Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson needs to make the right move — Andscape

The good news for Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is that he still has time to recover from another major setback early in his career.

Whether he does will depend on many factors, the biggest of which is Richardson’s next move.

After the Colts this week named Daniel Jones as their Week 1 starter over Richardson, there’s no putting a positive spin on the organization’s dissatisfaction with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, who’s only 23. Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen both advocated for the club to select the former Florida quarterback and build around him.

Yet, beginning only Richardson’s third season, Steichen has already benched him twice. And Ballard supported the decisions, meaning both men are in lockstep about Richardson’s lack of progress in their eyes.

One doesn’t have to be a hard-charging head coach or a grizzled player-personnel boss to realize that Richardson hasn’t gotten the job done. The numbers shed light on some of his problems.

If Richardson hopes to change that, he’ll first need to convince Steichen to believe in him once more.

Although the details of Richardson’s most recent demotion have not been revealed publicly (his previous benching occurred in the 2024 season), there’s clearly more to the story than his poor 50.6% career completion percentage. Whatever else Steichen wants to see from the passer behind the scenes, it’s on Richardson to get that part figured out. Quickly.

If Richardson does, perhaps he can claw his way back into contention for a starting role at the most important position in sports. If not with the Colts, then perhaps elsewhere in the league.

Quarterback guru Quincy Avery has seen it all before.

Richardson isn’t the first high-round pick at quarterback to struggle under the weight of enormous expectations – from both an organization and its success-hungry fans. Surely, he won’t be the last. Those who have rebounded and flourished – or at least salvaged their careers – have accepted responsibility for fixing what was broken.

It’s about looking in the mirror, Avery said.

“Well, we have to give him a little grace because he is so young,” Avery told Andscape in a phone interview Wednesday. “And there’s no question that he’s talented. But there’s a lot more that goes into it. There’s a lot that goes into it behind the scenes that they [fans] don’t see.

“From the outside looking in, I don’t know what’s going on in the building that would [lead to Richardson being benched again], but you don’t make this type of decision, with someone like him, just on that [game film]. He was a No. 4 pick in the draft. They want him to be successful.”

The Colts knew that, in terms of the art of playing quarterback, Richardson would be playing catch-up from the moment he entered the league.

He declared for the draft after his redshirt sophomore season. Richardson played in just 24 games for the Gators, didn’t start until his last season, and never completed even 60% of his passes. Based on his inexperience (he left school with two seasons of eligibility remaining) and accuracy issues at Florida, Richardson, many talent-evaluators and coaches said, would be best served by being a backup during his rookie year with Indianapolis.

The Colts named him the starter in the preseason.

Of course, that didn’t work out well. Clearly, Richardson wasn’t ready to shoulder the load. And while that miscalculation falls on Ballard and Steichen, Richardson hasn’t held up his end. Both things can be true at once.

Last season, Richardson was roundly criticized for tapping out of a game late in a critical moment.

“Tired. I ain’t going to lie,” Richardson said after the game. “There was a lot of running right there, and I didn’t think I was going to be able to do that next play.”

That’s not the sort of comment that inspires confidence in someone who aspires to be the face of an organization. Bottom line: Richardson’s unforced errors have contributed to a bad narrative about him to this point.

Quarterbacks selected high in the first round are under intense scrutiny, “and a lot of times they don’t understand that the way they’re perceived, whether the perception is right or wrong, is very important as they’re trying to get established,” said Avery, who, among others, has tutored Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans and Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers.

“The other day, I was talking to another young quarterback about the things he needed to do [in his development]. The thing I told him is that there are a lot of things that we can’t control in this race. There’s just so much of it that’s out of our hands. That’s just the way it is. But one of the things that we do get to control is how people perceive us. And we do that by doing things the right way.”

As long as Richardson remains on the Colts’ roster, the door stays ajar for him to mount a comeback with the team that has invested so much in him. The reality is, injuries are as much a part of the NFL as its successful television ratings.

But Richardson must put himself in position to seize the next opportunity, Avery said.

“It’s about understanding the situation you’re in now,” Avery continued. “It’s about being able to operate the right way in that situation, so that you can change the way people view you and be successful.

“I watched Anthony Richardson play a preseason game [recently] where I thought he played at a really high level. He did a lot of things right. If his situation was different, with the way that people perceived him, he’d probably be named the starter right now. But that’s not where he’s at.”

No, he’s not. Richardson, however, can take steps to get there.

The Colts and their fans eagerly await his next move – as the clock keeps ticking.