It is not especially common for a highly drafted quarterback to be benched and then resurface as a long-term starter with that team, but two players from the 2023 draft are attempting such climbs anyway. Anthony Richardson has followed Bryce Young in being benched during the first half of his second season.
Like the Panthers’ Young benching, this is not viewed as a temporary reset that will assure Richardson of a path back into the lineup this season. Shane Steichen confirmed Wednesday (via CBS4’s Mike Chappell) that Joe Flacco is the team’s starter going forward.
Unlike the Jets’ 2022 Zach Wilson benching, Richardson will only drop to the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. Steichen confirmed (via ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder) the 2023 No. 4 overall pick will be Flacco’s top backup in Week 9. While Steichen said on multiple occasions Flacco is the team’s QB from this point on, the Colts are not giving up on Richardson in the long term.
“I’m just looking where we’re at as a football team, sitting at .500 with a lot of football left, and feel that Joe gives us the best chance going forward,” Steichen said.
Given Richardson’s woeful work in the passing game this season and his highly unusual move to take himself out of the Colts’ Week 8 game for a play due to fatigue — a decision that has brought tremendous backlash — the Colts made a predictable call. Richardson’s 44.4% completion rate this season is 15 points down from his 2023 showing and doubles as the fifth-lowest mark through six games in the 21st century. For a second straight year, Flacco will step in as an emergency backup for a fringe playoff contender.
This will be a fine line for the Colts to walk, as Richardson is signed through 2026 but has seen the team that drafted him already bail on its initial experiment. The Colts turned to Richardson after several Flacco-like retreads did not provide stability. Philip Rivers was the best of that bunch, but the Colts rostered the potential Hall of Famer in his final season. Beyond Rivers, the likes of Jacoby Brissett, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan worked as Week 1 starters following Andrew Luck‘s retirement. The Colts turned to Gardner Minshew last season, and while they wanted to re-sign the veteran, the Raiders’ offer (two years, $25MM) came in well north of where Indy was comfortable spending on a backup.
Minshew’s insertion into Indianapolis’ starting lineup provided a boost to the team’s passing game, with Michael Pittman Jr. establishing career-high marks en route to an offseason extension. Flacco, who replaced Deshaun Watson and formed immediate connections with Amari Cooper and David Njoku last season, stands to be a better option to deliver on-target passes to the likes of Pittman, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce and Adonai Mitchell. Steichen selling this to his locker room is easier than continuing to trot out Richardson, who has not developed the way the organization had hoped.
Flacco boasts an 8-to-1 TD-INT ratio this season and threw for 359 yards in one of his two starts as a Colt, but he is 39 and signed to a one-year, $4MM deal. The Colts were the only team to offer him a contract this offseason, despite his Comeback Player of the Year season occurring in Cleveland — where the former Super Bowl MVP wanted to stay. Flacco’s role will be to attempt to help a 4-4 Indy squad to the playoffs, but Richardson’s long-term status remains the more interesting part of this equation.
Young is viewed as a potential 2025 trade candidate. Considering the Colts’ issues finding a long-term QB post-Luck, it stands to reason Richardson will have another chance. The team drafted Richardson as a raw prospect, one whose lone college starter season produced a 53.8% completion rate, and has only seen him start 10 games. Through that lens, this represents a quick hook, but as the Colts compete for the playoffs, they will shift Richardson’s development into the background.
Although players like Phil Simms, Alex Smith and Drew Brees managed to overcome early-career benchings en route to long starter runs — the latter two, however, did not become surefire long-term options until leaving their initial clubs — there are not many examples of the same franchise circling back to a QB it benched. Richardson’s unique profile should still give him a chance to buck the trend, but he has a long way to go. Rumors about his future figure to swirl between now and the Colts’ 2025 offseason program.
How Richardson didn’t drop into a late-round pick based on his lack of college experience or success is baffling, let alone be taken #4.
If I had a dollar for every fan who became a draft expert after the fact, I’d never have to worry about money problems again.
Well, as being from Florida and watching games, everyone was scratching their heads as to why someone would be stupid enough to take him in the first round.
As for actually playing professional sports, I can’t tell you how many times I see someone get drafted from “potential” only to fizzle out. That word gets thrown out too loose these days.
Say what you want about his passing (he’s coming off shoulder surgery and I think the colts lead the league in drops), but it is a directionless team that spends a top 5 pick on a QB and gives them 10 games to prove it. Top 15 QB rookie contracts are one of the best assets in the sport. If the team felt they had to make the playoffs this quickly, what were they doing drafting the known biggest project prospect in the draft? Even if they make the playoffs, it’s 40 year old Joe flacco that’s going to unseat Mahomes and the unbeaten chiefs? If anything, this dynasty is the ideal time to sell a fanbase on building slow for the chiefs to age out
Let’s be honest — picking Richardson at #4 was a desperation move by the Colts for all of the reasons stated in this article. Since Andrew Luck’s retirement, the closest thing Indianapolis’s has had to a true franchise QB is the lone season they got from Philip Rivers.
Richardson bears responsibility for his mental, physical and skill development. He is young and so there is still the possibility that given an atmosphere where the entire future of the franchise isn’t weighing on his shoulders, he will get better and perhaps round out to a serviceable lower-tier starter or higher-tier backup.
Colts GM Chris Ballard bears a lot of responsibility for being willing to settle for Richardson with a high pick, when they had every opportunity to trade down and stockpile more draft capital while signing a veteran QB to a shorter-term bridge contract. Ballard — under intense scrutiny and demands for results from not only his boss (Jim Irsay) but also a fan base that has not enjoyed sustained success since Peyton Manning left the team. That Ballard was willing to overlook a number of flaws in Richardson that had other teams avoiding him suggests a compromised Colts player evaluation and development process.
Expect Chris Ballard to either resign or be fired at the end of this season.
How about Young for Richardson straight up? Perhaps a change of scenery for both might do the trick.
Colts need a new GM. My understanding is this guy never won the AFC South in all his time there.
Steichan simply wants to win. Richardson still has a future but Flacco can throw the ball. Can this team make a playoff run?
This guy reminds me of EJ Manual from Florida State…just because a guy plays for a big school doesn’t mean he is a NFL quarterback…Brock Purdy played for Iowa State…not a college powerhouse but he is turning into a very good NFL quarterback…Richardson was terrible in college and it’s carried over to the Colts