The central theme of Colts General Manager Chris Ballard’s press conference on Wednesday was his insistence that the team sees a future for quarterback Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis despite his inability to beat out Daniel Jones for the starting job this summer.
It’s a hard sell given the way that Richardson’s career has played out to this point, but an easier one might be that Jones is capable of bouncing back from a rough end to his time with the Giants. Ballard was even able to cite a first-hand example of a player who has done that.
Ballard was in Kansas City when Alex Smith joined the Chiefs in 2013. That came in the wake of the 49ers opting to go with Colin Kaepernick over the first overall pick of the 2005 draft and Smith made the only three Pro Bowls of his career during his time with the AFC West team.
“I don’t want to dismiss that Daniel’s had a good run here,” Ballard said, via the team’s website. “Reminds me a lot of Alex Smith that we had in Kansas City that I thought was the ultimate professional day in and day out, the team knew exactly what they were getting. And I feel that’s kind of the same thing with Daniel.”
Smith’s run with the Chiefs ended when they promoted Patrick Mahomes to kick off a run of success that has included five trips to the Super Bowl in the last six seasons. There might not be a player like that waiting in the wings in Indy, but the Colts would happily accept Jones having the rest of Smith’s second act.
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