Seemingly short-sighted Colts supplant QB Anthony Richardson for veteran Joe Flacco

The Colts have thrown in the towel on Anthony Richardson as the starter during the interim, as the team hopes to make a stronger playoff push under longtime veteran Joe Flacco.

The Indianapolis Colts finally caved, as struggling 2nd-year starter Anthony Richardson, with just 10 career starts under his belt, was benched in favor of longtime NFL veteran Joe Flacco.

To his credit, the Colts passing game is much more efficient with Flacco behind center, than it is with the clearly still raw Richardson—but at what expense to the Indy ground game, as the latter’s dynamic dual-threat ability opens up running lanes for the Indy backfield.

When the Colts selected a 21-year-old Richardson with the 4th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, with just 13 starts under his belt at the University of Florida, they knew while not a project, that he was clearly going to be a work-in-progress—with the clear need for experience.

All offseason, we heard that Richardson was the Colts starter, and that veteran free agent Joe Flacco was brought in for veteran insurance and to help serve as a mentor—not at all as the young quarterback’s competition for the first-team job.

In turn, the Colts knew that by committing to Richardson for the 2024 season, that they were committing to him through all the growing pains—even amidst a sophomore slump.

So what changed in that conviction over the last 48 hours?

Was it Richardson surprisingly asking for an in-game breacher and then making some rather too casual comments addressing it during his post-game interview?

Was it the ongoing accuracy concerns?

By all accounts, true NFL analysts that actually analyzed Richardson’s film from Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans (and granted, this is the same stingy Texans home defense that made Josh Allen look like Tim Allen in Home Improvement earlier this season) indicated that his film was a lot better than his basic box score—showing much more grind than the lazy analysis and hot takes that are often thrown out there:

There’s also a fair question of how much his supporting cast and offensive play-calling has truly helped Richardson and placed him in a position to consistently succeed as of late.

If the issue was Richardson ‘tapping out’ on his team by asking out, then those are private conversations that by all accounts have already occurred behind closed doors with teammates such as veteran Ryan Kelly and the coaching staff like head coach Shane Steichen.

Maybe you bench him for the 2nd-team offense for one day in practice, but by benching Richardson now, you’re showing a lack of your conviction and faith in the still very young and clearly developing quarterback—or at the very least, it’s very much now wavering or being called into serious question.

If the Colts are not careful, this is the type of move that can shake confidence in an impressionable young quarterback and potentially alter his once ascending initial trajectory for the rest of his career.

Having sat out 13 starts last season because of a season-ending shoulder injury already, the only way that Richardson gets better is by gaining experience and reps, and the only way to get that is through obtaining real game day snaps. What does he gain by sitting again?

I do not want to hear that the Colts ‘want to win now.’ The team’s realistic division hopes sailed last week when the Colts were swept for the season by the AFC South leading Houston Texans (6-2). Indianapolis (4-4) has a gauntlet of games coming up including against the @Minnesota Vikings (5-2), Detroit Lions (6-1), and Buffalo Bills (6-2).

It’s a Colts team that has wins against three bad teams: the Chicago Bears, the Tennessee Titans, and the Miami Dolphins. One win against a good team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and one horrible loss against a bad team regarding at Jacksonville (i.e., their annual house of horrors). Otherwise, they’ve lost the games that you’d now expect them to lose.

With Flacco, the Colts should be in the AFC playoff hunt until the season’s very end (great, they were with Gardner Minshew last season too), but what’s their realistic ceiling?

A 9-8 season?

A wild card loss?

It seems rather short-sighted to prioritize winning in the immediate term and committing to a nearly 40 year-old-quarterback, when it doesn’t really do any real benefit to your franchise’s future, long-term bigger picture. The franchise’s foreseeable success still rests with Richardson—who you’ve clearly indicated isn’t ready, but aren’t providing him an opportunity to actually get better right now.