Subscribe
Follow Us
After a tough start to the 2022 NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts are making a change under center, giving Matt Ryan a permanent seat on the bench in favor of 2021 sixth-round pick Sam Ehlinger. Though the Colts are far from out of it at this point in the season, sitting within striking distance of the 4-2 Tennessee Titans at 3-3-1, the Colts find themselves with the 30th-ranked rushing offense, the seventh-ranked receiving offense, and a points differential of .80, which isn't exactly a winning formula.
But why are the Colts giving up on Ryan right now? Sure, he's thrown nine interceptions in seven games and suffered a Grade 2 shoulder separation in the team's loss to Tennessee, but he's already thrown for 2008 yards, the fourth-best mark of any player in the NFL, and sits tied with Justin Hurbert with the most completions league-wide. Are the Colts packing it in and turning their attention to one of the top signal callers in the 2023 NFL draft, where they still have their first-round pick?
Frank Reich attempted to explain the Indianapolis Colts' thought process.
Fortunately, Frank Reich shed a little light on the decision in his comments to Ryan, which you can read below via Stephen Holder of ESPN.
“This is a point that needs to be made crystal clear, and I told this to Matt. I said, ‘Matt, we did not hold up our end of the bargain. You came here and we promised you a top NFL rushing game and we promised you great protection. And we haven't as an offense delivered on that. And that starts with me.' That was basically my message to Matt,” Reich said.
“We thought the marriage of Matt Ryan and his history with our running game, he's had 14 years of incredibly productive quarterback play with great play-action. So, we thought there was going to be a natural marriage there. Given our crazy quarterback scenarios over the last five years, it wasn't a move of desperation. It was a well-thought-out [decision].”
Yikes, Ehlinger can't feel too good about that one, as Reich effectively said the Colts don't have good enough infrastructure in place to win with a borderline Hall of Famer under center, and yet, expect a second-year pro with just 18 offensive snaps to his professional credit to survive the season without it doing irreparable harm to his career prospects? Even if Ehlinger is more athletic at this stage of the game than Ryan, the former Falcon was still sacked 24 in just seven games and suffered a shoulder injury as a result.
Fortunately, Ehlinger was described as “tough” by Lance Zierlein in his draft evaluation, as you can read below.
Highly touted dual-threat quarterback from the Austin area who put together four solid but somewhat unspectacular years at Texas. They don't come much tougher than Ehlinger at the position, and his intangibles are as good as you could ask for. He's a very average passer, but can deliver most throws with good enough accuracy and velocity to hit the open target. He doesn't have a plus arm and could struggle to fit throws into tight windows or make big completions throwing on the move. His deep ball accuracy is a step below average but he's fairly effective throwing with anticipation on intermediate routes. He's not an explosive runner, although he gets tough yards on a consistent basis as a scrambler and on called runs. His 2019 tape is a better study of his potential, but career backup looks like his ceiling.
Will Ehlinger thrive under Reich, let alone survive the season? Only time will tell, but it certainly doesn't look like the Indianapolis Colts will be buyers at the 2022 NFL trade deadline.
