Colts’ Anthony Richardson Makes His Case While Riley Leonard Falters in Preseason Finale

The Indianapolis Colts are set with their situation atop their quarterback depth chart. They will be led from under center in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season by Daniel Jones, who has recovered from an Achilles injury he suffered last season in time for the upcoming campaign.

Meanwhile, there still appears to be an ongoing battle for the chief backup role behind Jones, with Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard in the mix.

On Saturday, Richardson and Leonard each had a chance to further make their respective cases for the QB2 job during a real, competitive game, as the Colts faced the visiting Detroit Lions in a preseason finale at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The former Florida Gators star quarterback Richardson started in that game, and he threw for 80 passing yards with zero touchdowns and no interceptions on 7/10 pass completions, while getting sacked for a loss of five yards.

Leonard, on the other hand, went just 3/7 for 48 passing yards with zero touchdowns and was intercepted deep in Lions territory.

Clearly, Richardson had the better outing than Leonard, so it will be interesting how that factors into Indianapolis’ final decision on the QB depth order.

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Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. (5) throws the ball Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, ahead of the game against the Detroit Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen had good words for both Richardson and Leonard despite the latter giving away the ball when the team was on the cusp of scoring.

“I thought Anthony had some good drives, for sure,” Steichen said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). 

“I think made some good throws, did some good things. I think Riley did some good things as well, just, obviously, don’t want to turn it over there in the red zone. But I thought both of them did some good things.”

The Colts ended up losing the game to the tune of 25-16 to conclude their preseason winless streak with a 0-2-1 record.

Indianapolis will open its season on Sept. 13 against the Baltimore Ravens at home.

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Indianapolis quarterback Richardson Sr. (5) yells for the snap Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, during the game against the Detroit Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Detroit Lions defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 25-16.