Colts bench Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco: Was the surprising decision the right one?

One day after head coach Shane Steichen’s cryptic remarks regarding quarterback Anthony Richardson, the Indianapolis Colts are reportedly benching the 22-year-old for veteran Joe Flacco. While Richardson has struggled over his 10 career starts, this decision was met with criticisms from the fan base. Is it the right one?

Before the start of the season, I wrote a rebuttal to the Anthony Richardson hype. Everyone was focused on the potential instead of a more negative outcome. A question I had is “can he develop quick enough?” Through six starts this year, it’s clear the Colts don’t think he has. Still, is sitting him right now the best course of action? 

Let’s take a look at this situation:

1. What went down in Houston?

I went back and watched every snap from the Colts’ 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. In my opinion, this wasn’t the “let’s give up on Richardson” game. The receivers let him down a couple times, the offensive line didn’t have a day to remember and the play-calling felt off. Was it Steichen or Richardson that was completely set on trying to hit the big play? 

According to CBS Sports researcher Doug Clawson, Richardson’s 12.5% off-target rate vs. the Texans was his lowest all year, and he had eight incompletions on throws of 15+ air yards that were either dropped, defended or came via miscommunication. It was the highest total of any quarterback in a game this season. Still, these issues don’t hide the fact that Richardson struggled.

In all, the second-year signal-caller completed 10 of 32 passes for 175 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The one touchdown was a 69-yard completion to a wide-open Josh Downs that came on a ridiculous blown coverage. In the first half, Richardson completed just two passes to his team, and one to the wrong team. That’s right, Richardson went 2 of 15 in the first two quarters. His 13% completion percentage was the lowest in any half by a quarterback since Steve Beuerlein in 1991. Richardson actually has an issue getting going, as he’s completed 6 of 28 passes in the first half over the last two games. That’s a 21% completion percentage. 

Then, there was the situation in the third quarter where Richardson left the game because he was “tired.” Naturally, social media savants had a field day with his quote, but it rubbed the Colts the wrong way too.

“We had a conversation about it this morning in the quarterback room, which I’ll keep private,” Steichen said, via the Indy Star. “But obviously, in those situations, he knows on those type of deals, you can’t take yourself out. To learn and experience more, he’s got to grow from it.”

Colts center Ryan Kelly also said it was “a tough look.” 

“We had a conversation about it,” Kelly said. “I think he knows it’s not the standard that he needs to play up to, or the rest of the team holds him to.  I’ll kind of leave the conversation that we had at that, but I’m sure he’s going to take criticism for that, and rightfully so. That’s a tough look, but he’s also out there giving it all for his team.”

Did this have anything to do with Tuesday’s decision?

2. The struggles

Through eight weeks, Richardson has completed an NFL-low 44.4% of his passes. It’s the lowest completion percentage since Akili Smith completed 44.2% of his passes in 12 games played in 2000. But, Richardson also leads the league in yards per completion with 16.2. 

It’s clear that this dynamic weapon is not developing like Colts fans hoped for. Richardson has thrown four touchdowns compared to seven interceptions, and has the second-highest interception percentage (5.3%) in the NFL behind Will Levis. Looking at some advanced passing stats, Richardson has the worst on-target percentage in the NFL (47.2%), and the second-highest bad throw percentage (20.5%) behind Caleb Williams.

Anthony Richardson completion % figures

3. Should Richardson be benched?

If the Colts want to win right now, then Flacco is the better quarterback, yes. In the three total games with two starts he filled in for Richardson this season, the reigning Comeback Player of the Year completed 65.7% of his passes for 716 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception. But are the 4-4 Colts trying to contend this year, or develop the quarterback they believe could be the face of the franchise? That’s not a rhetorical question either. Jim Irsay probably wants to win right now, but Richardson is a young player who hasn’t even started a full 10 games! 

Richardson has made just 23 career starts across his college and NFL career. His 13 starts in college were tied with Mitchell Trubisky for the fewest by a first-round pick QB since 2000. We all knew Richardson was a raw prospect that needed time to develop, which is why I wasn’t anticipating this decision right now. What does this do for his confidence? What does it do for his development?

Whatever Colts decision-makers saw on tape or have noticed in the locker room, they clearly believe Richardson could benefit from a soft reset. We haven’t even made it through the first chapter of the “Anthony Richardson story,” which is why benching him right now is surprising.