By benching Anthony Richardson, the Colts have reentered QB purgatory

Who’s going to be the Colts’ quarterback in 2025 and beyond?

That’s where our minds must go following Indianapolis’ decision to bench Anthony Richardson in favor of veteran Joe Flacco, a potentially franchise-altering move. The news comes after Colts coach Shane Steichen was noncommittal about Richarson being his starter after he completed just 31.3% of his passes for 175 yards and a touchdown with an interception in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans. That performance continued his season-long passing struggles and a noticeable regression for the former No. 4 overall pick from a promising four-game stint as a rookie.

In one regard, this can be looked at as a grave mistake.

The Colts drafted Richardson knowing that he was a raw prospect who needed reps. The whole NFL world knew this. He started just 13 games at Florida, after all. He had the same accuracy issues in Gainesville that he’s shown in the league to this point. So to sit him after starting just 10 NFL games, after preaching to the public to have patience with him since last spring, looks asinine. We have to remember that Richardson lost valuable development time because of the shoulder injury that ended his rookie season prematurely, too.

Indianapolis could’ve also prioritized doing more for him before pulling the plug.

Steichen’s playcalling has been head-scratching at times this season — the Colts are throwing the ball more than they’re running it despite being built to run with a healthy Jonathan Taylor — and Indianapolis’ receivers haven’t helped.

In Sunday’s loss to the Texans, running back Tyler Goodson dropped a wide-open touchdown. Rookie wide receiver Adonai Mitchell couldn’t keep two feet inbounds on another. There were other drops throughout the game, too. The Colts averaged 6.3 yards per carry against the Texans, but ran the ball just 26 times compared to 32 passes.

Richardson needs to play better, but the surrounding cast hasn’t helped him. Indianapolis pass-catchers have a 7.1% drop rate, which ranks in the bottom half of the league this season (13th), according to Sportradar.

“Obviously, we’re dissecting everything and we’re evaluating everything,” Steichen said Monday. “Running the ball better, putting [Richardson] in simpler positions, getting the ball out of his hands quicker so he’s not dropping back, sitting back there. So, we’re constantly evaluating that, but we’ve got to be better there.”

The argument against Richardson is that he has struggled so much that this move was necessary.

Richardson’s 44.1% completion rate this season is league-worst by more than 14 percentage points (second-worst is the New England Patriots’ Jacoby Brissett at 59.1%). He has dropped back 158 times this season. Of the 344 quarterbacks since at least 2016 who have that many dropbacks, Richardson’s completion rate is dead last, per Next Gen Stats.

His lack of timing, anticipation and accuracy on intermediate passes is jarring. On throws up to 20 air yards, he’s completed just 51.2% of his throws for 507 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions, according to Pro Football Focus. His deep ball can be magical, and he leads the league in yards per completion (16.2), but it’s far too inconsistent to justify how bad it’s been underneath.

The Colts (4-4) have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs this season too, and Flacco probably gives them the best chance to win. Indianapolis is two games behind Houston (6-2) for first place in the AFC South, but the Colts are just one spot outside a wild-card berth.

The Texans losing Stefon Diggs for the year with a torn ACL also makes them vulnerable atop the division. Continuing to play Richardson could be seen as a disservice to the locker room. In four appearances this season, including two starts, Flacco has completed 65.7% of his passes for 716 yards and seven touchdowns with just one interception and a lost fumble. By comparison, Richardson has 958 passing yards and four touchdowns with seven picks and two lost fumbles.

We may also be underestimating just how much pressure Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard may be under. Owner Jim Irsay has exercised plenty of patience with Ballard over the years, but the reality is that the Colts have no division titles and just two playoff appearances in his seven-plus seasons as GM, the last time coming in 2020. Few GMs have been afforded the kind of leash without tangible success that Ballard has had.

Richardson’s decision to tap out of Sunday’s game for a play could have added jet fuel to the Colts’ growing concerns about the QB, too. Steichen told reporters Monday that Richardson’s decision to take himself out did not factor into the reevaluation of the quarterback position, but that could be a PR stunt. After all, these are the same Colts who had been preaching reps and patience for the guy they are now benching after 10 starts.

All considered, this is why the Colts are back in quarterback purgatory, like the years in the aftermath of Andrew Luck’s stunning retirement in 2019.

Even if the Colts want to go back to Richardson at some point, framing this as an opportunity to learn and grow behind Flacco, the reality is that they’re pushing back the game development of a raw quarterback whose game development has constantly been pushed back since high school due to injury. His growth now looks like an afterthought. The franchise also has to grapple with how all this could impact the confidence of the 22-year-old Richardson, who had been the league’s youngest QB1 since last season.

Is benching Anthony Richardson the right move for Colts?

Examples are sparse of highly touted, early-round quarterbacks who began their careers as the starter, were benched and then regained the starting job for the same team and had success.

The best modern example may be 2005 No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith, who was taken in and out of lineup as a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers, but then went on to play six more seasons with the franchise before getting traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

In his third NFL season, legend Drew Brees was also benched in favor of Doug Flutie after a 1-7 start with the San Diego Chargers. He went on to start 31 games across the next two seasons before leaving for the New Orleans Saints. But Brees was never the Day 1 starter as a rookie like Richardson.

“Like I’ve said before, the more you play, the more you learn at that position,” Steichen said. “But is there a benefit sometimes in sitting back and watching? Yeah, of course there is. So, those are just conversations that go on in the offseason and constantly going on through NFL football teams.”

The Colts have opened a can of worms and there’s no going back.

Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.