Anonymous NFL execs, coaches rank and evaluate Colts' Daniel Jones

[ASFN Admin]

The Athletic's Mike Sando has put together his annual quarterback tier rankings, which are voted on by 50 NFL executives and coaches. So where did the Indianapolis Colts' Daniel Jones end up ahead of the 2026 season?

The way this works is that each voter placed 35 quarterbacks into one of five tiers -- with the first tier being the best. The quarterbacks were then ranked and placed in tiers based on the average vote they received.

For Jones, after appearing in Tier 4 a year ago, he is now in Tier 3. He was one of just five quarterbacks to move up a tier. Overall, he was ranked as the 21st best quarterback.

“I thought he looked broken in New York (with the Giants),” an offensive coordinator told Sando. “I thought he looked functional in Indy. He looked like a 3.”

Through 10 games last season, Jones and the Colts offense were off to red-hot starts. Jones was ranked at or near the top of many key statistical categories, while the offense was one of the most productive in football.

“Daniel Jones is interesting,” one defensive coordinator said to Sando. “I think he showed that when you are not protected and you do not have all the answers given to you, it is hard to operate at this level of football.”

But even before Jones' season-ending Achilles injury, opposing defenses seemed to be figuring out the Colts' offense, and that unit did begin to slow down. However, we never truly got to see how Jones and Shane Steichen would have countered because of the injury.

"Indy was perfect for him,” another defensive coach said to Sando. “The best thing he ever could have done was get with Shane. Steichen has the best mix of tempo versus non-tempo, versus huddle calls, versus ‘Hey, listen, this one’s on two, this one’s on three.’ He tells his quarterback how to change the pace of a game, and he does it as well as anybody right now.”

Jones has been participating in the team portion of training camp, with his teammates impressed with how well he's moving and performing coming off the major injury.

The Colts' 2026 success hinges on Jones and the offense regaining a large portion of that previous form from a year ago.

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Anonymous NFL execs, coaches rank and evaluate Colts' Daniel Jones

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