The Indianapolis Colts have gone through it over the past few years. From 1998-2015, they had the quarterback position pretty well figured out. Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck (with a mix of one year of Curtis Painter) held the fort down under center for the Colts with high levels of success. But since Luck’s abrupt and sudden retirement, as well as a litany of injuries, the QB position has been shuffling.
And shuffle it has a lot. The Colts, according to ESPN, will start another quarterback for Week 1 of the 2023 season. That will mark the eighth consecutive season that the team has started a different QB to start the year. According to ESPN, it’s the second-longest streak in NFL history behind only the Chicago Bears from 1998-2006.
The seven previous quarterbacks to start Week 1 for the Colts were, chronologically: Andrew Luck, Scott Tolzien, Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan. Luck started in 2016 and then in 2018, qualifying as a “different” starter. The player who takes the reins in 2023 will seek to be the first since Luck to repeat as the Colts’ Week 1 starter in 2024.
Considering the team seems to want to draft a QB in the first round, they had better hope they repeat year-over-year in 2024 unless they pick a player they deem a project.
The NFL world reacted to the absolutely brutal news for the Colts.
https://twitter.com/zeestreamtv/status/1640889427831705603
[ESPN]
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022