MAQB: Why the Colts Are Turning to Sam Ehlinger

We’re wrapping up Week 7, with some Monday quarterback news …

• Since Frank Reich got to Indianapolis, the Colts have had a tradition of finishing up Friday practice, the last full session of the week, with team leaders presenting the game plan to their teammates one last time. And ahead of January’s Week 17 home game against Vegas, Carson Wentz was on the COVID reserve list, and unavailable to deliver that week’s speech.

So, in his place, rookie Sam Ehlinger presented the offensive plan to the team. The ex-Longhorn, after running the scout team all week, took his teammates through all the ins and outs of how the Colts would attack the Raiders defense, and why the plan would work.

One coach who was there said the talk, from a guy that young and inexperienced, was “inspiring.” Wentz wound up getting cleared in time to start, Ehlinger dressed for the game and didn’t play, and the Raiders edged the Colts 23–20, in a game that wound up helping put Vegas in and keep Indy out of the AFC playoff bracket. But to those there, it was another flashpoint in a year and a half full of progress from the sixth-round pick.

That progress led to the point, two weeks ago, where Frank Reich pushed Ehlinger up a notch on the depth chart, past Nick Foles, which ultimately set the stage for today’s move. And sometimes, that’s just how these things happen—the most extreme example being in 2001 in New England, when Bill Belichick moved a young Tom Brady past Damon Huard on the depth chart, which set up Brady to take the field when Drew Bledsoe got hurt that fall.

ORR: Colts Once Again Starting Over at QB

Could Ehlinger be a revelation? Maybe. Maybe not. What he’s proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to those in the building is his reputation for being an A-plus leader at Texas was very well-founded, and clear in how players gravitate to him. And, as the above story would indicate, he’s also very, very football smart. On top of that, in part because of his ability to run around and make things happen, he’s gained a reputation as an impressive practice player.

Now, there are questions about his ability to push the ball downfield, perform in the kinds of third-and-long situations that define NFL quarterbacks and see the field. But, obviously, there’s enough here for the Colts to give this one a go—and there’s a good chance that this gives a team that’s had problems protecting a less mobile quarterback (inexplicably, considering the cost of the offensive line) at least a short-term spark.

How much that affects the Colts’ future at the position remains to be seen.

• One other thing not to be ignored—owner Jim Irsay’s involvement in the decision. Reich said that he and GM Chris Ballard met with Irsay on Sunday night to discuss it, and that the switch was made with the intention that Ehlinger remain the team’s starter for the rest of the season should not be ignored.

Irsay’s been more involved in quarterback decisions over the last year, and those there believe he wants the organization to drive toward a point where they have the long-term solution they had in the past, with both Peyton Manning and (they thought, at least) Andrew Luck. The hope, going into this year, was that Matt Ryan could hold down the fort for three or four years, like Manning did in Denver, and thus be more than a Band-Aid.

Monday’s move represents a pivot off of that for a team that’s had five different Week 1 starters (Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Wentz and Ryan) over the last five years. And the thought here could be that Ehlinger is the one quarterback left with the promise to be more than a stopgap. So they give him a shot, and some rope. And if it doesn’t work, then the Colts could wind up in position to take one in April.

One thing that seems certain is that Irsay really wants to find a way to stop the carousel his franchise has ridden at the position, after Luck and Manning gave him 20 years of stability.

• Interestingly enough, one quarterback on that post-Luck Colts list—Carson Wentz—finds himself in a similar spot in Washington. He’ll be out about a month, and in his place is a long-time locker room favorite in Taylor Heinicke, who gave the Commanders a real spark after shaking off some rust early in Sunday’s game against the Packers.

Heinicke was 20-of-29 for 201 yards, two touchdowns and a pick over the final three quarters, and made two clutch throws to Terry McLaurin to close out Green Bay late in the fourth quarter. And on Monday, given the chance to shut down speculation, Ron Rivera left the door open for Heinicke to win the job, saying, “This is about playing one game at a time, focusing on one game at a time. When we get to that position, I’ll deal with it.”

The one benefit Heinicke gives the staff is his experience in the system from Minnesota to Carolina and now Washington, allowing the coaches to open the playbook and do more from a volume standpoint (with the drawback being that Heinicke isn’t quite the downfield thrower Wentz is). There’s also, again, the way Heinicke is received by his teammates.

That stuff will matter more if the Commanders keep winning. They’ve run off two in a row now with the Colts, Vikings, Eagles and Texans on the docket over the next month, and within the window Heinicke will likely get to keep playing.

• Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks’s decision, at least for now, to give P.J. Walker every chance to hang on to the quarterback job in Carolina, to me, reflects two things.

One, if he’s gonna win in a difficult circumstance, Wilks knows he needs his locker room behind him. And one thing that will help him get there is creating a true meritocracy for the rest of the year. Every player there saw how Walker lit up the Bucs on Sunday. They also saw how Baker Mayfield played before that, and many were with Sam Darnold last year. So giving a guy a chance at that position regardless of pedigree should score Wilks points.

