When the Carolina Panthers stunned the NFL world by benching quarterback Bryce Young in September, the ripples of the decision echoed throughout the league.
Did a franchise that invested a lot of draft capital to select Young first overall give up 18 games on him in his professional career?
Had Young started his last game for the Panthers, if not in the NFL?
League sentiment centered the decision on three key principles: the need to restore Young’s confidence, the thin collection of talent around him, and the need to establish a winning culture under first-year head coach Brian Callahan.
Young wasn’t capable of elevating or even keeping his team afloat, the Panthers felt. His skills and size were not a recipe for success. So Callahan called the decision and the Panthers won their next game before losing five straight.
Fast forward to Tuesday, and news broke regarding the benching of a second 2023 first-round quarterback.
It’s easy to associate the Indianapolis Colts’ decision to bench Anthony Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, with the benching of the man drafted three spots ahead of him. But a closer look at the Colts’ decision to go with Joe Flacco shows just how different everything is about these players.
Shane Steichen on Anthony Richardson 2 days ago: “We just have to keep working at it. He’s got a good work ethic. He tackles these things. Man, it’s a process. We do it together. That’s why I say it’s together.
Now he is on the bench. pic.twitter.com/kKVqe1sWiu
– Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) October 29, 2024
Where Young’s 5-foot-10, 204-pound frame (generously) hurts him, Richardson’s 6-4, 244-pound frame appeals to talent evaluators. Where Young’s 27 college starts and 949 college passing attempts gave decision-makers a solid look at his potential, Richardson’s 13 starts with 393 attempts left them projecting heavily into huge question marks.
And where the Panthers were thinking about how the locker room would view Canales if he wasn’t playing the quarterback most capable of helping them win right now, Colts head coach Shane Steichen came up with Indianapolis last year after coordinating an NFC championship-winning drive at Philadelphia. Steichen led the Colts to an upset winning record (9-8) in his first year in 2023 despite losing Richardson to season-ending shoulder surgery after just four starts.
The Panthers (1-7) have less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs, according to the The New York Times Playoff Predictor. The 4-4 Colts still have a 30% chance.
As is often the case with team decisions regarding young quarterbacks, what is best for the team in the short term may not be best for the team in the long term.
So let’s take a look at how we got to the Colts by placing a player who arguably needs experience more than anything and what the franchise risks with this move.
The Colts presented a plan for Richardson – and now they’re giving up on him
After Andrew Luck retired from the Colts before the 2019 season, the Colts spent years searching for an answer to their quarterback question.
They acquired Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan. Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew II each got one season. None won a playoff game and Rivers was the only quarterback in those five years to achieve one. The franchise wanted a longer-term answer, a home run like it found with Peyton Manning and then Luck.
So they drafted a high-risk, high-reward quarterback. Richardson’s athleticism and playmaking ability were enticing; the Colts insisted they were willing and ready to go through the developmental process as he sought to realize his potential.
“What we saw with Anthony was the upside of what we thought he could do moving forward,” general manager Chris Ballard told Yahoo Sports during training camp last year, before Richardson’s professional debut. “Of course you wish he would start 30 games in college, but he didn’t. … He’s got some work to do, but he’s very talented and we’re ready to overcome whatever obstacles he’s going to go through.
“I think we’ll see a lot of good, too.”
Fast forward to now, and on either side of shoulder surgery in October 2023, the Colts have seen both. In 10 games over the past two seasons, Richardson completed 50.2 percent of passes for seven touchdowns, eight interceptions and 1,535 yards. He also totaled 378 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
The highlights turned heads, from Richardson’s four rushing touchdowns in just four games (and not complete ones, at that) last year to the two passes Richardson completed for more than 60 air yards in Game 1 Colts this season against the Texans. Richardson found receiver Alec Pierce for a touchdown that traveled 65.3 air yards, and he became the first player in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016) to record two such completions in the same game.
“You want guys who can create and make big plays,” Ballard said. “You have to do it outside of the structure of X’s and O’s. I think that’s really what special players do. …There are times to do it, and there are times not to do it. I think that’s just going to be part of his growth, knowing when and when not to do it.
Richardson probably hasn’t figured it out yet. Sometimes his protection let him down, and 11 times in 10 games his targets dropped passes, by Pro Football Focus.
