A stunning fall
Third string. That is where the fourth overall pick of the 2023 draft now finds himself. Anthony Richardson is buried on the Indianapolis depth chart, stuck behind Riley Leonard and Daniel Jones. Franchise savior to backup’s backup in the space of a couple of years, and few slides come this steep.
The tape and the box score point the same direction. Richardson is 24 and still a jaw-dropping athlete, yet scattershot accuracy and a body that keeps breaking down have hollowed out his stock. Across 17 NFL games he has completed 50.6% of his throws, tossed 11 touchdowns against 13 interceptions, and run for 10 more scores. From a top-four pick, that ledger does not cut it.
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Signing Daniel Jones flipped the whole thing
Rewind a year and Richardson was still trading snaps with Daniel Jones for the starting gig. That fight fizzled fast. An eye injury swallowed most of his season, and once Jones ruptured his Achilles in November, the Colts leaned first on Leonard and then, remarkably, coaxed Philip Rivers out of retirement. Richardson? Two passes, two cameos, all of 2025.
Then the offseason drew the pecking order in ink. Indianapolis franchise-tagged Jones and followed it with a two-year extension. Richardson, stewing, walked into Chris Ballard’s office and asked for a trade.
An uncertain future
Nothing has budged yet. “I have not really spoken to my agent recently, so I am not totally sure where things stand,” Richardson said a few hours ago. He still wants to help, he says, reserves role and all.
Quarterback markets never sit still, though. One snapped tendon on another roster and the phone rings. Time is on his side at 24. In Indianapolis, meanwhile, that exit door has already cracked open.
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