The Indianapolis Colts clearly believe Philip Rivers is an upgrade at quarterback. They paid him $25 million to replace Jacoby Brissett, who was already on a big deal of his own. They've called him a Hall of Fame talent. They've defended choosing him over Tom Brady, citing his "legendary toughness." And they're not alone in thinking the 38-year-old signal-caller will give their offense a huge boost.
The Pick Six NFL Podcast crew debated Friday which teams could have breakout offenses in 2020 (listen in the player below and be sure to subscribe for daily NFL goodness), and there was no debate regarding Rivers' addition in Indianapolis.
"Philip Rivers is going to be good," said Ryan Wilson. "That offensive line for the Chargers was absolute, straight-up dog doo-doo. It is so much better in Indianapolis. You're playing indoors. You use your two second-round picks on Michael Pittman, Jonathan Taylor ... And that goes along with the players they already have -- T.Y. Hilton, Parris Campbell, Jack Doyle ... There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this offense."
Tyler Sullivan was more skeptical of Rivers' own standing among NFL QBs, attributing more of the longtime Chargers starter's 2019 drop-off to Rivers than his supporting cast. Even though he doesn't foresee a Peyton Manning-to-Denver type of transition in Rivers' case, however, Sullivan agreed that the Colts' offense should be "much improved" in 2020.
Coach Frank Reich, Will Brinson added, might be the strongest argument: He's worked with Rivers before, and not only that, but he's already got a rock-solid run game and offensive line to help alleviate pressure on Rivers.
As for other candidates to break out offensively in 2020, Sullivan suggested the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"It's all about Ben Roethlisberger coming back," he explained. "This team almost made the playoffs last year with a guy named 'Duck' and a guy named 'Rudolph.' ... If (Ben) is even close to the guy that we last saw on the field, you're talking about an offense that can put up points. This is a sleeping giant here."
