Jaguars' division foe presses panic button in light of Anthony Richardson's struggles
The Jacksonville Jaguars are 2-6 and barely holding onto their season, but their division foes aren't doing much better. The Indianapolis Colts, in particular, are making a change at quarterback after losing to the Houston Texans in Week 8 in an effort to stay afloat.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Indy will bench Anthony Richardson and will roll with Joe Flacco at quarterback.
A QB change for the Colts: Indianapolis is benching former first-round pick Anthony Richardson and turning to veteran Joe Flacco, sources tell @FowlerESPN and me. Coaches met this morning and made the seismic organizational decision to change QBs. pic.twitter.com/uqANJwOwr4
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 29, 2024
Richardson made waves after Week 8 because he took himself out of the game, pointing out that he was tired. That's virtually unheard of in the NFL. While it's common to see players not give a full effort, it's rare that they will outright accept it.
In the Colts' case, it looks like they're looking to stay afloat with Flacco at the helm. All things considered, this is a puzzling decision. This season, Flacco is 1-1, with the loss coming to the Jags in Week 5.
When Indianapolis drafted Richardson fourth overall in 2023, they knew that he was somewhat raw coming out of college and would need ample reps. Surprisingly, the former Florida Gator thrived early as a rookie but a shoulder injury cut his first NFL campaign short.
Expected to make a leap in 2024, Richardson has instead stagnated. In his defense, his supporting cast has been less than stellar, maybe that led the Colts' brass to make the decision, but he won't be getting any better watching from the sidelines.
The Colts are trying to stay in the playoff race with Joe Flacco at the helm
At 4-4, the Indianapolis Colts are two games behind the Houston Texans in the division race. They must believe they have a shot at either winning the AFC South or at least clinching a playoff seed as a wild card. Last year, they managed to stay competitive with Gardner Minshew at the helm. They probably think that Joe Flacco can help them stay afloat. The issue is that they're doing it at the expense of Anthony Richardson's development.
All things considered, Richardson has played well. Granted, he's got plenty of room for improvement, but that's true for most young quarterbacks. In total, he's made 10 career starts. That's too small of a sample to come up with a definite conclusion.
Of Anthony Richardson's 22 incompletions yesterday, I counted 7 bad throws
— Eli (@degenEli) October 28, 2024
Hit the receiver in the hands on 8 of those 22
Hit as he was throwing on 6
With a couple of "wtf was that route" thrown in there
Not sold on him being the future, but it's too early to say he's a bust. pic.twitter.com/Atu1dCaamq
On the other hand, maybe Richardson will benefit from taking a step back. The trouble with that approach is that benching him could affect his confidence. That's a calculated risk the Colts will need to take. For the time being, based on the decision to bench him, it looks like they don't think they can win games with him at the helm.
Whether the Indianapolis Colts can win with Joe Flacco behind center remains to be seen. However, it's fair to say that things haven't played out the way they envisioned when they drafted Anthony Richardson.
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