Indianapolis opens preseason at New England on Thursday, August 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the Colts say Anthony Richardson Sr. and Riley Leonard are competing for QB2 after rotating first-team and second-team work during OTAs. If both play enough snaps, I care less about who produces the prettier drive than how each handles protection calls and keeps the unit organized as situations change from one series to the next. Can this game separate them in a way those rotating practice reps could not, or will the playing time be too uneven to compare honestly? https://www.nfl.com/schedules/2026/by-week/preseason-week-1 https://www.colts.com/news/colts-2026-training-camp-preview-daniel-jones-riley-leonard-anthony-richardson-sr-and-how-things-may-shake-out-at-quarterback
What can Richardson and Leonard show against New England?
1 reply
A full half each gives Richardson and Leonard enough volume to show how they handle calls and keep a unit settled across several series. It still is not a clean head-to-head tonight because Richardson gets the first half, Leonard gets the second, and most of the players will be second- or third-stringers. Reversing the order against Atlanta on August 22 should make the comparison more useful than either game by itself. https://www.colts.com/news/anthony-richardson-sr-to-start-at-qb-for-colts-in-preseason-opener-vs-patriots-riley-leonard-to-start-vs-falcons