Anthony Richardson has not taken sufficient steps forward in Year 2, calling his future in Indianapolis into question. As the Colts attempted to sideline him to compete for the playoffs around Joe Flacco, Plan B did not work thanks to the 39-year-old’s struggles. This leaves a franchise that has been starved for a quarterback since Andrew Luck‘s retirement again facing a foggy future.
Although the plan is for Richardson to start for a third season, GM Chris Ballard said recently (via The Athletic’s Zak Keefer and James Boyd) the team should not have turned to the former No. 4 overall pick as a starter as a rookie in 2023. Ballard said the Colts should have parked Richardson on the bench in a developmental year. Jim Irsay is believed to have driven the bus for Richardson to start, calling behind the scenes for the high-end prospect to play immediately.
This was not Irsay’s first QB-driven directive in recent years, as the owner had previously called for the Colts to dump Carson Wentz after one season, pushed Ballard to acquire Matt Ryan via trade and then insisted the team bench Ryan for Sam Ehlinger midseason (just before the Jeff Saturday decision, which Ballard attempted to stop). The team’s Richardson pick, which initially came out of a Morocco Brown scouting mission, also took place after assistant GM Ed Dodds called his one season as a college starter “a rollercoaster,” per Boyd and Keefer. Richardson’s 2024 season has proven that to be a telling assessment.
Richardson has completed a woeful 47.7% of his passes, being all set to become just the seventh QB to finish a 21st-century season south of the 50% barrier on at least 200 attempts. The Colts’ decision to bench Richardson and then reinsert him into the starting lineup two weeks later, after Flacco could not match his 2023 Browns work, “really affected the team,” in the words of one anonymous player. Another unnamed Colt informed The Athletic of a lack of vision coming from the franchise, which is set to miss the playoffs for the sixth time in Ballard’s eight seasons as GM.
In Ballard’s defense, he has built a roster that has produced a host of Pro Bowl-level players — from Quenton Nelson to Jonathan Taylor to Kenny Moore. The GM also saw Luck abruptly retire just before the 2019 season, but the team’s inability to find a successor has reminded of the Broncos’ run of misses following Peyton Manning‘s retirement. Richardson has followed Philip Rivers, Wentz, Ryan and Gardner Minshew — the latter in place only because of Richardson’s 2023 shoulder injury — as primary Colts QB starters in the 2020s. None of Indianapolis’ plans have produced consistent success, with the team still yet to recover from a disastrous Week 18 loss to the Jaguars as two-touchdown favorites in a game that denied a playoff berth in 2021.
Irsay has spoken highly of Ballard in the past, keeping him around despite the Frank Reich firing, but SI.com’s Albert Breer notes “murmurs” regarding a potential change have emerged in connection with this job. An unnamed GM also told the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora that Irsay is certainly thinking about firing Ballard, though the anonymous exec said it would still surprise if the owner moved on after this season. If the owner does not can his GM, Ballard’s seat will be hot entering the 2025 offseason.
It is also true Irsay’s meddling — at both quarterback and other spots, highlighted by the 2023 Taylor standoff — has undercut his GM, which would make this a potentially difficult position to fill with a quality candidate. But Ballard’s inward-focused 2024 offseason approach has not yielded results. Granted, Richardson’s struggles have had plenty to do with that. DeForest Buckner joined Ryan Kelly and others in speaking to Richardson after his benching, with the Pro Bowl defensive tackle indicating (via The Athletic) he signed his two-year, $46MM re-up largely because he believed in the athletic QB talent. Richardson’s lack of preparation played into the organization’s initial benching call, which famously came after he asked to leave the Colts-Texans matchup due to fatigue.
This season is also not ending well for Richardson, who is battling a potentially significant back injury. Shane Steichen said an MRI revealed a disk issue that “might be chronic,” though the second-year QB does not believe he will need surgery, via Boyd. Richardson said this week his back issue was severe enough he could not stand. Richardson added (via Fox59’s Brett Bensley) he has dealt with back issues since eighth grade, though they have not been this severe before. It certainly sounds like Flacco will start in Week 18 and that Richardson will enter the offseason with some rehab to complete, which reminds of his 2024 offseason.
It would stand to reason the Colts will seek another veteran backup to replace Flacco, as Richardson would at least need to be backstopped — both due to injury and performance — in 2025. If the plan indeed remains Richardson-centric, Steichen and Ballard would be on the hook to answer for the pick should it end up backfiring and leave the Colts again in need at the game’s premier position. That is, if both power brokers are back for the 2025 season.
Flacco has bounced around the NFL since he was traded by the Ravens following the 2018 campaign. His one-year stay with the Broncos was followed by a three-year stint with the Jets, but his 3-14 record as a starter left the impression that his career was coming to an end.
