The Indianapolis Colts are entering yet another season tethered with disappointed fans who are hoping for prospects in the upcoming draft.

The main question to ask is, “What has sparked all of this negativity and division?”. The Indianapolis Colts used to be a very respected franchise that was consistently competitive in AFC. It was never an issue of if they were making the playoffs; rather, it was an issue of how far they would go into the playoffs. Fast forward to 2025 and this franchise is in the running for teams who should tank their season for a high draft pick. Where did the Colts go wrong? What has happened to this franchise?

To answer both of those questions, it is important to look at the last time the Colts were a credible team. One could argue that the last time the Colts were a contender was when Andrew Luck was quarterback in 2018. However, they made the playoffs in 2020 with Philip Rivers and narrowly lost to the Buffalo Bills in that year’s Wild Card round. Needless to say, the Colts were still respected in 2020 and there was tremendous optimism going into 2021.

2021 was the year where everything started to take a turn for the worst and the franchise has not been able to recover ever since. In 2021, the Colts signed Carson Wentz from the Philadelphia Eagles. At the time, Wentz was a very talented quarterback who was an MVP contender with tremendous upside to be a future Hall of Famer. He was also young and could be the potential future of the franchise. Even though Wentz led the team to nine wins, they missed the playoffs, and the Colts quickly moved on. This was the beginning of the end.

In hindsight, the Colts should have kept Wentz for one more year. He would’ve been in year two with the team, more familiar with his teammates, and hungry to get to playoffs after narrowly missing it the previous year. In hindsight, the franchise needed continuity and the quarterback is a vital part of maintaining continuity. In hindsight, the Colts made one of the worst mistakes in recent years. They signed Matt Ryan.

There is no question that the demise of the franchise came when Matt Ryan was named the Colts starting quarterback. His atrocious quarterback play, coupled with firing of Frank Reich, hiring of Jeff Saturday, and a seven game losing streak to end the season, brought about the beginning of the end. The glimmer of hope amidst this thick torrential downpour of ineptitude was that the Colts had a top five draft pick. However, a draft pick is never a sure solution and the Colts are finding that out. Since selecting Anthony Richardson with the number four overall pick in 2023, the Colts still do not have a future of the franchise. It might be Daniel Jones, it could still be Anthony Richardson, but it might also be a future draft pick.

The point is that the decision to move on from Wentz so quickly has proved to be a grave mistake. In the first place, it further solidified the constant one-and-done relationship with quarterbacks in Indianapolis. Second, it created angst amongst the locker room as the team, again, had to play with a different quarterback. There is no way to tell where the Colts would be in 2025 had they kept Wentz for at least one more year. Nonetheless, acquiring Matt Ryan severely held the franchise back.

2025 is going to be the year where the league sees if this team can get back to winning ways. More than likely, Anthony Richardson is going to start games this year. Is he finally going to be the quarterback to lead this team to the playoffs?