The future is nah

 So, then: Daniel Jones.

Which I guess means the Era of "Meh" continues in Indianapolis.

Which I guess also means the Colts are throwing in the towel on Anthony Richardson.

Which I guess also means, unavoidably, that Chris Ballard and the rest of the Horseshoes' brain trust are admitting they blew the Big Draft Pick, because the erstwhile future of the franchise is now holding a clipboard with third-stringer Riley Leonard behind Danny Dimes -- who's frankly little more than a placeholder until the next Big Draft Pick (cough, Arch Manning, cough) shows up.

Beaten out of a job by Daniel Jones.

Who saw that coming back in the palmy days when the Colts made AR the fourth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and everyone was raving about the kid's stratospheric ceiling?

I'll take "no one" for $200, Alex.

Anthony Richardson was an effervescent kid with a big arm and jaw-dropping athleticism, and so everyone sort of forgot he was also barely two years out of high school when he was drafted and had started just 13 games as a quarterback in college. They sort of forgot, subsequently, that his big arm was still in the prototype stage, and that he did not come to Indy fully charged and ready for use?

"Hell, just look at him!" the brain trust cried, or so it seemed. "He's a heat-and-serve superstar-to-be! Coupla OTAs and training camp and he'll be good to go!"

And so the very first NFL official game Anthony Richardson played in, he started.

And then, four games into the 2023 season, he got hurt and was done for the year.

And then, in 2024, he got hurt a couple more times, and was benched for awhile, and took a powder in the middle of a game. He wound up his second season completing just 47 percent of his passes, which is quite a trick considering the NFL is so tilted in favor of the passing game Uncle Rico could complete half his throws just by showing up.

In other words, AR played exactly like a green-as-grass kid who'd barely taken a snap since high school. And who consequently never, ever, ever should have been thrown directly into the fire. 

"But Mr. Blob," you're saying now. "Who else did the Colts have? The quarterback room was Anthony Richardson and the ghost of Sammy Baugh. They really didn't have a choice."

Perhaps. But whose fault was that? 

Truth is, the Future Is Now has become the Future Is "Nah," and the people most at fault for that are the people who were entrusted with Richardson's development. They utterly failed him, and now Richardson is damaged goods who'll likely be traded down the road for whatever the Colts can get for him.

And the QB roulette that's been spinning madly since Andrew Luck decided he still wanted to walk by the time he was 30 will spin on. Danny Dimes is no answer, but he's the only one the Colts have left themselves for now. Head coach Shane Steichen said the other day he's their starter for the season -- which, given the Ballard regime's handling of quarterbacks, no doubt means exactly what you think it means.

Riley Leonard, start warming up.