When I sat down to start thinking about this article last night, I was prepared to give all of the reasons why the Colts should start Joe Flacco going forward. Then, this afternoon, Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler reported the only logical and reasonable move the Colts had: the benching of Anthony Richardson.

The conflicting discourse online among both Colts fans and NFL fans makes sense. On one hand, Anthony Richarson was drafted 4th overall in 2023 to be the future of the franchise. He has the physical tools to be a menace in this league, and best way for him to get reps is by starting. The Colts drafted him not for what he was, which was a supremely raw prospect who had barely played any high-level football. He’s their future, but as has become increasingly obvious, he cannot be their present.

Which brings us to the other hand: As mentioned, Richardson is extremely raw. He’s made a total of 23 starts in college and the NFL combined. To compound the issue, he made those 13 college starts at the University of Florida, which, at the moment with their current coaching staff, isn’t exactly a breeding ground for NFL-ready talent. That’s actually the very argument I made when others were quick to judge the pick. But, even when you consider that Richardson’s rookie season was cut short due to injury, it seems that he has regressed significantly in year two. His completion percentage is down to 44.4% from 59.5% in his rookie season. He’s thrown 7 INTs in six games this season, as opposed to 1 in four starts in 2023 – and that 44.4% completion rate is generous when you consider that he’s completed a lowly 35% of his passes in the last two games. Anthony Richardson’s calling card is his ability to hit the big play – his 60-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce in the season opener could be the throw of the year, but to put it as simply as I POSSIBLY can, the big play doesn’t matter if you can’t make the fundamental, easy throw, and that is where Richardson struggles mightily.

The Colts struggle to move the ball on offense, despite having a lot of impact players on that side of the ball. Richardson routinely misses the easy throws, forces the ball to his primary read even if they’re not open, and looks for the deep ball a bit too often. He struggles to hit receivers in the numbers, and frequently misses receivers on short slants or drag routes by several feet. Last Sunday against the division rival Texans, Richardson made one of the worst decisions he could possibly make. There was 25 seconds to go in the first half. The game was tied, and the Colts were set to receive the 2nd half kickoff. Indianaoplis had the ball in the shadow of their own goal line, and Richardson dropped back and forced the ball into double coverage for the easy interception. Houston would find the endzone on the very next play and take a 17-10 lead into half and never looked back, winning the game 23-20.

The final nail in his coffin, however, probably came a couple of minutes earlier. With 2:43 to go in the 2nd quarter, Richardson tapped his helmet in the middle of a drive, signaling his desire to come out of the game. It was seemingly inconsequential in the moment, as Joe Flacco came in and handed the ball off to the running back on the next play. That’s when Richardson entered the game again and played the rest of the game. Controversy stirred during postgame when Richardson was asked about the moment and responded with, “Tired. I ain’t going to lie.” Richardson removed himself from the game for being tired. This garnered quite a reaction from the media, with analysts including Rex Ryan, Dan Orlovsky and Pat McAfee criticized the decision, calling it “unacceptable”. Dan Orlovsky – a former NFL quarterback in his own right – even went so far as to say, “When it comes to physical exertion, no one’s job is easier on game day than the quarterbacks. I can’t fathom Anthony saying this…” If Anthony Richardson was tired, he could’ve called a timeout, he could’ve handed the ball off on the following play, or, with just minutes left in the half, he could’ve stuck it out and regrouped at half. Many viewed it as a sign of mental immaturity to go with his on-the-field shortcomings.

None of that even accounts for the bigger picture. The Richardson INT came late in the first half of a tie game. It led directly to a touchdown and Houston went on to win by 3. If Indy had won that game, they would’ve pulled into a tie with Houston for first place in the AFC South. Richardson finished the game 10-32 for 175 yards with one touchdown, one of the worst interceptions you’ll ever see, and a QBR just north of 30. The fact of the matter is that was an important game for the Colts and Richardson quite literally threw it away.

Richardson may have absurd physical gifts, but he’s simply not ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL…and there’s nothing wrong with that. Plenty of great NFL quarterbacks sat on the bench at first and learned as the backup. Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Steve Young, Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts, to name a few. Even Jameis Winston seems to have flourished in a backup role for New Orleans and Cleveland.

It baffles me that, until now, Indianapolis has been so incredibly adamant about starting Richardson from day 1, when was admittedly one of the rawest and least experienced quarterbacks to ever be taken in the first round. Maybe it was wishful thinking, or maybe it was desperation to be off of the veteran QB carousel they’d be on for the previous several seasons since the retirement of Andrew Luck, but Indianapolis reached for a project QB who simply wasn’t ready. My theory? CJ Stroud has ruined rookie QBs for the rest of the NFL. The way that Stroud (and Jayden Daniels this year) entered the NFL and immediately started winning seemingly ruined the very clear learning curve for other young QBs. But CJ Stroud and Jayden Daniels are the exceptions, not the rules. Even so, the difference there is, CJ Stroud, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Caleb Williams – all of these young QBs had significant college experience. They were ready for the next level. Right now, Richardson isn’t.

At 4-4, a playoff run is a real possibility for the Colts, and in case head coach Shane Steichen has forgotten, his job as an NFL head coach is to win games. He’s stated previously this season that the best way for Richardson to grow and learn is to play in games, and he may be right, but right now, Indianapolis has a good roster that can win now with a serviceable quarterback…and Joe Flacco is more than serviceable. He led the Browns to a playoff appearance last season at 38-years old and came out of semi-retirement midseason to do it. When talking about Richardson’s gifts, the first thing that many people say is his big arm. But they seemingly forget that Flacco has a big arm of his own and can do one clear thing that his second-year counterpart cannot: complete passes. Joe Flacco (though he doesn’t yet qualify since he’s only played in 3 games this season), has a QBR in his limited action that would tie him with Josh Allen for the 4th-best in the NFL. Richardson is currently ranked 27th out of 30 qualified quarterbacks. This comes a year after Flacco started six games for the Cleveland Browns in 2023 (including the playoffs) and averaged 320,5 passing yards per game. In his career, Richardson is averaging just 153.5 per game.

As I stated above, Shane Steichen is an NFL head coach. He’s not an offensive coordinator/QB coach anymore. His primary objective is to win games. He may be concerned with developing Richardson, but if you don’t win games, you won’t be around to see him develop. Plus, Steichen is a risk taker. Since Steichen took over the headset, the Colts have been one of the most aggressive teams on 4th down, and if you’re going to be a risk-taking play caller, you have to have someone who can reliably make those plays, and right now, that’s Flacco.

So, in the end, I believe the Colts made the right decision. I understand the pushback, but Richardson simply isn’t ready. This may be a case, like Brady or Rodgers, where he needs a few years to sit and learn, it may be a case like Peyton Manning who set an NFL rookie record in interceptions, then figures it out, or God forbid, he could be another JaMarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf or Josh Rosen and the Colts just missed on this one. Time will tell, but the Colts, and more importantly Steichen must move forward with the guy who can do the fundamental things and win games. Anthony Richardson may be their quarterback of the future, bust he’s not the quarterback of their present.