback (only allowed to play in emergency situations) for every game this season.
Are the Colts comfortable with Leonard being their new backup? Comfortable for Leonard one play away for a month?
In the preseason, Leaonard was 34-of-56 (60.7 percent) for 345 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Leonard did have 7 carries for 58 yards.
That’s part of the debate for the Colts as they spend the next 24 hours debating what type of quarterback they should add to their roster/practice squad.
If the Colts aren’t fans of what the free agent pool of quarterbacks looks like (see list below), they could trade a draft pick for a reserve QB.
Of course, they already traded a 2026 6th round pick for cornerback Mekhi Blackmon. Another trade of a Day 3 pick, for example, might limit the resources available for another trade this month. Would the Colts really want to part ways with 3 separate draft picks for 2026 (one for Blackmon, one for a quarterback and possibly one for a defensive addition)? That would be very anti-Chris Ballard.
See below for additional possible QB names out there:
Some Free Agent Quarterbacks + Quarterbacks On Other Practice Squads
-Jason Bean (0 career starts): Bean has been with the Colts for each of the last two years, and was cut as the 4th quarterback in August. Bean went 14-of-24 for 144 yards this preseason, getting snaps behind Riley Leonard.
-CJ Beathard (13 career starts): Beathard has a Colts connection, spending the 2022 season with offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter in Jacksonville. He would need to be signed off the Lions practice squad.
-Tim Boyle (5 career starts): The 31-year-old Boyle has played for 6 teams, including getting game action against the Colts last season as a member of the Dolphins.
-Taylor Heinicke (29 career starts): The Colts have seen Heinicke start (and win) against them in both Washington and Atlanta. Also, Shane Steichen is familiar with Henicke as he started 24 games in the NFC East when Steichen was at Philly.
-Desmond Ridder (18 career starts): Waived by the Vikings earlier this month, Ridder did have a mini-camp tryout with the Colts back in June. Ridder is a former third-round pick out of Cincinnati.
-Brett Rypien (4 career starts): Rypien was with Cincinnati earlier this year. He has some of the least amount of playing time of anyone on this list.
-Easton Stick (4 career starts): Like Beathard, Stick would have to be signed off a practice squad as he’s with the Flacons right now. But he did overlap with Steichen, as both were with the Chargers from 2019-20. Stick was a 5th round pick of the Chargers, when Steichen was the offensive coordinator.
-Nate Sudfeld (0 career starts): A former IU quarterback, Sudfeld just missed overlapping in Philadelphia with Steichen. He has played in 6 gams but has yet to start a contest.
