After going from one veteran quarterback to the next over the past few seasons, the Indianapolis Colts will now be turning to young Sam Ehlinger to try to cure their offensive woes.
On Monday afternoon, Colts head coach Frank Reich shockingly announced that the team was replacing Matt Ryan with Ehlinger, effective immediately. Barring injury, Ehlinger is expected to remain the Colts’ QB1 for the remainder of the season, with Nick Foles serving as his backup.
“Right now the move is for Sam to be the starter for the rest of the season,” Reich said.
Fantasy Football Impact of Sam Ehlinger Replacing Matt Ryan
Ryan may have been thought of as a fringe fantasy football starter coming into the season, but it’s been a rough go through seven weeks. He currently leads the NFL with 24 sacks and nine interceptions. He ranks as the No. 18 fantasy football quarterback through the early going.
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor and receiver Michael Pittman have also been disappointing fantasy football owners thus far. Despite coming into the year as the consensus first-overall fantasy football pick, Taylor currently ranks 32nd in the league overall fantasy points.
Pittman was far-and-away Ryan’s most reliable target, but given how poor the offense played, that wasn’t saying much. He currently has 44 receptions for 475 yards but just one touchdown, ranking as the 16th fantasy football receiver.
In Ehlinger, perhaps Reich is banking on the dual-threat nature resulting in fewer sacks and less of a one-dimensional look for opposing defenses. Earlier in the season, Reich raised some eyebrows when promoting Ehlinger to backup quarterback over Foles.
“You guys know I love Nick Foles. I think he’s incredible. I mean, he’s an incredible player. And he’s looked great in practice for the last five, six weeks. This was just more of a philosophical decision,” Reich told reporters after the victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. “And when you’re struggling to do certain things on offense, it just seemed like a logical conclusion. And Sam earned that right, now. … Sam also earned the right by what he did in preseason and how he’s continued to look.”
Coach Reich will now be promoting Ehlinger once again, but it’s hard to imagine it’s going to make much of a difference for a stagnant Colts offense.
This feels like a desperate move for Reich to try to save his job.
