The Indianapolis Colts found themselves in a most unfortunate situation on Sunday.

Facing the Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4) in a crucial divisional matchup, the Colts (8-4) saw starting quarterback Daniel Jones go down with what the team quickly revealed was an Achilles injury. Without Jones, who was in the midst of a breakout campaign after six mostly disappointing seasons with the New York Giants, the Colts had to turn to backup Riley Leonard.

It was far from a soft landing for Leonard, being thrown into the fray against a division rival on a three-game winning streak. Here’s what you should know about Leonard.

Who is Riley Leonard?

A native of Mount Pleasant, S.C., Leonard was a sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft out of Notre Dame. Last season, the 6-foot-4, 213-pounder led the Irish (14-2) all the way to the national championship game, where they lost to Ohio State, 34-23. Leonard showed dual-threat ability in the title showdown, passing for 255 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while adding 40 rushing yards and another touchdown on the ground.

On the season, Leonard passed for 2,861 yards and 21 touchdowns while adding 906 yards and 17 scores on the ground. His 17 rushing touchdowns tied star running back Jeremiyah Love for the team lead.

Prior to his lone season at Notre Dame, Leonard played three seasons at Duke, passing for a career-best 2,967 yards as a sophomore in 2022.

What did scouts say about Leonard before the draft?

In “The Beast,” The Athletic’s Dane Brugler projected Leonard to be drafted in the fourth or fifth round.

Brugler wrote: “With his instinctive athleticism, Leonard impacts the game in different ways, including as a ball carrier, scrambler and when using evasive maneuvers to stay alive in the pocket. As a passer, he has a quality arm but wasn’t able to let it loose on his 2024 tape and will need to prove that he has the anticipation and placement to consistently push the ball downfield. Overall, Leonard has an interesting upside because of his athletic passing tools and elite makeup, but it will take time for him to develop NFL-caliber field vision and pocket rhythm. He projects as a backup in a scheme that leverages his mobility.”

Similarly, NFL media projected Leonard as a fifth-round pick and an “average backup or special teamer.” The site praised Leonard’s athleticism, but wrote that he “fails to hit the mark as a pro-caliber passer. He’s a dual-threat quarterback who falls more firmly on the side of grit than gifted.”

How did Leonard rise up the depth chart, and what happens if he gets hurt?

Before Sunday, Leonard had been relatively untested this season, logging just six snaps and two pass attempts (with zero completions). He became Jones’ backup in Week 6 after Anthony Richardson Sr., the 2023 No. 4 pick, suffered an orbital fracture during a pregame warmup accident. Richardson, who lost the starting job to Jones during training camp, was using a stretching band in the locker room during pregame warmups. The band was initially attached to an apparatus in the locker room, but the apparatus broke while Richardson was using the band to stretch. A piece of the apparatus then recoiled with the band and hit Richardson in the face at a high rate of speed, which fractured his orbital bone.

Leonard has remained on the bench even while Jones has been playing through a fractured left fibula. The Colts believed Jones’ leg would heal as the season went on. The QB was moving better Sunday before his Achilles injury.

The only other quarterback on the Colts’ roster is third-stringer Brett Rypien, whom the team signed after Richardson was placed on injured reserve. However, since Indianapolis did not call Rypien up from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday’s game, he can not step in if Leonard were to get hurt. The Colts’ emergency QB in this scenario is lefty tight end Tyler Warren, who played QB in high school.

— James Boyd contributed to this story.