Colts 'Owe It' to Themselves, Anthony Richardson to Start Him at QB

"It's Anthony Richardson because, I believe in the NFL, the most dangerous place to be is stuck in the middle, and I think the Colts are probably stuck in the middle if Daniel Jones is their starting quarterback this season," Yates declared. "Daniel Jones has had one stellar season in his career, but otherwise, we know who he is. He's probably a replacement-level quarterback. Anthony Richardson has had two mediocre, albeit injury-impacted, seasons in his NFL career. There's still a chance, a flicker of hope that Anthony Richardson could become a promising, young quarterback.

"The Colts owe it to not just Anthony, but to themselves as an organization, to exhaust every resource in figuring out if they have something or nothing," Yates continued. "I don't know if the chances at this point are strong or weak. Probably weaker more than they are stronger, but this is a player who they invested too much in to constantly use a short leash on Anthony Richardson. You're in, or you're out. You're going down with the ship, or you're not. So, to me, the Colts need to play Anthony Richardson to give themselves a credible snapshot of what this player can become during his NFL career."

The reason this is even up for debate is that Richardson has been wildly inconsistent throughout his two years -- we all know about the two-game benching and league-low 47.7% completions last year -- but another significant factor are the 17 games missed due to injury.

While Richardson can hardly control the injury aspect, he is doing what is necessary to make sure his preparation is where it needs to be.

“Honestly, I just feel like the things I was doing last year and the year before, I feel like there was more," Richardson told reporters on Tuesday. "All the greats, they always do more. They do more than what other people are expecting them to do. After last season, I felt like I needed to do more, not only for the team, but for myself. If I want to be a so-called great, and I want to be in the Hall of Fame one day, I have to do more.

"I know I have to go do things that other people won't do," Richardson continued. "So, I’ve just been doing that, just taking it day by day. Not necessarily trying to change anything mentally or anything like that, but just taking a deeper dive and studying my playbook a little longer, asking more questions, going through my footwork, walking through the plays by myself, just stuff like that – just trying to do more.”

To Yates' point, going with the seventh-year veteran Jones achieves little for the Colts except perhaps short-term success, buying the Colts time until they have to make their next decision about quarterback. That is, of course, unless Jones plays so well that he proves to be "the guy" beyond 2025.

However, if you don't go back to Richardson, will you ever again? He's certainly the one with the most upside, and if you want to compete with the Josh Allens, Joe Burrows, Lamar Jacksons, and Patrick Mahomes of the world, you need upside. It's why the Colts drafted him.

If Steichen, Chris Ballard, and others are getting another shot to make things right in 2025, shouldn't Richardson as well?

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