NFL Report; Why Anthony Richardson American football Quarterback for Indianapolis Colts will miss the game against Denver Broncos…
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson has had a whirlwind second season that has included extreme highs and some severe lows.
After an incredible amount of hype entering his second season, things did not go according to plan throughout the first half of the campaign. Richardson seemingly regressed from the small sample size of his rookie season, and he again battled injuries.
Eventually, Richardson was benched in order to catch his breath before the season got too far out of hand.
However, the struggles of veteran Joe Flacco forced the Colts to go back to Richardson after just two games on the bench.
Richardson has looked far better over the last three games since regaining the starting role, playing with much more poise and control. It also led to a shocking admission from general manager Chris Ballard.
“Looking back on it, I wish we hadn’t played him as a rookie,” Ballard told The Athletic. “John Dorsey (a longtime personnel man) called me and said, ‘Don’t play him.’ John had had the great wisdom from Green Bay, where they sat all those quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers backed up Brett Favre for three seasons, and Jordan Love sat behind Rodgers for two years).
And as they mature and get older, they pick up habits that we were expecting Anthony to have from the get-go.”
It made sense at the time that the Colts wanted Richardson to get as much exposure as possible during his rookie season after he had only 13 starts at the collegiate level.
But after Ballard saw what it meant for Richardson to slow things down and actually learn what it’s like to work every week as a starting quarterback in the NFL, there may be some truth to the notion that Richardson should have taken a Jordan Love-esque path.
Since coming back from his benching, Richardson has completed 52% of his passes for 553 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and a 74.2 passer rating. He’s also taking 29 carries for 141 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.