The Indianapolis Colts have no excuses anymore. The team needs to admit its mistake in taking Anthony Richardson in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft and cut its losses. The quarterback is a bust, and the team needs to leave him in the past.
In his fourth training camp and preseason, Richardson needs to prove that he learned a difficult lesson, can apply head coach Shane Steichen's coaching, and can be a productive backup. He hasn't shown that in training camp, and didn't against the New England Patriots in preseason Week 1 either.
His first pass was inaccurate and wasn't close. His stat line will seem to show he had an interception early, but the fault was the wide receivers. The ball wasn't perfect, but it was dropped into the hands of a Pats defender.
Anthony Richardson was a mixed bag of mediocre for the Indianapolis Colts in preseason Week 1
Late in the second quarter, however, Richardson "completed" a pass but only after New England had two attempts to intercept the pass. The throw was a poor one; one that was an example of why the Colts can never trust Richardson to be a good and efficient quarterback.
He can zip the ball to a receiver, and he can run with speed and power, but he also makes critical mistakes that would cost his team games.
In the half he played against New England, he fumbled the ball after another solid designed run, but he held the ball like a loaf of bread. The quarterback could have slid down, but he tried to stay upright for meaningless reasons. His doing so is an inexcusable mistake for a quarterback in his fourth year.
After Richardson's offense went scoreless for much of the first half, Indianapolis did score with 1:04 left. Richardson threw a screen pass to set up his one-yard touchdown run, and by doing so, his passer rating looked much better. Overall, he did complete most of his passes, though many were of the shorter variety against the Patriots' backups.
If Richardson had been forced into action against a team's starters, the result would likely have been an ugly one. He still showed poor decision-making and often made a more difficult play out of an easy one. He seems bent on trying to look splashy instead of efficient, and that is a miserable place for a quarterback.
The issue for the Indianapolis Colts is that Anthony Richardson did nothing to show another team he is worth trading for. He will likely remain Indy's project, but one the team should move to QB3 and then let walk in free agency next offseason.
Add us as a preferred source on Google