INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Most pro football franchises at least provide their fans with hope, however irrational. Just as an example, I'm quite sure there are long-suffering Cleveland Browns fans who fervently believe Joe Flacco will re-discover the magic of 2023 and lead the bedraggled Brownies to the playoffs. 

And then there are the Indianapolis Colts. In a recent story in The Athletic, the Colts ranked last on the Hope-O-Meter, with just seven percent of those Colts fans polled saying they were optimistic about the home team's upcoming season, which kicks off Sunday at home against the Miami Dolphins. Ninety-three percent said they were pessimistic.

I've been in Indianapolis 25 years, many of those years coming during the glory days of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, and I've never seen less hopeful buzz around the team.

Never, ever.

The moment Colts coach Shane Steichen named Daniel Jones as the starting quarterback over Anthony Richardson, it was as if the entire city became deflated.

Really? Daniel Jones? A guy who ranked way down there statistically with Richardson last year and was eventually displaced by the New York Giants for somebody named Tommy DeVito?

The Colts hope and pray Jones will be the 2024 version of Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield or Geno Smith, three quarterbacks who washed out with their original teams, then performed well with a change of venue. They hope and pray Jones will play like he did in 2022, when he led the Giants to a playoff victory. There's a lot of hoping and praying going on. 

It's a leap of faith for a general manager, Chris Ballard, and Steichen, who are both on the hot seat. This is Ballard's ninth year in charge of the Colts; the team hasn't made the playoffs in four years and has just one playoff victory in nine years. They are counting on Jones to save their jobs. 

Well, yeah, good luck with that. 

The shame about the quarterback quandary is this: The roster isn't bad,. In fact, it's pretty good in some important spots. Think about this: Under Steichen, they've won nine and eight games with Richardson, Gardner Minshew and Joe Flacco at quarterback, so it's not like they're bereft of talent in other areas. They've been competitive with sub-standard quarterbacking, is what I'm saying. 

There are strengths, without question. 

There's Jonathan Taylor, who rushed last year for 1,431 yards — a terrific season by any measure, but one sullied by his bonehead decision to drop the ball short of the goal line while scoring a would-be touchdown against Denver. Nobody said life was fair, right?

There's the secondary, which remains a strong spot despite the spate of injuries that hit the team in the preseason. They added safety Cam Bynum and cornerback Charvarius Ward, both former Pro Bowl players, and they recently signed Xavien Howard, another former Pro Bowler who figures to start Sunday. Throw that group in with Kenny Moore at nickel, and you've got a much-improved group over last year's bargain-bin secondary. 

There's defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who brings a much more complex, multiple defense to the team. Anarumo likes to mix things up and blitz, a significant departure from the vanilla schemes favored by former DC Gus Bradley. 

There's the receivers, a group that added first-round pick Tyler Warren as its tight end. The Colts haven't had a decent tight end in years and haven't had a game-changer since Dallas Clark -- well, if you don't count one season from Eric Ebron. I expect a major bounce-back season from Michael Pittman Jr., who played hurt through most of last season. As for Alec Pierce, the Colts' designated deep threat, this might be a challenge given Jones' unwillingness/inability to throw the deep ball. We'll see. 

Weaknesses?

I'm concerned about the offensive line, which added two new players, center Tanor Bortolin and right guard Matt Goncalves. I'm concerned about defensive line depth. I'm worried the light will never flash on for Adonai Mitchell. But mostly — MOSTLY — I'm worried about the quarterback. As much as Ballard made the point early in his tenure that it's about more than the quarterback, well, it is all about the quarterback. 

And the Colts just aren't good enough in that area. Unless, of course, Jones has a fabulous second act, which seems wholly unlikely given the six years of data we have on him. 

I'm saying 7-10, maybe 8-9. 

Snooze ...

Bob Kravitz is an award-winning columnist who has been in the sports journalism business for 43 years. He's worked at Sports Illustrated, the Indianapolis Star, The Athletic and other publications, and is now an Indiana-based publisher at Roundtable Sports. You can follow him on X @bkravitz. 

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