The best move for the future of the Indianapolis Colts, in terms of chasing a Super Bowl, was to continue to start Anthony Richardson and develop him into what they were hoping for when they drafted him fourth overall.
But the decision makers might not be around for the future if they don’t win now. And they acted accordingly.
It’s a conundrum plenty of NFL teams face. What’s best for the franchise and self preservation don’t always match up. The Colts, with GM Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen having to feel some pressure to win this season, played it safe and chose Daniel Jones to be their starting quarterback for the opener on Sept. 7. It’s swinging for a single, or a double at best.
The Colts made a huge gamble on Richardson, and it could still pay off down the road. It’s not like Jones is a lock to keep the job all season. But the Colts couldn’t afford to see their gamble through, given Richardson’s struggles.
One play might have helped guide the Colts’ decision.
There were plenty of reasons to bring in Jones to compete with Richardson. Richardson was benched last season as he completed 47.7% of his passes. He has been injured throughout his two NFL seasons having missed more games (19) than he has started (15). But if it was truly a competition going into August, one mistake had to reinforce to the Colts that there was a long way for Richardson to go. In the preseason opener, Richardson took a huge sack and dislocated his right pinkie finger. The problem wasn’t the lost yardage or even the injury. As almost every former quarterback and tape guru with a social media account pointed out, it was a fairly routine read for Richardson to throw to one of the open receivers to his right when the Ravens sent an extra rusher from that side. Richardson never even looked that way.
It’s the type of mistake that gets made by a quarterback with 28 combined starts between the NFL and college.
Richardson isn’t an accurate passer, but his biggest problem remains inexperience. He had just 13 career starts in college. He had immense physical talent but needed time to learn how to play quarterback. And learning that in the highly pressurized world of the NFL is hard. And too often, coaching staffs and front offices don’t have enough time to be patient with that development. That’s a reason we have seen players like Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith thrive elsewhere. Teams can’t wait on them to figure it out.
Steichen and Ballard had to feel like they were running out of time.
Jones probably gives the Colts a better chance to win a few more games now, though we have seen plenty of Jones in the NFL. It’s hard to envision him ever being a championship-level quarterback. A division title is likely the Colts’ loftiest realistic goal with Jones at quarterback.
But he will run the offense in a more efficient way. We could see in the preseason that he knows where to go with the ball and can deliver it more often than not. Perhaps Jones is the next Darnold/Mayfield/Smith reclamation, though it seems unlikely. He was just the safer option for the present.
And perhaps Richardson gets another shot this season to show what he can do. He’ll need an injury or Jones to struggle, but that can happen over the course of a long season. Or perhaps Richardson’s chance comes with another team. He was clearly overdrafted at fourth overall, but plenty of teams saw the same incredible physical skills as he came out of Florida. He still has a high ceiling, and that’s probably why he’d be starting Week 1 in a different scenario. It just wasn’t in the best immediate interest of those making the decision for Indianapolis.
It might be a while before we see another draft pick like Richardson again. His lack of experience was a red flag, but the Colts ignored it. He probably would have been better off as a middle-round pick that could develop with little pressure, closer to the Joe Milton III territory of the draft. The Colts could only see the upside when they made the pick.
And now, ironically, they have to forget the upside after just 15 starts to try and win now with Jones, even if their ceiling is much lower now.