The woes of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson are well known at this point; the freakishly talented athlete has not been able to figure out how to be consistent in the NFL, or how to remain healthy, and 2025 is largely seen as his last chance to keep his job in Indy.
One of the most notorious chapters in Richardson's career was when he was temporarily benched last season, not only because of his problems with inaccuracy, but because he tapped out of a play mid-game because he said he was tired. He has since taken responsibility for that mistake, and it's largely assumed that Richardson was able to make such a massive blunder because no one was teaching him how a franchise quarterback behaves. As Stephen Holder said at the time,
"Conversations with teammates and multiple sources have created a clearer picture of what transpired behind the scenes. What they laid out was the story of a young quarterback described as 'naïve' rather than resistant, a player who didn't know what he didn't know."
Colts alum Pat McAfee made similar claims, arguing that Richardson diodn't know how to be a professional because no one in the organization was teaching him how to be one.
"I'm wondering why AR's tapping out of games as quarterback. Like, how's this guy not know you can't, as a quarterback, do that? Like, call timeout. Waste of timeout. Instead of tapping your head and showcasing that whole thing. And, you know, is he getting better? Is he getting worse? Is he in shape? All those things. He's got nobody telling him how he's supposed to operate in that building.Pat McAfee
So AR had no idea how he's supposed to be a professional because there's no damn professionals in that building. "
At the end of the season, Ballard still seemed incapable of taking any accountability for Richardson's struggles, saying only that his star quarterback was "drowning" before he was benched. But finally, Ballard is owning up to his own role in the Colts catastrophe, admitting they expected too much, too soon.
In an interview with The Athletic, Ballard said they failed Richardson by making him a starter right away, instead of giving him time to grow and develop behind the scenes. “He didn’t have enough experience, both from a play standpoint but also a professional standpoint of how to get ready," he admitted, but said he faced pressure from Jim Irsay to play Richardson right away. “[W]hen you take one high, there’s an expectation. The pressure to play the kid is real.”
Yet it was on Ballard to fight that pressure, and do what is best for his team. And he, quite simply, failed Richardson. But unfortunately, this mindset goes much further than just the Colts; it's a systemic problem in the NFL, which expects immediate perfection out of its young players.
As JJ Watts explained, specifically in reference to Richardson,
"There is such an epidemic in the NFL right now of ownership and coaches trying to get a young guy to play at such a high level so early, which yes, we all want to. We would love if everybody came in and played like CJ Stroud or Jaden Daniels. It would be incredible. But we're churning through these young guys so fast. If you are in a situation where you are rebuilding an organization or you're drafting a young quarterback to build around, you better understand what situation you're in. You better understand that that might not be Super Bowl in year one or year two, but that guy could develop longer term. You look at Josh Allen's beginning of his career. He didn't exactly start out great, but you develop over time and you grow. Some of these guys need a little bit of time to step in and grow and learn and have growing pains."
He continued, "[W]hat happened to growth? What happened to development? What happened to a little bit of accountability as a coaching staff to help this guy grow and become the best version of himself? That's what a coach does. It's not just automatic every time. You're supposed to develop him. That's your job."