Riley Leonard’s performance against the Texans wasn’t just productive — it was revealing. Against one of the best defenses in football, he showed a blend of traits that translate at the NFL level: arm strength to attack tight windows and stretch defenses, confidence to let it rip without hesitation, poise, and the athleticism to extend plays when they broke down. This wasn’t a quarterback surviving on scheme or easy throws; it was a quarterback actively solving problems in real time. As the clips
break down, what stands out isn’t any single throw or run, but how comfortably Leonard operated against speed, pressure, and complexity — the kind of environment that separates backups from legitimate starters.
This is a heck of a way to start your first NFL start! The breakdown in coverage made things easy for him, but he showed off his arm and didn’t hesitate for a second making the throw.
Leonard is a legitimately fast player who can do a lot of damage with his feet. He can run away from linebackers. This clip showed that he can be used on designed quarterback runs and is a threat through the air and on the ground.
Despite the ugly drop, Leonard shows great timing and accuracy on the throw. The timing of the throw is perfect as it finds Pittman right in the middle of a nice big gap and it’s thrown without leading him as leading him could’ve led him too far into the safety, which could’ve gotten him killed.
I love this throw! Leonard does a great job of flipping his hips and setting his feet quickly before ripping a throw 40+ yards down the field without missing a beat. The efficiency of the hip flipping into his feet setting was high level and shows his mechanics are solid.
With the pocket collapsing, Leonard wisely steps up to buy some space and times the throw with his hitch. Oftentimes, throwing while hitching forward leads to an overthrown, but Leonard does a perfect job throwing a great touch throw to a horizontally moving receiver. Pittman needs to make this catch.
Leonard looks off and then comes back to Pierce to his right and throws a perfect ball that only Pierce could’ve caught.
The ball is slightly underthrown, but Leonard does a great job again of stepping up in the pocket, which was collapsing from the outside and hits Pierce who is wide open. A ball thrown 2-4 yards further gets Pierce in stride instead of him throwing down, but he was open enough he didn’t need to be perfect.
I love Leonard going through his full drop with a hitch and hitting Downs perfectly on time. It shows the scheme works well as the timing between the quarterback’s footwork and the receiver’s route is in sync. I love the decision and throw from Leonard, who finds the Colts’ best receiver on 3rd downs.
It doesn’t look like anything on paper, but this is a heck of a run to take it outside and then make a defender flat out miss. He’s nimble and shifty enough to make defenders miss in space.
Leonard has time in the pocket here which makes reading a million times easier, but I love him scanning and then hitting his checkdown. This is especially important on 2nd down to get some yards and make 3rd down easier or in this case, get the first down.
This isn’t an easy throw with a defender in your face, but he performs an off platform throw and makes the right read to Mo Alie-Cox to make 3rd down a lot easier.
This last run was like his 1st and 2nd run mixed into one. He showed good niftiness and nimbleness to make the first defender miss and then shows great acceleration and speed to make another one miss and get the first down.
When you step back from the individual throws and runs, what makes Leonard’s performance against Houston matter is how complete it felt. He wasn’t just hitting open receivers or escaping pressure — he was operating the offense with confidence, rhythm, and purpose against a defense built to take that away. That’s the baseline for playing quarterback in the NFL, and Leonard met it. With Daniel Jones coming off a torn Achilles and no guarantee he’ll be himself right away, Leonard has now put real evidence on film that he can at least be part of the starting conversation next season. That doesn’t mean the job should be handed to him, but it does mean he’s earned the right to compete for it. If this game was any indication, Leonard isn’t just a fill-in or a developmental body — he’s a quarterback who can push the room, raise the floor, and make decisions harder for the Colts in the best possible way.