Two, this really is representative of how the quarterback situation took down Matt Rhule in Carolina. That 40 games after Rhule’s 2020 hire, Wilks is turning back to a guy who was there the whole time (Walker signed with Carolina in March 2020) is a pretty clear indictment on every quarterback move since.

I’d also maintain that the right move for the franchise after Rhule’s first year might’ve been to just keep treading water with Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater was mostly fine in 2020, and retaining him would’ve saved draft picks spent on Mayfield and Darnold while buying the team time to take a truly big swing. Unfortunately, I don’t think going that route was much of an option after owner David Tepper made it clear to those in the building that, rather than stick with Bridgewater, he wanted the franchise to start swinging for QBs.

Now, to be fair, that did lead to worthy, ill-fated shots at truly elite talent like Deshaun Watson and Matthew Stafford. But it also bled into the second-level shots the team took, which fueled all the upheaval at the position the last two years. The upshot here, then, would be that Rhule and GM Scott Fitterer built up other parts of the roster, and the next coach will have a nice core to drop a quarterback into. It just wasn’t enough to save Rhule.

• It’ll be interesting to see what this does to the careers of Darnold, Mayfield and Ryan. For Ryan, this very well could be the end of the road. He turns 38 in May, and it’s hard to imagine another team going all-in on him after this turned out the way it did, and after all the Falcons could get for him was a third-round pick in March. So he’d probably have to take a job as a backup in 2023, again, at 38, and I’m not sure he’d have an appetite for that.

As for Mayfield and Darnold, both seem ticketed for fates like the one Mitch Trubisky lived the last two years—perhaps having to work as a backup somewhere for a while, and hope that another shot will come to be a bridge quarterback in time.

Wentz could be in this category before year’s end too, though it’s probably too early to lump him in with the other three.

• I figured, with the way the Seahawks rookies are playing, it’d be worth checking in on their contributions to Sunday’s win over the Chargers. Here’s a look at the six who started in the game …

OT Charles Cross (1st round): 71 snaps played (100%)

OLB Boye Mafe (2nd round): 5 tackles; 28 snaps played (39%)

RB Kenneth Walker (2nd round): 23 carries, 168 yards, 2 TDs; 52 snaps played (73%)

OT Abe Lucas (3rd round): 71 snaps played (100%)

CB Coby Bryant (4th round): 6 tackles, 1 TFL; 68 snaps played (96%)

CB Tariq Woolen (5th round): 2 tackles, 1 PD; 71 snaps played (100%)

That is a monster amount of production for a group of draft picks who still aren’t out of October of their rookie year yet. And it’s something that Pete Carroll and I talked at length about on Sunday night. Some of that was in this morning’s MMQB. And one thing I had left over was the answer to a question I had for Carroll on the makeup of the group, and whether or not there’s something they all have in common to be able to, in unison, contribute this early.

“That’s a good point,” Carroll said. “They do have the right type of competitive makeup. They can handle it. It’s not too big for them, and they’re not too silly, they’re not missing the point, or this opportunity. And they’ve also accepted the responsibility to play for these older guys that are around them and do their part, respectfully. There’s just not a hitch in any of these guys, in terms of their willingness and their makeup and how they’re handling the challenge of it.”

And as a result, the future in Seattle suddenly looks much brighter than it did three months ago, particularly with the Seahawks holding Denver’s first two picks in next year’s draft.

• The Jets’ loss of Breece Hall will get more attention, but the big one, to me, is burgeoning cornerstone Alijah Vera-Tucker being lost for the year at guard. The 2021 first-rounder has flashed All-Pro ability already and, simply put, it’s much easier to replace a good back (and the Jets have another young one in Michael Carter) than it is a good offensive linemen.

That said, Hall’s big-play ability will be missed. The Jets don’t have another home-run hitter like him on their roster.

• In the end, Christian McCaffrey played 22 snaps for the 49ers on Sunday, some 48 hours after touching down in the Bay Area following his trade from Carolina. That put him second in his position group in playing time (Jeff Wilson played 26 snaps) and, I’d say, positions his role to grow quickly in the San Francisco offense.

One other thing to watch: It’ll be interesting to see how the Niners manage his practice workload. Under Ron Rivera, he was allowed to pace himself through practice weeks to maximize his gameday performance. Rhule let McCaffrey do that at the end in Carolina, and got better results. And given their investments, it’d make sense for the Niners to work with McCaffrey in that area, knowing he knows best how to get himself ready to go.

For what it’s worth, he looked plenty ready to go on Sunday, showing plenty of burst in his San Francisco debut.

• The Chargers’ injury luck has hit again—with J.C. Jackson (dislocated kneecap) out for the year and Mike Williams (high ankle sprain) likely to miss significant time. That adds to the losses of Rashawn Slater, likely for the season, and Joey Bosa, probably until December or so. And added up, all of this is tough from an organizational standpoint.

Why? Justin Herbert is eligible for a new deal after the season, and will certainly get one, at the latest, by early 2024, so the clock is ticking on the team having the advantage of rostering a star quarterback on a rookie contract. So injuries reaching a critical mass would mean losing a year in the sort of window that teams like the Eagles and Chiefs won titles in.

• The Sean Payton rumor mill is already spinning in league circles. We’ve got a wild few months ahead.

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