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When Andrew Luck decided to suddenly retire, the expectations for the Indianapolis Colts in 2019 came plummeting down. Luckily, behind Luck on the depth chart, the Colts had Jacoby Brissett waiting for an opportunity to start under center.
In Week 12, Brissett started in his 10th game of the season against the Houston Texans. In the game, the former backup for Tom Brady aired it out for 129 yards and rushed for a touchdown.
It was one of Brissett's most underwhelming games of the season as Indianapolis was defeated by a score of 20-17. With Brissett having 10 games under his belt in 2019, what letter grade does he deserve thus far for his performance?
Brissett's grade through 11 games: B
Altogether, Brissett has thrown for 1,926 yards, 15 touchdowns, and four interceptions for the Colts. He's also been able to gain 143 yards and three touchdowns on the ground through 10 starts.
Given those numbers, Brissett is on pace to conclude the season with 2,889 passing yards, nearly 23 touchdowns, and six interceptions. The fourth-year quarterback will come close to surpassing his career-high in passing yards that he set in 2017.
When Brissett was initially named the starter, he had an arsenal of T.Y. Hilton, Devin Funchess, Parris Campbell, Marlon Mack, and Eric Ebron. But due to injuries, all of those players aside from Ebron have missed time in the offense.
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Even Brissett has been forced to miss one game due to a sprained knee that he sustained in Week 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite those circumstances, Brissett has been able to keep Indianapolis afloat in the AFC South playoff race.
With Brissett as the quarterback, Frank Reich has elected to deploy a more run-oriented offense with Mack and company. In spite of that, Brissett has made plays in the aerial attack when he's needed to.
Yes, without a doubt, the offense isn't as dynamic through the air with Brissett rather than Luck. But that doesn't mean that the former can't become the long-term solution at quarterback for the Colts.
Most people forget that Brissett is still only 26-years-old and this is only the second season in his career that he's started in more than two games. Only this time around, it was unforeseen as he was expecting to be the backup to Luck for the second straight year.
There have been some moments where Brissett has showed his weaknesses as a quarterback. At the same time, there are more positive plays being made by Brissett that outweigh the negatives so far.
Due to the narrow loss to the Texans on Thursday night, Indianapolis is now 6-5 and are in second place in the division. With that in mind, that still doesn't take away the fact that Brissett has performed well under unusual conditions.
