Anthony Richardson has shown flashes during his second year in the NFL, but he still faces a steep development curve. The Colts do not appear to be preparing a change at the QB depth chart in the wake of his inconsistent start to the year. 
Last year’s fourth overall pick is set to remain atop the depth chart for at least “a while,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes. The Colts made it clear during the 2023 offseason that a young signal-caller would be targeted in lieu of another shot-term veteran addition. That resulted in Richardson being selected, but his rookie campaign was limited to only four games.
Expectations were nevertheless high for the 22-year-old individually and Indianapolis in general entering 2024. Head coach Shane Steichen – hired in no small part for his success in developing Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts during his Chargers and Eagles tenures – has remained confident in Richardson’s potential over the short- and long-term future. The first three weeks of the season have been marked by accuracy issues and inconsistent decision-making, however.
Richardson’s completion percentage sits at just 49.3% on the season, and his six interceptions lead the league. The Florida product (who saw limited starts in college) has remained effective on the ground with 117 rushing yards and one touchdown, and his arm strength has been on display this year (16.2 yards per completion average, the highest in the NFL). Sitting Richardson for a stretch – as the Panthers are currently doing with Bryce Young – could allow for a reset, although such a move should not be expected.
The Colts signed Joe Flacco as their backup in the offseason, adding the former Super Bowl MVP after his surprisingly successful run at the end of last season in Cleveland. That stretch demonstrated the 39-year-old’s ability to remain productive at this stage of his career, and a Richardson injury would thrust Flacco into the lineup just as Gardner Minshew was last year. For the time being, though, Richardson will remain in place as the team aims to continue developing him while rebounding from a 1-2 start.
AFC South seems to be the Texans. The other teams have horrible QB play so far.
Texans not great – their victories were over Colts/Bears and those came down to making a stop on the last possession. Then Texans were bbq’d like brisket in week 3….
Just put Flacco in now before the season is entirely lost. Richardson may eventually turn into a franchise QB (highly doubt it) but his accuracy is garbage.
6 interceptions in 3 games? His projected numbers for the rest of the season at his current pace, he will finish with 3,300 passing yards, 17 throwing TD’s and 34 Interceptions. I don’t give a crap about what he can do with his legs if this is the best he can do with his arm.
Flacco, Flacco, Flacco
Such a short sided decision this teams entire future hinges on Richardson and you knew that when drafting him he’d be a 2-3 year project. At this point play him see if he develops if not you’ll end up with a top 5 pick and can draft a new QB. Flacco puts you in that complete dead zone of where you don’t know if Richardson is getting better not playing and Flacco will at least get you 8 wins taking you out of contention to draft a new QB
Tom Brady made one Pro Bowl in his first four years. It wasn’t until year 5 that he broke the 90 QB Rating. His first MVP Award came in year 8…
Sorry @DeVious or anyone else that thinks Flacco is the right decision. This was not the Colts year and that was before the injuries hit the already brutal defense. Peyton had a passer rating of 71.2 with 3,739 yards, 26 touchdowns and 28 interceptions in 16 games in his rookie season. Let Richardson develop. This is not Bryce Young.
I’m not a Colts fan, just want that to be clear. I think Flacco is a better QB right now and I think the Colts want to contend.
I really don’t think Richardson can become the guy they are hoping he could be. Let him develop, no problem.
Flacco may not be the right decision in your opinion but Richardson doesn’t look like the future of that organization imo.
Give up on your top 5 pick in 7 games. Great thinking
The people on this site are so brain dead tbh. I just come here to laugh at the ignorance. Bench a kid 7 games into his career for Joe Flacco. Hysterical.
Not even half a season and it’s already time to call his career over, Flacco time boys.
Interesting where this goes, you see I thought he had over achieved last year compared to how he looked in college. Prolly needs to get his head screwed on right after having success last year. So yes, I’m saying right now he seems to be full of his self!
