The Colts have had 33 starting quarterbacks (QB) in the history of their franchise. The Colts' past starting quarterbacks include
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee
Johnny Unitas, as well as the Associated Press
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) winners
Earl Morrall and
Bert Jones. Unitas also won the MVP award three times in his career. The franchise's first starting quarterback was Fred Enke, who started 9 games in total for the Colts. The Colts' starting quarterback from 1998 to 2011 was 5-time
MVPPeyton Manning. Manning's tenure was followed by
Andrew Luck from 2012 to 2018, until his sudden retirement during the 2019 preseason. Originally meant to serve as a backup,
Jacoby Brissett ended up starting 15 games for the Colts in the 2017 season due to Luck being injured, and threw for over 3,000 yards and 13 touchdowns; he returned to his backup role the following year. Following Luck's retirement prior to the 2019 season, Brissett became the Colts full-time starting quarterback. Prior to the 2020 season, the Colts signed free agent
Philip Rivers, making Brissett again the backup quarterback. On February 18, 2021, the Colts traded a 2021 third round pick and a 2022 second round conditional pick to the
Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback
Carson Wentz. Brissett signed as a free agent with the
Miami Dolphins, and Wentz became the Colts' starting quarterback.[1] He started all seventeen of the Colts' games in the league's first season in the new format, before being traded to the
Washington Commanders.[2][3] Indianapolis then traded a 3rd-round pick in the
2022 NFL draft for longtime
Atlanta Falcons star
Matt Ryan, who started at quarterback in each of the Colts' first seven games to begin the 2022 season. [4][5]
History
The Colts struggled early on to find consistency and stability at the quarterback position with 5 different quarterbacks starting at least one game in the first two seasons of the franchise.
George Shaw became the first Colts quarterback to complete a full season. The following year Shaw broke his leg in the fourth game of the season against the
Chicago Bears allowing former
Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback
Johnny Unitas a chance to start. Over the next 16 seasons Unitas would start 182 games for the Colts. In this time Unitas was named to 10 Pro-Bowls, and won the
MVP award 3 times. With Unitas under center the Colts also won 2 NFL Championships and a Super Bowl. In the final game of the 1968 preseason, the muscles in Unitas' arm were torn when he was hit by a member of the Dallas Cowboys defense. The Colts would turn to backup quarterback
Earl Morrall to lead the offense. The Colts marched to a league-best 13–1 record and Morrall was named the 1968 MVP. Despite this strong season and the return of Unitas during the game the Colts lost the
Super Bowl to the
AFL'sNew York Jets and their quarterback
Joe Namath.[6] In 1970 the Colts, with Unitas under center, would return to the
Super Bowl in
1970. After Unitas was injured in the second quarter Morrall stepped in and led the Colts from a 7-point deficit at half time to a 3-point victory over the
Dallas Cowboys.[7]
Unitas continued as the Colts' legendary QB, but age and injuries began to plague him further and in a hotly debated move, GM Joe Thomas traded him to the
San Diego Chargers. The team wasted no time replacing Unitas by drafting
Bert Jones in the
1973 NFL draft. During his eight-year tenure as the Colts' starting quarterback, Jones led the team to three consecutive AFC East division titles and was awarded the 1976 AP
MVP award. The Colts regular season success wasn't replicated in the post season, however, with the team losing all three of their playoff games – first the Steelers in 1975 and 1976, then in 1977 a 37–31 loss to the Oakland Raiders, known as the "
Ghost to the Post" game and the third longest playoff game ever. It would be the last playoff game ever played by the Baltimore Colts.[8][9]
Jones began to become injury prone and between that and poor personnel moves, the Colts suffered hard times in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Jones was then traded to the Rams in 1982 and the Colts again began a search for a new starting quarterback. In the interim quarterback
Mike Pagel filled in as the starter. In the
1983 NFL draft the Colts drafted quarterback
John Elway, but in another hotly debated and oft-criticized move, Elway declined to play for the team that drafted him, insisting he would play professional baseball instead. The Colts' owner traded him to the
Denver Broncos for quarterback
Mark Herrmann, rights to offensive lineman
Chris Hinton and a first-round pick in the
1984 NFL draft. Even at the time it was considered a horrible trade for the Colts and a coup for the Broncos. Mike Pagel therefore remained as the starter, though sometimes losing his position to top draft pick
Art Schlichter, who was a notorious bust, due largely to a gambling addiction which affected his play and ultimately saw him kicked out of the league.
