The news that we all were hoping to hear has come down the pike courtesy of Ian Rapaport. The Colts will start Jacoby Brissett at QB in their home opener against the Cardinals.
Sources: The #Colts are planning on starting QB Jacoby Brissett on Sunday vs. #AZCardinals. Former starter Scott Tolzien goes to the bench.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 15, 2017
While anyone with two eyes and a functioning brain could see this was the obvious solution, Colts fans had plenty of reason for concern that the coaching staff would not see things that way. They never seemed to recognize the obvious talent gap between Scott Tolzien and Stephen Morris during the offseason, and so none of us would have been surprised to hear that they were trotting Tolzien out yet again.
The offense as a whole has to be rejoicing to hear this news because an NFL caliber arm means that the whole field will be open to them, which means that the receivers might actually have a shot at some downfield plays. Even the running backs will benefit because the defense can’t just clamp down given the threat of the longer shots down the field. Add in Brissett’s mobility and the fact that he can take advantage of broken plays by scrambling, and this move gives the Colts a far greater chance to put points on the board.
This is not a guarantee of success by any means, but it is the chance of it, which is more than Tolzien offers. He proved that he was not a capable backup and in this case, Brissett’s limited knowledge of the playbook combined with his superior talent is preferable to Tolzien’s full playbook knowledge and noodle arm. For a full look at what Brissett can do, you can check out Brett Mock’s breakdowns here and here.