Daniel Jones is signing a 1 year 13-million-dollar contract with the Indianapolis Colts. It’s a shocking move from the former New York Giants starter. He was rumored to be wanted by the Minnesota Vikings to provide support for J.J. McCarthy but instead landed with the Colts. Is this the opportunity he needs to complete his career resurgence? Do the Colts even have an offensive line left to give him time in the pocket after losing Will Fries and Ryan Kelly to the Vikings? Who else is impacted by the Daniel Jones signing?
Winner of the Daniel Jones Signing
Daniel Jones: QB- Indianapolis Colts
Daniel Jones gets a chance to show he still has what it takes to be an NFL starter after being cut mid-season last year by the New York Giants. Jones has never been the most accurate quarterback with 47 interceptions in his career and a 2.1 interception rate. The Colts are the best team he has ever actually played on. With three solid wide receivers and a great running game, Jones won’t be asked to do too much.
He isn’t the clear Week 1 starter but will be given the chance to win the job in training camp. The Colts’ coaching staff has waffled in their support of Anthony Richardson and coupled with his injury history Jones should get playing time. I don’t love it for fantasy football, but Jones will be an interesting bye week player in the right situations.
Jonathan Taylor: RB- Indianapolis Colts
When your quarterback is in flux usually a team moves to a run-first game plan. That is what you should see from the Colts in 2025. No one benefits from that more than Jonathan Taylor. After getting 303 carries in 14 games in 2024 the Colts will be looking to do more of the same in 2025. As long as the former Wisconsin Badger can stay healthy then he is in line for a heavy workload.
Daniel Jones being the starter would be the best thing for Taylor and fantasy managers. You wouldn’t have to worry about Anthony Richardson stealing carries or touchdowns. You wouldn’t have to worry about the team getting pass-heavy. All you have to worry about is sustaining drives. Taylor is a great rusher but even with 11 touchdowns last season he only finished as the RB12. His lack of pass-catching is worrisome especially since Jones likes to check it down. I still expect Taylor to be a top 10 back when healthy.
Michael Pittman: WR- Indianapolis Colts
2024 was a down year for Michael Pittman. He saw 11 targets which was a drop from the previous year but still only managed 3 touchdowns. It dropped him from the WR15 range to WR41. A big part of that was the rotation of quarterbacks between Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco. While there may be some of that this year with Daniel Jones signing, I’m hopeful for Pittman’s value.
Pittman is a volume receiver. He needs that to push his overall standings up. What Daniel Jones is good at is hyper-targeting one guy. We saw it last year with the Giants. Malik Nabers averaged 11.75 targets a game with Jones. He only had two games under 10 targets. Compare that to the next highest guy Wan’ Dale Robinson who averaged 8 and only 3 times had games with over 10 targets.
Jones is also not known for his arm strength. He does well in the short to intermediate passes where his receivers can make a man miss to get extra yards. While Pittman isn’t a big after-the-catch guy he excels in the short to intermediate passing. He is a big-framed receiver who provides a solid target for his quarterback. When Daniel Jones does start I expect we see Pittman be hyper-targeted and put up solid fantasy numbers. Overall Pittman should get back to the WR15 range that fantasy managers have grown accustomed to him being.
Losers of the Daniel Jones Signing
Anthony Richardson: QB- Indianapolis Colts
The Colts coaching staff said this offseason that they wanted to bring in competition at quarterback. They did that with the Daniel Jones signing. It’s not a great look for Anthony Richardson who has struggled to be on the field and struggled when he is. It’s a low bar to get over as Daniel Jones has never been the most exciting quarterback but if Richardson faulters he won’t get much slack.
Jones usually has stretches of games where he looks really good. He just fails to do that for more than two weeks at a time. He doesn’t have the rushing upside of Richardson but also doesn’t have the injury history. There were a ton of names the Colts could have brought in this offseason. Nick Mullens, Carson Wentz, Case Keenum, and C.J. Beathard to name a few would have made Richardson’s manager feel much more confident in his role on the team. Richardson will be an interesting name for fantasy in 2025. He has rushing upside and big game potential but you just don’t know how long he will be the starter for. If he can’t beat out Jones it might be the end of the run for Richardson in the NFL
Josh Downs & Adonai Mitchell: WRs – Indianapolis Colts
Daniel Jones signing with the Colts hurts any receiver not named Michael Pittman. Josh Downs and Adonai Mitchell are more of the field-stretching type receivers which is not the skill set Jones has. They both fluctuated in production when there was a switch last year between Richardson and Flacco. The same might happen this season. For young receivers still trying to acclimate to the NFL having different quarterbacks sets them back a step. Not fitting with that quarterback’s style sets you back another
Neither has shown up for fantasy managers outside of some spot weeks. Downs was the better of the two but most of his fantasy production came from his five touchdowns. Mitchell struggled to find a role on the team and only once surpassed 50 yards in a game. I’m out on both of them this year in fantasy until we know who will be the starter and there is a commitment to them for a long stretch.
Let us know who YOU think is the biggest winner and loser over at The Fantasy Advice Network.
Find More Football Articles HERE!!
