Has Anthony Richardson played his last meaningful snaps for the Colts? History not on QB's side

The Colts benched Anthony Richardson on Tuesday, 18 days before the regular-season opener against the Dolphins, 12 days after taking that preseason sack against the Ravens that resulted in a dislocated right pinky, and likely confirmed to the coaching staff that Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, still isn't ready to be the face of the franchise.

Some other numbers of note: Richardson made just 15 starts over his first two NFL seasons, had just 13 starts at the University of Florida, and battled injuries and inconsistencies just about every step of the way. By comparison, 2024 first-rounders Michael Penix Jr. had 45 college starts, Bo Nix had 61. Bryce Young and CJ Stroud, who were taken No. 1 and No. 2 in Richardson's draft class, started 27 and 25 games, respectively. 

So while Richardson looked the part more than perhaps any other draft-eligible quarterback has ever looked the part, once you get past his intimidating physical first impressions, he has been a huge disappointment. 

When coach Shane Steichen told the media that Daniel Jones would be the Colts' starter, he didn't equivocate; in fact, I don't think he could have been any clearer: "[Jones is] our starting quarterback for the season," he said. "I don't want to have a quick leash on that. I feel confident in his abilities."

And while I give Richardson a lot of credit for how he handled the demotion – he said all the right things, didn't point fingers, accepted blame, and admitted he has to continue to improve – I also wondered if his NFL future was no longer in Indianapolis. 

That's not to say he won't take another snap for the Colts; a year ago, 59 different quarterbacks started at least one game. That sounds high until you learn that it's the lowest number in four years. But history has not been kind to QBs drafted in the top half of Round 1 who were benched before their third NFL season.

• Matt Leinart was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2006 draft by Arizona. He made 11 starts as a rookie, started five more games in 2007 before a broken collarbone landed him on injured reserve, and he attempted just 29 passes in '08 while Kurt Warner led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl.

• Blaine Gabbert was the No. 10 overall pick in 2011, he made 24 starts his first two seasons for the Jaguars (he went 5-19), battled injuries early in Year 3 before he was benched for Chad Henne.

• EJ Manuel was the No. 16 overall pick in 2013. He struggled to stay healthy early in his rookie season for the Bills, and then was benched a month into Year 2.  By Year 3, he lost the job to Tyrod Taylor and made just three starts over his final two seasons in Buffalo.

• Trey Lance was the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 by the 49ers. He was Jimmy Garoppolo backup to start his rookie season, made one start after Garoppolo went down with an injury,  but a sprained knee forced Lance to the sidelines before he started in Week 16. And while he was named the starter ahead of the 2022 season, he started two games before a season-ending ankle injury opened the door to then-Mr. Irrelevant (and now-$53 million per year, on average) Brock Purdy.

• Zach Wilson was the No. 2 selection in that '21 draft that saw Lance go a pick later.

This is a partial list, of course, and most recently, Bryce Young was benched just 18 games into his career – and two games into the 2024 season, after completing 56% of his throws without a touchdown, 3 interceptions and 6 sacks in losses to the Saints and Chargers. 

Anthony Richardson landing spots: Rams one of five teams to watch for demoted Colts QB

Jordan Dajani

At the time, it appeared that Young had played his last game for the Panthers. But five weeks later, Andy Dalton was injured in a car accident, Young got another opportunity and he made the most of it. He started every game between Weeks 8-18 and over that span he completed 62 percent of his passes with 15 TDs, 6 INTs, and the Panthers went 4-6 (and they very easily could have been 5-5 had Xavier Legette not dropped a 4th quarter touchdown against the Eagles in Week 14). 

When it comes to former high-round QBs righting the ship after early struggles landed them on the bench, Young feels like the exception. I've talked on our NFL Draft podcast, "With the First Pick," with co-host Ran Carthon about "squinters" – that's when you have to squint to see the upside a player has based on their college tape. 

The problem is that potential is a dangerous word, and it can get coaches and general managers fired if you get it wrong. And Richardson has all the potential in the world. You also had to squint to see what his NFL future might look like based on the 13 games he started in college. 

In talking with some league evaluators, the concerns with Richardson coming out of Florida were exactly the ones you'd expect: inexperience, lack of consistency, accuracy concerns at times. There were also the injuries, many of them of the soft-tissue variety, that kept him off the field in Gainesville. And as our buddy Rick Spielman said often: "If a guy is injured in college he's probably going to be injured in the NFL." Rick doesn't make the rules but he ain't wrong, either. Injuries have plagued Richardson in two-plus seasons in Indy.

