Colts’ Shane Steichen ‘super excited’ for Philip Rivers return
Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen discusses the return of quarterback Philip Rivers.
This week, the Indianapolis Colts made a surprising move to sign quarterback Philip Rivers out of retirement ahead of the final month of the regular season.
Rivers last played for the Colts in 2020 and led them to the wild-card round of the playoffs. He’s been out of the league ever since but may take a starting job once again due to injuries.
Indianapolis’ starter Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles injury and backup Riley Leonard injured his knee against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 14. Those injuries necessitated a move to shore up the position and the team landed on Rivers.
It may be tough for NFL fans to remember but the Colts had incredible stability at quarterback for decades.
Hall of Famer Peyton Manning took the franchise to unprecedented heights from 1998 through 2010, including a Super Bowl win in 2006. A 2-14 blip in 2011 helped the team land quarterback Andrew Luck No. 1 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Luck immediately led the team back to the playoffs and made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons. He’d start at quarterback for the Colts for six of the next seven years with the exception coming in 2017 due to a shoulder injury.
Luck abruptly retired late in the preseason in 2019, and the team has lost all stability at the position ever since. Here’s a look at who’s started at quarterback for the Colts since Luck’s retirement:
Colts QB timeline since Andrew Luck
Since Luck’s retirement ahead of the 2019 regular season, the Colts have had a different leading passer every year.
2019: Jacoby Brissett
Brissett had been Luck’s backup for a few years when the former No. 1 overall pick retired. Brissett even started the majority of the 2017 season when Luck was out.
Brissett was a solid starter for Indianapolis but the Colts missed the playoffs with him under center that year. He went 7-8 and threw for 18 touchdowns to just six interceptions as the team finished third in the division and missed the playoffs.
2020: Philip Rivers
Rivers parted ways with his longtime team, the Los Angeles Chargers, and signed a one-year deal to take over in Indianapolis over Brissett.
Rivers went 11-5 as a starter and led the Colts back to the playoffs in their most recent appearance in the postseason. He threw for 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions but Indianapolis ultimately fell to Buffalo 27-24 in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
2021: Carson Wentz
Indianapolis traded away a first-round pick to Philadelphia for Wentz, who had worked with Colts coach Frank Reich in Philadelphia years earlier.
Wentz overcame a training camp foot injury to go 9-8 as a starter but losses to the Raiders and Jaguars in the final two weeks of the regular season kept Indianapolis out of the playoffs.
2022: Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger and Nick Foles
The Colts traded Wentz to the Washington Commanders for draft picks. They opted to trade for another veteran quarterback, this time, Atlanta Falcons franchise-leading passer Matt Ryan.
Indianapolis gave up a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft for Ryan. He started 12 games and went 4-7-1 as the Colts lost their final seven games and missed the playoffs again. Reich was fired after the first nine games and Jeff Saturday closed out the year.
Ehlinger and Foles went a combined 0-5 in their starts in what was the Colts’ second four-win season of the last 14 years.
2023: Gardner Minshew and Anthony Richardson
Three tries at a veteran starter were enough. Indianapolis chose instead to use its top pick in the NFL Draft on a quarterback in coach Shane Steichen’s first year.
They selected Anthony Richardson No. 4 overall. He only started four games due to injury, though, in what’s become a trend for the talented quarterback.
Veteran Gardner Minshew took over in Week 6 and nearly led the team to the playoffs with a 7-6 record as a starter. A loss to Houston in Week 18 extended the team’s postseason drought.
2024: Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco
Richardson started the year but he missed two games due to an oblique injury. Steichen benched him in Week 9 and went to Flacco. The veteran lost the next two games and Richardson took over once again before missing the final two weeks due to a back injury.
In all, Richardson went 6-5 as a starter and Flacco went 2-4. The team missed the playoffs once again. Richardson completed a league-low 47.7% of his passes and threw for just eight touchdowns to 12 interceptions. Flacco was a bit better at 65.3%, 12 and seven, respectively.
2025: Daniel Jones and…
Richardson’s injury luck led the Colts to go the veteran route again. This time, they tapped former first-round pick Jones after he parted ways with the New York Giants.
Jones was named the starter as the Colts raced out to a strong start. Richardson was placed on injured reserve after fracturing an orbital bone in his eye during pregame warmups in Week 6.
Jones went 8-5 as the starter before his season-ending injury. We’ll see how the rest of the year plays out.