ESPN’s Seth Wickersham predicted the Week 1 starting quarterback for each team in 2026, and for the Indianapolis Colts, it’s not Daniel Jones.
Now, it’s not that Wickersham doesn’t believe that Jones will be a member of the Colts, but rather, coming off an Achilles injury, he doesn’t expect him to be healthy for Week 1.
So, who does Wickersham have starting for the Colts? Well, it’s a very familiar face in Gardner Minshew.
“The journeyman had more success playing for Shane Steichen in 2023 than at any other point in his career,” wrote Wickersham. “Because Minshew’s star has fallen, he would be a cheap option for the Colts to pair with second-year QB Riley Leonard while they wait for Jones to heal.”
There are a few holes that we are going to poke in this. One, do we know that Jones won’t be ready for Week 1? That’s probably the safe bet, given the injury, but after the season, Jones did say he expects to be ready for the start of training camp.
But even if Jones is still sidelined, my guess is that the Colts would start Leonard over making another outside addition. In his Week 18 debut against a very good Houston defense, Leonard impressed. Also, as of now, Anthony Richardson remains on the roster.
So, although Minshew had previous success in Indianapolis and with Shane Steichen, reuniting to be the Colts’ backup doesn’t feel all that likely.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Analyst predicts Colts Week 1 starting QB and it’s not Daniel Jones
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
