Riley Leonard arrived in Colts camp with a real chance to carve out something meaningful behind Daniel Jones. Two preseason games later, that path looks a lot narrower.
The Indianapolis Colts are set to have Jones available when the 2026 season opens, and that matters more than anything else here. Without him, this would be a fragile quarterback situation in a hurry. As it stands, Jones’ backups - Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson - are both trying to prove they can handle real responsibility, and Leonard has not made the kind of push Indianapolis wanted to see.
A lot of Colts fans probably expected Leonard to seize the QB2 job this summer. Richardson had asked for a trade, hadn’t played well over the last three years, and is entering the final season of his contract. That opened the door for Leonard to position himself as Jones’ long-term backup.
That still isn’t impossible, but right now the momentum is going the other way. Through two preseason games, Richardson has looked like the stronger option to be Jones’ immediate backup. Leonard, meanwhile, has looked like a sixth-round quarterback who is still trying to find his footing.
He flashed in Week 18 last season against the Houston Texans, but that level hasn’t carried over into camp or the preseason.
The Colts have split the starting duties through their first two exhibition games, with Richardson opening in preseason Week 1 and Leonard getting the start in preseason Week 2. So far, Richardson has been the better-looking quarterback in both outings.
Against the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday, Leonard completed seven of 14 passes for 62 yards and added two rushing yards. That running production matters, because Richardson has clearly separated himself there. Leonard is still working through when to take off and when to stay in the pocket, and that hesitation can kill an offense.
Richardson was only three of nine passing, but two of those incompletions came on drops. He also ran three times for 15 yards. Even without sharp passing numbers, he gave the Colts more with his legs and more overall playmaking.
Leonard did connect on one big throw, a 39-yard pass to Coleman Owen. Take that play away, though, and his day becomes much harder to sell: six completions for just 23 yards. That’s not the kind of production that moves the needle.
After the game, Leonard was blunt about his performance, telling the media, according to The Athletic’s James Boyd, "Obviously, not to my standard. A couple throws I want back...
There were a couple of times when the ball location could have been better... The times when I have a lot of regret is when I don't know what I'm doing out there, I don't know who's where, and can't find them."
That’s the kind of answer that lands hard. Leonard deserves credit for being honest, but those are not the words of a quarterback making people feel better about his readiness. In year two of Shane Steichen’s system, he should already be operating with a much clearer sense of what’s coming on each snap, whether he can execute it or not.
With one preseason game still to go, Richardson looks like the favorite for QB2. Barring injury, he should be in position to claim it, while Leonard has to deal with the reality that his preseason has not matched the opportunity in front of him.
In Other News...
Colts Left Preseason Week 2 With 3 Big Roster Questions
The Colts left their Week 2 preseason game with a better sense of some things and a lot less clarity on others, especially at linebacker. Akeem Davis-Gaither appears lined up to start, but who will work alongside him is still up in the air, and that uncertainty sits right next to another area that looked thin again: the pass rush. Indianapolis managed only one sack and one quarterback hit, leaving the front seven with more questions than answers as the roster picture starts to sharpen.
There is also a real decision coming at backup quarterback, where Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson are both trying to separate themselves for different reasons. Both had their share of passing struggles, but their styles are not the same and that matters as the Colts keep sorting out how they want the position behind the starter to look. With one preseason game down and another layer of evaluation still to come, the race on the depth chart feels far from settled. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Richardson Keeps Colts Backup Debate Alive For One Big Reason
Anthony Richardson got another look in the second half of the Colts Week 2 preseason game against the Falcons, and the final line was uneven enough to keep the conversation around Indianapolis quarterback room going. He completed 3 of 9 passes for 24 yards while dealing with pressure from offensive line issues and limited separation from his receivers, but he also flashed the kind of movement and improvisation that has long been part of his appeal, extending plays and leaning on zone reads when the pocket broke down.
For Shane Steichen, the bigger question is still unresolved. The Colts coach has not set a timetable for naming the backup quarterback, and Richardsons overall preseason has been stronger than Riley Leonards, which keeps the competition from feeling settled just yet. Even with the rough patches, Richardsons ability to survive adverse situations and create something out of them is giving him a real case to stay in the mix a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Suddenly Have A Real Jaylahn Tuimoloau Problem
Jaylahn Tuimoloau arrived with real draft capital behind him, the kind of investment that usually buys a young edge rusher a longer runway in Indianapolis. Instead, the second-year pass rusher has spent the preseason and his rookie season trying to find his footing, and the latest reminder came against the Falcons, where he finished without registering a statistic.
For a Colts team that has already had plenty of trouble hitting on quarterbacks and edge rushers in recent years, Tuimoloaus slow start is more than just a depth-chart nuisance. The organization can afford patience to a point, but if the production does not come in 2026, the conversation could shift from development to whether a benching or even a release becomes part of the equation. [Read more 🡒]