What starting QB decision means for Colts' Anthony Richardson Sr.

Long before Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen confirmed on Tuesday that free-agency signing Daniel Jones will be the Week 1 starting quarterback over 2023 first-round draft pick Anthony Richardson Sr., reporters mentioned that both Steichen and Colts general manager Chris Ballard could be a losing season away from being shown the door. 

Some have criticized the Colts for going with Jones, a 2019 first-round selection who most recently went 3-13 over his final 16 starts with the New York Giants. However, Colts insider James Boyd of The Athletic suggested on Wednesday that Steichen and Ballard simply no longer wanted their futures attached to Richardson's.

"It feels like the Colts admitted Tuesday that they whiffed on Richardson, the most important pick of Ballard’s nine-year tenure as GM," Boyd wrote. "It also feels like Steichen, who heavily advocated for the Colts to draft Richardson in 2023, is admitting the Richardson ship has capsized as he jumps onto the nearest lifeboat with Jones at the helm. Maybe Jones does give the Colts the best chance to win in 2025, but in a QB competition in which neither passer truly pulled away from the other, Jones was always the safer pick."

Whether or not the Colts made a mistake by naming Richardson their 2023 Week 1 QB1 after he made just 13 college starts is now irrelevant. He thus far has missed 17 regular-season games due to injury, and he earned a two-week benching last fall after it was determined he allegedly needed "to improve his game preparation and better understand the gravity of the job." 

The competition for the Colts' starting gig likely truly ended after Richardson suffered a dislocated right pinkie when he took a whopping hit in Indianapolis' preseason opener. He ultimately played in the Colts' 23-19 preseason loss to the Green Bay Packers this past Saturday, but the damage was already done. 

As it pertains to on-the-field performances, Pro Football Reference shows that Richardson was responsible for the NFL's worst completion percentage (47.7 percent) and lowest passer rating (61.6) among qualified quarterbacks last season. 

"My read on this is that it is less an endorsement of Jones than an indictment of Richardson," former NFL executive and current analyst Andrew Brandt said about the Colts' decision for a Sports Illustrated article posted on Wednesday. "...They have seen [Richardson] up close for two years. And now he has been benched in favor of Jones, who was signed to a one-year deal, whom they have seen up close for roughly two months. This is obviously not a good look for the Colts or for Richardson, a franchise-debilitating swing and a miss. Maybe this is not the end of their story, but it sure seems like it is."

Before Brandt's piece went public, agent Deiric Jackson hinted that Richardson's "trust" level with the Colts is now "questionable." Fair or not, Richardson clearly lost the trust of Ballard and Steichen before Tuesday morning arrived.