Another thing one league evaluator pointed out to me – and pushed back on during the lead up to the 2023 draft – is that Richardson was often comped to Cam Newton, the No. 1 overall pick back in 2011. And while Newton had 14 career college starts, he also led Auburn to the national title months before the Panthers drafted him. Florida went 6-7 in the 12 games Richardson started in his final season, and he completed 54 percent of his throws with 17 TDs and 9 INTs. Newton, by comparison, completed 66 percent of his  passes with 30 TDs and 7 INTs during the national title run.

Put another way: Newton proved he could carry a team before ever stepping foot on an NFL field, and he had buy-in from his teammates. Richardson was about as unproven as a quarterback taken No. 4 overall could be.

There were also the issues that cropped up during the 2024 season, the first time Steichen benched Richardson. It lasted just two weeks, and when he returned to the lineup, we all saw the potential of what could be: the comeback win over the Jets in Week 11, and then in Week 13, he led a 19-play drive to beat the Patriots. 

But on August 7, in what should have been an otherwise meaningless preseason game, Richardson got smoked by Ravens pass rusher David Ojabo:

Ran and I – like everyone else – talked about the mechanics of this play: the Colts protection is sliding left, Richardson has to know that his hot read is to the right, either a quick throw to his tight end or running back, but he inexplicably looks left – and only left – after taking the snap and is summarily blown up, dislocating a finger for his troubles. 

"As soon as he looked left, [Steichan"] probably knew right then that Daniel Jones was going to be his quarterback," another league evaluator told me. 

After that game, the Colts coaching staff explained that Richardson regularly makes the right decision against that look in practice, but that only reinforces the point: heading into your third season in a heated battle for the starting job, those are the exact mistakes you can't make. A dislocated pinky is getting off easy; this could have been a division loss during the regular season simply because Richardson failed to do what every college QB would know to do facing that presnap look. 

And look, for all the warts that come with Daniel Jones as QB, the reality is this: he did way more with way less in 2022, his first year with Brian Daboll in New York. That team started 6-2, struggled during a five-game stretch after their midseason bye, and finished the regular season 2-2 before beating the Vikings in the wild-card round. Jones went 9-6-1 in the regular season and completed 67 percent of his passes with 15 TDs and 5 INTs.  

Yes, a big part of the offense went through Saquon Barkley, but Jones made his fair share of plays down the stretch, and just a reminder in case you'd forgotten: the Giants leading receiver in '22? Saquon and Richie James both had 57 catches. They were followed by Darius Slayton (46 receptions), Isaiah Hodgins (33) and tight end Daniel Bellinger (30).

It's reasonable to think that Jones will be playing in the best offense of his seven-year NFL career. The Colts offensive line is criminally underrated, the running back room is led by Jonathan Taylor and the wideouts include Michael Pittman, AD Mitchell, Alec Pierce and Josh Downs. And then there's '25 first-rounder, tight end Tyler Warren. I don't want to say this could be a Sam Darnold-in-Minnesota situation, but there have been more surprising developments. 

Incidentally, back in May, days after the 2025 NFL Draft concluded, Ran and I talked on the podcast about the biggest offseason questions facing the Colts. In a shocking development, we both agreed it was Richardson's future with the team. 

"I think a decision has low-key kind of been made already by signing Daniel Jones," Carthon said back on May 6, showing an incredible degree of prescience. "And you can say, 'Hey, we're creating competition'  …  but you bring in a veteran who has something to prove and then now you're already admitting that, hey, it may be time for us to move on. …

"The hard thing for anyone, especially having sat in the chair, is to admit a 'mistake' when you're drafting someone," Ran said on that May 6 podcast. "And that's why I always give Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch credit after they drafted Trey Lance No. 3 overall. Once it was known that Brock Purdy was the guy, they were willing to move on and say, 'Hey, it's time for us to cut ties with [Lance], no matter what it cost us and no matter what you got back in return.'"

The band-aid has been ripped off, and the Colts are turning to Jones, at least for now. Richardson is 23 years old and his best football is almost certainly in front of him. It just may not be with the team that drafted him.