The only QB competition going on in Colts camp, is for the backup role. Our starting QB will be making north of 40 million dollars, this year and next, whether it is believed that is a good number or not. He doesn’t have to show anything in the preseason and anyone who has laid eyes on his practices, report that they can’t tell that he has had an injury. If you put him out there after his ankle/leg injury last year, you are putting him out there this year with what you have witnessed.
Not much is disclosed about jersey sales, but I can say that he was not listed among the top 50 sold in the league. He may not even have been the top selling Colts #17 last year? Granted, a Rivers #17 might complete some collections or be a nice novelty, but everyone knew that it would be a five game run at best. I’m not saying that Colts fans should have been all in on DJ. Heck, they didn’t even know that he would be the starter until AR took an ill advised sack in preseason.
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Still, at some point, you would think that the jersey of the starting QB of a team sitting atop the standings and putting up points at a “historic” rate, would be in demand. It might well have been, had he been able to stay on the field and complete in what would have surely been a welcomed playoff appearance. I can understand the reluctance. After all, he would be a free agent at the end of the season. Again, no shaming from me for our fans, as I tend to purchase a jersey of a player I expect to be around a while. Full disclosure, the last one I bought was a Darius Leonard.
Now we move into a new season and Jones returns from a serious injury. We had a touch and go off-season contract negotiation period, where we didn’t know if he would be signed or franchise tagged. Many thought that he got a better contract than he should be given, although I believe most fans wanted his return. It is true that he now is still only locked in as a Colt for two years (there is actually an out after this year), with some void years that do not guarantee his being a Colt past 2027.
My question is, “Given the chasm that we have had at QB since Luck’s untimely retirement, when will you feel comfortable saying that you want him here for the next 8 – 10 years and maybe even wear #17 proudly?”
I’m personally already there. I feel he is an easy guy to root for. I see him as a grounded guy that his teammates embrace as their leader. He made some throws last year that were above “league average” throws. He no doubt benefitted from a scheme that played to his strengths, but he also made his pre and post snap reads that gave the play the best chance to work. Given the normal timeline for an achilles return, he had to have taken his rehab very seriously. Cool nicknames like, Danny Dimes, Indiana Jones, or just DJ are positives. Lastly, I saw what I saw last year and I liked it.
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I’m pretty sure that the most common response will be, “Let me see him do it for a whole year, before I embrace him.” and I guess that’s fair, but him becoming that guy would check a lot of positive boxes moving forward. I imagine that there may be a few holding out hope for AR or even Leonard and there are some that I think would rather be right than happy, so they want the money paid to DJ to represent another Ballard failure and be the one that finally gets him fired.
It may not be a big deal? We didn’t buy Brissett, Rivers, Wentz, Ryan, Minshew, or Flacco jerseys and oddly enough more Richardson jerseys may have been purchased than any of them. After all, as the 4th pick, he did represent the future. So what would it take for you to embrace Daniel Jones as the future?
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