There's no denying that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson has a very hot seat as training camp begins this week. The quarterback with all the potential in the world and almost unlimited upside has not been able to turn that into reality yet, and now, has to compete with Daniel Jones for the QB1 spot in what is likely a make-or-break year.
His situation only got worse when he injured his shoulder during OTAs, meaning he had to sit out - and Jones got all the reps. He has been cleared to play during training camp, but it's still not known how much he'll be able to participate on Day 1, and he has a lot he will need to prove right away. And it seems that one NFL legend doesn't think he can do it.
Hall-of-Famer Shannon Sharpe is one of the greatest tight ends of all time, and evidently, he doesn't have the best opinion of AR5. On a new episode of his podcast, "Nightcap," he and Chad "OchoCinco" Johnson held absolutely nothing back. The two discussed the reports from Indianapolis about Richardson, and Sharpe argued that the problem isn't Richardson's shoulder - it's that he was never all that good to begin with.
"He ain't never been a marksman"
"Anthony Richardson's shoulder is reportedly believed to be recovered from the setback," Sharpe began. "AR underwent season ending surgery on his AC joint in his rookie season of 2023. He reported experiencing soreness in the shoulder during the spring, and missed the last two weeks of the club's offseason practices. He's in an open competition to be the Colts' starter with Daniel Jones. AR completed just 48% of his passes in '24, 1,800 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 499 yards and six touchdowns. Ocho, I saw something today. I don't know if it's true, but they showed his numbers from the time he was a quarterback in high school, right? Ninth grade, 10th, 11th, and at Florida. Ocho, he ain't never been a marksman. He's a 40, 50% completion guy."
To make matters worse, Sharpe added a pretty discouraging comparison... and that is how Richardson's completion percentage is worse than Tim Tebow's. Ouch.
However, not everything was bad news from Sharpe. He also said that there is still the potential - the magic keyword we always hear about Richardson - for improvement, but he has to be willing to put in the work.
"You can't want something more for him than he wants it for himself"
"At some point in time, it's just not about potential. Potential is not going to get it done. Potential just means you haven't done anything yet. One time, Anthony Richardson is going to have to take advantage of that 6'4", 244-pound frame that's running 4.5," he said. "Those are good measurables. But I can't win a championship with measurables. I win games with results, and those results aren't happening now."
Johnson said he's still rooting for Richardson, but that he'll need to figure out what it is that's holding him back. "I would love to see him take it serious. I would love them to live out their childhood dreams, and not just make a team based on potential or looking like you got it," he said. "Having that 'it' factor based on measurables that have nothing to do with winning games. I hope whatever's going on with Anthony Richardson... I just want to see him succeed. I would love to see him succeed."
But Sharpe interjected with possibly the most important point, arguing, "But you can't want something more for him than he wants it for himself."
Perhaps the entire problem has been that Richardson just hasn't had the drive yet, and the competition with Jones will push him to new heights. That seems unlikely, though, and how much reassurance would that actually be, anyway? The insinuation would then be that he's been capable, but hasn't cared enough to put in the effort until his job was on the line - and is winning football games in the NFL not enough motivation in and of itself? It would be much more of a relief to know that there was an issue with the fundamentals that he was able to fix this offseason, or that he needed more time, or literally anything else than he just didn't care enough.
The best-case scenario for the Colts continues to be that Richardson somehow gets his game together and becomes the all-star quarterback he seemingly has the potential to be.