If Sam Ehlinger plays well, the Colts finally have their QB of the future. If he doesn't, then Indy has a top-10 pick and a chance to draft the next guy. The choice to bench Matt Ryan, explained by zkeefer and RomeovilleKid:
Ryan and the Colts offense did not get off to the start the team had hoped for. Through seven weeks, Indianapolis ranks 29th in theThe QB swap isn’t all on Ryan, who was hindered by a weak offensive line, but he’s thrown nine touchdowns against nine interceptions and has fumbled a league-high 11 times this season . With Indianapolis averaging just 16.
“This is another point … and I told this to Matt,” Reich said. “We did not hold up to our end of the bargain here. … We promised you one of the top NFL rushing games and we promised you great protection. And we haven’t really as an offense delivered on that.”The Colts led the NFL in offensive total rush EPA in 2021 behind the NFL’s rushing champion,There’ll surely be struggles with Ehlinger, though, so buckle up.
Ryan, meanwhile, will likely never start for the Colts again, despite signing a two-year deal in March. He led game-winning drives in each of Indianapolis’ three wins this season, but if the former league MVP wants another shot to end his career on his terms, it will need to be elsewhere.Going into 2022, it would have been hard to imagine that Ryan would sit second in the NFL in pass attempts through seven weeks.
The move to Ehlinger likely speaks to an impending shift back toward the true strength of this offense, that being Jonathan Taylor, who should see as much work he can handle on the ground, and perhaps in the short passing game as well. Weeks like we just saw, with Taylor and