Third string, and counting
Anthony Richardson opened training camp as the third quarterback on the Indianapolis depth chart, behind Riley Leonard and Daniel Jones. Two years ago he was the fourth overall pick. That fall has been fast. Scattershot accuracy and repeated injuries chipped away at the case for his rare athletic tools, and the Colts have looked elsewhere.
Richardson, 24, says he will take any role. He even called the work with the third team and the deep reserves a positive. The words sound right. The situation looks bleak.
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How it unraveled
Rewind a year and Richardson was battling Jones for the starting job. That fight ended quickly. An eye injury cost him most of the second half of the season, and when Jones tore his Achilles in November, Indianapolis leaned on Leonard before coaxing Philip Rivers out of retirement to start. Richardson threw two passes all year and played in two games. Across 17 career games he has completed 50.6 percent of his throws, with 11 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and 10 rushing scores.
A trade request in limbo
The Colts doubled down on Jones this offseason. They used the franchise tag to keep him, then worked out a two-year deal, and that pushed Richardson to ask general manager Chris Ballard for a trade. Nothing has moved yet. “I haven’t really talked to my agent about that recently,” Richardson said. “I’m just here right now, trying to make sure I can stamp my foot on this team and be the best version of myself I can be.” For a former top-five pick still only 24, the market will decide what comes next.
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