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The Colts Name Anthony Richardson as the Top Backup (QB-2) Behind Starter Daniel Jones
(By James Boyd)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/756...riley-leonard/
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen announced on Thursday that Anthony Richardson will be the team’s top back-up quarterback. Richardson, the Colts’ 1st-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, competed with 2025 6th-round pick Riley Leonard throughout training camp to serve as QB-2 behind starter Daniel Jones.
Early on, it seemed as if Leonard had the edge in the competition, but Richardson’s superior play in the pre-season seems to have won him the job.
“I was honored,” Richardson said of being told that he had been named the Colts’ top back-up. “I’m just thankful that they believe in me enough to promote me to QB-2. I’m just ready to work, willing to work for this team and provide my best self for this squad.”
Richardson completed 21 of 33 passes for 249 yards with 0 TD's and 1 INT in 3 pre-season games. He also had 10 carries for 68 yards and a TD, and lost one fumble while running. Leonard, meanwhile, completed 20 of 42 passes for 199 yards, 0 TD's and 1 INT's. He added 6 carries for 17 yards and fumbled 2 snaps, though neither was lost.
Richardson winning the top back-up job for the Colts is the latest turn of what has been a roller-coaster career for him with Indianapolis. Just in the past year or so alone, Richardson lost his starting job to Jones, then nearly lost an eye after breaking his orbital bone in a freak, pre-game accident last season. Then, to start the off-season, Richardson formally requested a trade. The 24-year-old was seemingly looking for a fresh start in a new NFL city. However, no trade materialized, with GM Chris Ballard saying in late July that Indianapolis was not going to “give him away.”
Richardson’s trade request has remained intact throughout training camp and the pre-season, but assistant GM Ed Dodds strongly hinted in mid-August that the Colts were intending to keep Richardson.
“I think that you take care of your own team first,” Dodds said. “We want to have 3 quarterbacks who can play. So, if Richardson is one of them, he’s going to be here.”
A few weeks later, Ballard said that he fully expected Richardson to remain with the team this year.
“I’ve been pretty consistent with Anthony,” Ballard said on Monday, 3 days before Steichen named Richardson the top back-up. “We forget how young he is sometimes. We're really proud of his growth ...… there were 2 times in camp that I said, ‘OK, he’s starting to really show some poise.’ The 2-minute against New England ...... remember, we’re backed up. I think that there were 38 seconds left on the clock, and he gets us into field-goal range to give us a chance to get points. And then during the Atlanta scrimmage, he had a tremendous 2-minute drill also, so it’s been fun to watch Anthony’s growth.”
In other Colts news, the team announced 5 team captains ...... Jones, left guard Quenton Nelson, running back Jonathan Taylor, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and safety Cam Bynum. Jones has been a captain 8 times in his career, including last year with the Colts.
Buckner is also an 8-time captain, including the past 6 consecutive seasons with Indianapolis. Nelson, too, has been a captain for 6 consecutive seasons in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, Taylor will be a Colts captain for the 3rd time in his career, and Bynum will be a captain for the first time.
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