NFL executive: It's a 'pipe dream' to think this Colts QB is a starter

As of Monday afternoon, 2023 first-round draft pick Anthony Richardson still had a chance to defeat free-agency signing Daniel Jones in the competition for the Indianapolis Colts' starting quarterback job. 

Also on Monday, Mike Sando of The Athletic shared that a panel made up of six general managers, six assistant general managers, six former general managers, five other executives, eight head coaches and 19 other coaches ranked Richardson as the 32nd-best quarterback in the NFL this summer. To compare, Jones was 30th on the list. 

"I think it is a pipe dream right now, based on what I have seen, to say he is a starter in the NFL," one unnamed NFL executive said about Richardson while chatting with Sando. "The accuracy is not there. If you want to do college football [run-pass option-type] stuff, that is your guy. But some of the stuff last year was not starter quality."

Per Pro Football Reference, Richardson finished the 2024 regular season ranked last in the NFL among qualified players with a 47.7% completion percentage and a 61.6 passer rating. Just as worrisome, injuries limited Richardson to just 15 starts out of a possible 32 games over his first two seasons. Additionally, he was benched for two weeks last fall after he took himself out of a game because he was "tired."

"That is a tough one to overcome," one head coach said about Richardson "tapping out" on an NFL Sunday. "If you can, more power to ya."

More recently, Richardson played just seven snaps in Indianapolis' preseason opener at the Baltimore Ravens this past Thursday night before he suffered a dislocated right pinkie finger after he failed to see an unblocked pass-rusher and took a whopping hit.

"The Anthony Richardson experiment is over," one voter said. A different defensive coordinator added that Richardson is "not accurate and can't make any of those throws" unless "he is rearing back and throwing the ball as far as he can and somebody runs underneath it." 

Per the NFL's website, Jones will start the Colts' preseason game versus the Green Bay Packers this coming Saturday "and play a couple of series." Richardson is then expected to play until halftime if he can stay healthy enough to make it through the end of the second quarter.