Don’t look now, but Indianapolis Colts pending free agent starting quarterback Daniel Jones was actually ranked just higher at 12th than Kansas City Chiefs’ 3x Super Bowl MVP and 2x NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes
(13th) at their position last season.
12. Daniel Jones
Indianapolis Colts · Year 7
2025 stats: 13 games | 68.0 pct | 3101 pass yds | 8.1 ypa | 19 pass TDs | 8 INTs | 164 rush yds | 5 rush TDs | 9 fumbles
Unfortunately, neither quarterback was able to finish out the 2025 campaign, as Jones suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in Week 14, while Mahomes tore his ACL in Week 15.
Prior to his devastating injury, having paired with Colts head coach Shan Steichen, Jones was in the middle of a career year. He had completed 261 of 384 total pass attempts (68.0%) for 3,101 total passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, and 8 interceptions during his first 13 starts, before his debut campaign in Indy was cut short.
He also had 5 rushing touchdowns.
Jones was well on his way to earning legitimate Pro Bowl honors, where he was named an alternate, even after the season-ending injury.
With Jones behind center, the Colts once boasted a historic, league-leading offense before his injuries struck—having also fractured his fibula during/after Indianapolis’ win at Berlin in Week 10.
Even though Jones is a pending free agent, and remains currently rehabbing from his torn Achilles, both sides appear eager to get a multi-year contract extension inked sooner rather than later. It was reported earlier this past weekend that those contract negotiations are expected to begin between both sides very soon.
It would be very surprising if the Colts’ nearly fringe Top 10 NFL starting quarterback from last year isn’t back in Indianapolis for at least the next few seasons.
For what it’s worth, Colts replacement quarterbacks Philip Rivers (3 starts) and rookie Riley Leonard (1 start) were ranked 36th and 47th overall from 2025 respectively.