Start Bench Cut??
Richardson, Levis, Young
Start Richardson
Bench Young
Exile Levis to CFL.
People want to just swap out QB’s like they grow on trees? Richardson has started, what 6-7 games for his career and you want to bench him already? That’s absurd. Let the kid make mistakes and grow by each game. He’s not going to win you any completion percentage titles in his career, but he’s the best viable option for a team that’s still trying to replace Peyton/Luck. You bench him, you basically lose faith in him and Flacco isn’t the answer for 2025.
Agree. Especially with a guy who missed most of his first season and was, according to most experts, a project QB with a high upside. If Indy pulls him now, they may as well do a complete teardown and start over.
Why stick with Richardson? He couldn’t hit completely open receivers, usually threw them a one bounce grass pass, never attempted to check out anyone except his primary receiver, and a lot of the time he would stand there and stare at his primary receiver as they ran their route. If his primary was covered he’d take off running. You might be able to get away with some of what his glaring flaws are in high school or maybe a small community college, but in the SEC, not going to happen. You could almost see the linebackers reacting to his eyes watching the receiver he was targeting. He thinks he’s Mahomes, but he plays like Tebow. His biggest weakness, leadership. He came in, played like crap, blamed everyone but the guy in the mirror, then took off for the NFL because he was afraid to take constructive criticism from his coaches, and actually improve his game. I almost fell out of my chair when he was picked in the first round. He has, no leadership qualities, very little game, no humility and is unable or unwilling to change his perspective. He’s a solid 3rd stringer in the USFL.
Bruh stop. You don’t know a darn thing
Uneducated. Extremely laughable. I’d call you a casual, but even casuals arent dumb enough to type that out, believe it was the truth, and still press post.
Gah damn nfl is brutal. Dude has only played 7 professional games and he’s already in bench talks
People on here love to trash Richardson, but it was always going to be a process. The guy needs reps. No need to act like all is lost when he’s had less than a full season in the NFL. He’s in good hands with Steichen and he’s two years younger than Bo Nix. Give him a little time.
But why does the process have to take place on Sundays? Richardson is SO raw, he could learn a lot from the sideline and during practice. They could put him back in the lineup once he has established some kind of foundation of development. Right now, he isn’t really developing. He’s just relying on his athleticism in order to survive. Jordan Love should be the model here. There’s no reason for the Colts to tank a season on a low percentage gamble. IMO Richardson is playing because the Colts are too proud to admit a mistake.
Seems more like Josh Allen is the model here. Allen was also a physical project with problematic mechanics and accuracy. I think Steichen is attempting the same kind of development here. It’s not like they’re contenders with Flacco in. That’s not to say sitting him might help, but I see the merit in what they’re doing, even if he’s taking some ugly lumps.
You’re correct that they are not contenders with Flacco either. Josh Allen is also solid comp, at least physically. But I think there is some value in being able to evaluate the rest of your offense while your project QB develops. Playing Flacco would give you the chance to do that. He gave the Browns that opportunity last season. Andy Dalton gave the Panthers that opportunity last week. The NFL is a QB driven league, but a coach can’t become so consumed with developing the QB that the rest of the offense is ignored.
This is certainly great news for the Steelers.
Good thing they didn’t fire Tomlin like all the message board people wanted last year, or the year before that, or the year before that.
That Indy/Chi game last week was full of horrible QB play
I like the kid but I think the Colts are putting too much pressure on him. They have a very solid runner in Taylor so there really is no need to be doing that. Like a lot of young QBs, Richardson tries too hard to compensate for his mistakes and things go from bad to ugly. There’s no question the kid has a dynamic skill set but to reach his potential he’ll need more patient and effective coaching.
And they’ll continue to underperform.
The usual NFL conundrum – Pure Athleticism or Football Intelligence. I think we all know what usually wins out…
No one says this about Lawrence, he’s double the trash Richardson ever will be and makes insane money.