Stay far away from this model if you are the Colts.
The quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts has struggled two weeks into the season. Anthony Richardson has flashed at times. Anthony Richardson has floundered at other points. To that, I say, so what? That is part of the development of a young quarterback, especially one as young and inexperienced as Richardson. The Colts didn’t select him fourth overall because he was polished. They drafted him for the “what could be”. That is still overwhelming present in his game as long as the team doesn’t do something completely boneheaded.
Enter the Carolina Panthers.
Bryce Young has struggled. There is no doubt. Young has also had three head coaches in 19 regular season games. Young has no offensive line, and the talent in the receiver room was gutted to get him to Carolina. I love a good Adam Thielen, but his best days are behind him. The team made an incredibly bold and ill-advised (in my opinion) move to bench Young just two games into the season. To me, this says his days in Carolina are over. When you have an erratic owner who makes rash decisions, Young could come back, but his confidence is crushed. Not only that, his trade value is rock bottom.
The Colts will be wise to stay as far away as possible from this model with Richardson. I want to see the team and Richardson flourish this year. I want to see him take that next step and take the team to the playoffs. That might not happen, though, and that’s ok. He needs repetition and experience. Putting him on the bench because he struggles isn’t going to do that. He needs to get sacked, fumble, throw interceptions. He needs to see exotic coverages and blitzes. He needs to be in the game when it is a blowout and when it’s a fourth quarter drive for the win. All of that collectively is essential if we want to see anything close to his potential. Fans, coaches, and players alike need to be patient.
Richardson might not pan out. We don’t know. We also don’t know whether he will two weeks in the 2024 season. We need much more data on him. You can’t watch that bomb to Alec Piece off his back foot and then a silly interception against the Packers and start demanding Joe Flacco. As an irrational fan, ok, but that isn’t how it works. That isn’t how it should work. The decision made by Carolina is going to set them back 5-6 years. Maybe Young was sunk cost and moving on was best. Not sure. Just ask the Browns how that worked out with Baker Mayfield though. The Colts will be well served to give Richardson an extremely long leash. He has always been a boom or bust prospect. I am here for the boom.
