Anthony Richardson lasted 10 starts before his first benching, five more before his second.
The No. 4 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft has been the same player he was at Florida: inconsistent and injury-prone with dazzling but infrequent flashes that speak to his talent. Two years ago, the Indianapolis Colts hoped he’d become the face of their future.
“You play 12 or 14 years in this league and you’re an outstanding quarterback, you’re gonna make a billion dollars,” the team’s late owner, Jim Irsay, told Richardson a day after the draft. “A billion.”
It was typical Irsay exaggeration, but the stakes were nonetheless obvious: the Colts were banking on Richardson — a 21-year-old who’d made 13 college starts — being their answer.
He hasn’t been. Last month, Richardson lost his starting job to Daniel Jones, a former first-round pick who washed out with the New York Giants after six seasons. It’s unlikely Jones becomes Indianapolis’ long-term solution, meaning Colts general manager Chris Ballard’s six-year search for Andrew Luck’s successor will continue. That is, if Ballard is still running the team next offseason.
