Colts Turning to Riley Leonard for Finale

What They're Saying

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler: "After three games with Philip Rivers and the Colts falling out of the playoffs, Indy will get a look at the rookie."

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

You might think this odd timing, given that the Colts also played their Week 17 game already knowing they'd been eliminated from the playoffs. But that only became official at the end of Saturday's Texans-Chargers game, less than 24 hours before Sunday's kickoff. So Indy had spent the week preparing Rivers to start a game with potential playoff ramifications.

Now it makes plenty of sense to move away from Rivers, who obviously doesn't factor into the team's future.

Leonard -- a sixth-round rookie -- isn't likely to enter the 2026 starter competition. But the Colts could be weighing him against Anthony Richardson for roster building behind Daniel Jones (coming off an Achilles' tear). They could also simply be trying to determine whether Leonard will be worth keeping beyond this season.

Whatever the case, he certainly won't be much of a fantasy play against Houston, even if the Texans elect to rest some key starters.

The shift back from Rivers to Leonard should help Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce a bit relative to their shorter-range corps mates. The rookie likely means a downgrade in accuracy but brings a much stronger arm.

Pittman led Colts targets after Leonard took over for the injured Jones against Jacksonville in Week 14. His 15% target share across Rivers' three starts trailed Tyler Warren (21%) and Josh Downs (20%).

Pierce drew a 12% share over that span, compared with 20% through Week 14.

Other Winners & Losers

Don't be surprised if Downs slips back to third among Colts WRs in targets with this QB shift. He'll make for a weak fantasy play this week, in a game that won't favor any Indy wideouts.