The Colts’ quarterback corps is healthy and loaded at last but the offense is still stuck in neutral. Even with Anthony Richardson back in full strength and Daniel Jones receiving credit from Shane Steichen for asserting himself early, Indianapolis’ camp offense has been conservative in nature. Short-yardage dump-offs, RPO slants, and easy reads. It’s like a high school offense. It’s not the guns that are the issue. It’s what they’re being asked to do.

What was to be a victory lap for Richardson’s return has become an experiment in rotation. Steichen has divided first-team reps almost evenly between Jones and Richardson, not naming a leader. And while the idea is to amp up competition, the carryover is noticeable. Players don’t know whose cadence they’re coming off. Wideouts don’t know whether it’s the left arm or the right arm that’s sending the signal. One play, Jones is firing a 40-yard rope to Adonai Mitchell on a play-action boot; the next, Richardson unleashes a dart between traffic to Josh Downs. It’s candy for the eyes but it’s also mayhem. Steichen described it as “good competition.” But you can’t develop timing in rotation. You need one guy to take over the room.

Richardson, physically, appears stronger, leaner, with a more stable base in the pocket. His burst throws and better decision-making in red-zone drills have been praised. But Jones has been arguably as consistent, particularly in 7-on-7s where his experience is evident in faster progressions and pre-snap reads. That’s the paradox: the quarterbacks aren’t the problem. The headache lies in having two capable passers, yet the system still rides on training wheels. Players constantly adjust to two voices, two tempos, and two styles, but never settle into a clear offensive identity.

“Good competition,” as Steichen said, sounds nutritious. But in fact, the indecision has created fractured execution. One receiver talked about the daily install times as “overlapping installs,” where they’re doing the same concepts under slight different tweaks based on who’s behind center. Routes get mistimed, blocking schemes adjust on the fly, and protections fall apart under changing cadence. What can be an effortless camp is becoming a system in neutral, not due to talent, but because of discontinuity.

Receiver Michael Pittman Jr. hasn’t publicly criticized the scheme, but whispers within indicate increasing unease. Veteran receivers most of all are irked by the horizontally oriented system. Few deep posts. Almost no layered crossers. Instead, the focus has been on short-yardage efficiency and limiting turnovers. A strategy that may help ease Richardson’s comeback but limits the Colts’ ability to stretch defenses. The frustration isn’t about the quarterbacks. It’s about the ceiling the scheme currently imposes. A ceiling that, if not corrected soon, might bring league-wide expectations down.

Steichen’s high school origins craft low-risk, high-pressure offense

Steichen has established a track record of getting the most out of quarterbacks. Justin Herbert in L.A., Jalen Hurts in Philly. But aspects of the Colts‘ offense now, by sources, remind of his lower-level coaching days at Shadow Ridge High School in Nevada. The similarity is subtle but striking: speedy RPO reads, fundamental slant-flat combinations, sprint outs to ease coverage reads, and power run inserts intended to create throwing windows. In short: a system that eliminates decision-making complexity. Perfect for young or rehabilitating quarterbacks. But it also leaves little vertical creativity to work with something that’s increasingly apparent at camp.

As training camp has gone on, reps have piled up. Coaches have reportedly given both Jones and Richardson nearly 170 snaps each per week, rotating between their contrasting skill sets. The concept, as Steichen sees it, is to “assess how each reacts to various stressors.” But the end result, at least to this point, has been offensive purgatory. One staffer summed it up to local reporters bluntly: “You rotate QBs, you rotate weapons, and eventually guys start asking—what are we actually building toward?”

With Jonathan Taylor likely to return healthy and new playmakers such as Adonai Mitchell and Anthony Gould needing reps, an established identity becomes even more important. Despite all this, Steichen has not minced words in his compliments. Richardson has asserted himself vocally in huddles. Jones has accepted his role off the bench but continues to push boundaries. Both quarterbacks have invested in the process. But in a league defined by quarterback clarity, the Colts keep straddling the fence.

Their August 7 preseason opener could be a pressure point but also a statement. If Steichen keeps tiptoeing on the wire between multi-QB experimentation and complete system cohesion, he will succumb to the same pitfalls so many offensive minds have fallen into: confusing optionality with strategy. Because in the NFL, a good idea only succeeds if it brings victory and currently, the Colts have only potential and vagueness.