Despite this, the offense in Richardson’s hands ranges from inconsistent to incompetent. Richardson’s 57.2 passer rating ranks him 34th out of 34 quarterbacks who have attempted at least 100 passes this season. His 32.4% completion rate (at least 40% of required yards on first down, 60% on second and 100% on third and fourth) also ranks 34th out of 34, according to Pro Football Reference.
Flacco, who the Colts are promoting ahead of Richardson, ranks eighth with a 102.2 passer rating and 21st with a 43.9 percent completion rate.
It’s easy to argue that Flacco is more poised to win against the Colts’ November challenge of the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Detroit Lions. That seems to be swaying Ballard as he clings to a job in an impatient league. Only Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins lasted longer than Ballard without a Super Bowl appearance. Since his hiring in 2017, the Colts have reached the playoffs twice and won only one, a wild-card game after the 2018 season.
Ballard is eager to end this drought and secure his job through 2025. Steichen, meanwhile, wants to show team owner Jim Irsay that last year’s success with Minshew isn’t enough. was no coincidence but an indicator of his ability to elevate his cast.
So, at .500, with Houston two games ahead in the AFC South, they’re hoping Flacco can provide the magic of the playoff berth he gave the Cleveland Browns last season in relief.
He could.
But what impact will that have on Richardson, who explained Sunday after the loss that he was a “great passer” capable of “running the ball much better than all the other quarterbacks” except perhaps by Lamar Jackson?
Ballard’s words in 2023 ring hollow with this pivot.
“With any quarterback, it takes time and he has to play,” Ballard told Yahoo Sports 15 months ago. “There are going to be hills and there are going to be really good times and there are going to be really tough times. I think you just have to look at the story of most young quarterbacks: They go through it and you just have to stay with them and let them learn and grow.
“And don’t jump off the chasm and get lost.”
As the Colts turn back, expect them to “evaluate” everything, including QB
If Ballard’s definition of losing was turning the tide on Richardson’s snap count, the Colts hadn’t yet fallen into the abyss Sunday following the Colts’ 23-20 loss to the Texans.
“We just have to keep working,” Steichen said after the game. “[Richardson]I have a good work ethic. He struggles with these things. Man, it’s a process. We do it together.
“It’s not about one guy. It’s the team.
On Monday, Steichen’s support was weaker. Whenever asked about Richardson’s departure, the head coach responded, “We’re evaluating everything.” »
Steichen discussed “ongoing conversations” about the QB’s role in his offense, improving the running game and alternatives to dropbacks. How could the Colts make the intermediate throws that troubled Richardson easier, and how could they simplify defensive diagnostics for a player with much less experience reading coverages than most players?
Steichen began to hedge against the Colts party line that playing Richardson was the best path for his development.
“I think it could go either way,” Steichen said. “There are some guys who [you] throw on fire early. There are other guys, let them sit and watch. The more you play, the more you learn at this position. But is there ever a benefit to just sitting back and watching? Yes of course.
Richardson will now have this advantage.
He’ll also get a chance to take advantage of what center Ryan Kelly called a “teaching moment” for a young player after Richardson opted out of Sunday’s game to rest.
Richardson’s decision to participate in a play because he was “tired, I’m not going to lie” drew criticism. Coaches and league executives question its impact on a locker room full of players who were probably also tired but fought while their leader rested.
“He knows this is not the level he needs to play at and the rest of the team holds him up to it,” Kelly said Monday. “I’m sure he’s going to get some criticism for that and rightly so. It’s a hard look. [But] if anyone is wondering how hard he plays, I don’t think that’s the case.
“If you watch the film, we certainly didn’t move the ball effectively at times. But he gives everything for his teammates.
When will Richardson next have the chance to give his all for his team?
It’s not clear.
Some around the league wonder how a quarterback comes back from this demotion, while others argue that a player who can’t bounce back after being humiliated doesn’t have the means to be a franchise player after all .
Young’s next starting opportunity came six weeks after he was benched, when Andy Dalton sprained his thumb. Young had 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
That doesn’t necessarily indicate Richardson’s next step, given how different the circumstances of their benches are.
Expect the Colts to continue to evaluate his growth.
“We dissect everything and evaluate everything,” Steichen said. “We all have to be better. We are sitting at 0.500. Looking at what we’ve done, there are a whole bunch of areas we can improve. I’m not just talking about the quarterback. I talk about everything.
“We have to be better moving forward.”