In the
1986, the Colts selected
Jack Trudeau in the 2nd round of the draft. Trudeau would remain the starter for the next few years, though
Gary Hogeboom and
Chris Chandler were obtained and started at various times. In
1987 Trudeau lead the Colts in their first playoff game since the team moved to Indianapolis. The Colts lost the game against the
Cleveland Browns by a score of 38 to 21.[10]
In
1990, the Colts again had the 1st overall and selected quarterback
Jeff George, who even then was known as a world-class talent with a questionable attitude. This proved to be accurate, as George's four years in Indianapolis would end with four years of erratic play (behind an admittedly so-so team) with a trade to the
Atlanta Falcons.
In
1994 the Colts signed
Jim Harbaugh. In 1995, Harbaugh and the Colts surprised everyone by reaching the playoffs. Harbaugh was voted to the
Pro Bowl, named
Comeback Player of the Year, and was runner-up in the AP
NFL MVP voting. The post-season was even more surprising, as Harbaugh led the Colts all the way to the 1995
AFC Championship game, ending a playoff drought of 24 years without a playoff win and narrowly missing a Super Bowl berth on the last play of the game. After a last-place 3–13 record in
1997, Harbaugh was traded to the Baltimore Ravens.
In
1998 the Colts, for the 4th time in 15 years, held the 1st overall pick in the draft and for the 3rd time in 15 years selected a quarterback – this time
University of Tennessee'sPeyton Manning. Manning started the first game of his rookie season and started every single Colts game since until the start of the 2011 season, when a recurring neck injury sidelined him. Despite a difficult rookie season, where he threw a league high 28 interceptions, Manning and the Colts responded by finishing 13–3 in
1999. The 10 game turnaround from the previous year set an NFL record. Even with this turnaround, the Colts lost in the playoffs. The following years would be marked by a near constant pattern. The Colts and Manning successes in the regular season were matched only by their failures in the post season. Manning was named to the
Pro Bowl in
1999,
2000,
2002,
2003 and
2004, as well as winning the
NFL MVP award in both 2003 and 2004. In
2004 Manning set a then NFL record when he threw 49 touchdowns in a single season. In spite of this the team failed in the playoffs, including early round exits in
1999,
2000,
2002 and
2005. In both
2003 and
2004 the Colts would lose to eventual
Super Bowl winning
New England Patriots in the
AFC Championship Game and the Divisional Round respectively. In
2006 the Colts and Manning were finally able to beat the Patriots and their quarterback
Tom Brady in the
AFC Championship Game on their way to a victory in
Super Bowl XLI against the
Chicago Bears. Manning was named the Super Bowl MVP. The Colts and Manning would continue to have success, with Manning winning two further
MVP awards in
2008 and
2009. In 2009 the Colts would return to the
Super Bowl where they would lose to the
New Orleans Saints.
Peyton Manning holds the record for the most starts as the Colts quarterback, as well as the most wins. Manning has also set franchise records in completions, passing attempts, completion percentage, passing yards, touchdowns and has the highest franchise
passer rating while
Johnny Unitas holds the record for most interceptions by a Colts quarterback. Manning has taken the most sacks of all the quarterbacks but
Bert Jones has lost the most yards while being sacked. Jones also has the record for the longest completed pass by a Colts starting quarterback, with a 90-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver
Roger Carr in a home win against the New York Jets in
1975.
a : In each game, a team picks one player to start in the
quarterback (QB) position. Players may be substituted during the game, but the term "starting quarterback" refers to the player who started the game in that position.
c : When the Colts entered the league in
1953 the Colts played a 12-game schedule. Starting in
1961 the
NFL used a 14-game schedule, while since the
1978 NFL season all teams have played 16-game schedules.[149]