Wild card in Anthony Richardson decision

[Kray007]

[QUOTE=apballin;347342]It wasn’t a busted coverage they weren’t expecting the rookie to have the balls to make that throw[/QUOTE

Tremon Smith simply abandoned coverage of Pierce and let him run by.. I’m not sure that that isn’t the definition of busted coverage.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

Not true ...... they were going with Leonard, but he had a knee injury that left his availability in doubt for the Seattle game. That was what led to Rivers, and his performance in the first game earned him a second start.

o


So the Colts were down to their 4th-string quarterback, and they nearly beat the eventually Super Bowl champions on their home-field in Seattle ...... one game is clearly a small sample size, but I believe that it exemplified the fact that the the Colts were a complete, competitive team that was not overly-dependent on an all-world quarterback such as Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck.

If the Colts don't have the same horrible luck in regard to QB injuries this upcoming season, perhaps we can see whether or not they can complete an entire season of being a bonafide conference championship contender for the first time since the 2020 Philip Rivers season.

o

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Kray007

Let’s play what if with Anthony Richardson. I’ll admit that there are a lot of what if’s, but when you start talking about him, there are a few givens. He’s got incredible size and athleticism. He’s truly capable of doing things that few Quarterbacks are capable of. He’s 24 years old, young by NFL standards. He hasn’t exactly carved out a reputation for diligence and dedication to his craft. He’s injury prone, and he’s had problems with accuracy and anticipation.

Let’s start out with the simplest what if. What if he’s healthy. What if the vision problems clear up? If they don’t, he has no market value, no one is going to sign him, much less part with draft capital for him.

Second, let’s assume that all the hours he spent working with coaches in the past two off-seasons pays off and he is able to hit the broad side of a barn at 20 yards.

What if he’s healthy has a good training camp and looks competent in preseason action?

What if Daniel Jones misses 3 or so games, Richardson goes in and they win 2 or 3. What if he completes 60% of his passes, puts up some td’s, eliminates errors, and demonstrates that he has the potential to develop into a quality NFL Quarterback?

In a free agent market usually devoid of quality at the position, what is he worth?

In 2026, losing a player who signed for $6 Million per season got you a 6th round pick.
A player getting $10.5 Million got a 5th.
For $16 Million, you got a 4th.
And losing a guy who received $25 Million was good for a 3rd.

This could be the biggest factor in the whole thing. I mean we were likely looking like a day 3 pick when he had 2 good eyes. So if his eyesight hasn't fully recovered then there's no way anyone would part w/ any draft capital at all.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Kray007

I look at the start of last season and ask what more would Ballard critics ask for?

They played the last half of the season without their best 3 players on D. Plus, plan A and Plan B at Quarterback went down. The closest parallel I can think of is last year’s Chiefs, who managed to score 30’odd points in 3 games after Mahomes and the backup went down.

As far as this coming season goes, barring injury to Jones and reasonable health all around, I see an 11 or 12 win team.

How about more than 1/2 of a good season in 5 years?

[apballin]

[QUOTE=Kray007;347348]

Originally Posted by apballin

It wasn’t a busted coverage they weren’t expecting the rookie to have the balls to make that throw[/QUOTE

Tremon Smith simply abandoned coverage of Pierce and let him run by.. I’m not sure that that isn’t the definition of busted coverage.

He abandoned Pierce because he got greedy and he assumed the rookie was throwing short.

I’m sure the scouting report was, he can’t throw they don’t trust him so if he does throw it’ll be all short passes. Be ready to jump all short passes and get a couple pick 6s.

They totally shut Taylor down and dared Leonard to beat them and if Pierce doesn’t get ejected he absolutely was gonna beat them

[YDFL Commish]

Who is willing to wait 7 years for Marshall Manning to become our QB?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...video-training

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

Who is willing to wait 7 years for Marshall Manning to become our QB ???



https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...video-training

o


It's fine with waiting 7 years for Marshall Manning to become our quarterback ...... as long as the Colts win 2 or 3 conference championships in the meantime.

o

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

Who is willing to wait 7 years for Marshall Manning to become our QB?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...video-training

I would say Ballard, given his penchant for having 7,8, 10 or so year "plans" to be competitive. However, I will not volunteer Ballard as being that person, because despite my expectation and dismay at him likely still being our GM in 7 years, and with every expectation Manning would be the consensus #1 and we would have #1 pick, because ummmm Ballard is our 17 year GM with zero division titles, I would expect Ballard in that situation, to trade down.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


Colts Decline Anthony Richardson’s 5th-Year Option Amid QB’s Trade Request

(By James Boyd)

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/724...h-year-option/



The Indianapolis Colts declined the 5th-year option on quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr.’s rookie contract, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Friday. The Colts had until Friday to exercise Richardson’s fifth-year option that would have paid the 2023 No. 4 pick a fully guaranteed $22.5 Million in 2027, per Over the Cap. Now, he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent next year.

FOX59 was first to report that the Colts declined Richardson’s 5th-year option.

4 QBs were selected in the 1st round in 2023 ...... No. 1 pick Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers, No. 2 pick C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans, and Richardson. Richardson is the only one who did not have his 5th-year option picked up.

The Colts’ decision to decline the fifth-year option on Richardson’s contract was expected, which further signals that his tumultuous tenure with the franchise is likely coming to an end. It’s just a matter of when. The 23-year-old requested a trade in February after three underwhelming seasons in Indianapolis, but the Colts have been unable to strike a deal.

Richardson was limited to 15 starts (8-7) through his first 2 years with the Colts due to injuries, inaccuracy and immaturity. He lost the starting job to Daniel Jones last year. Jones, who played on a one-year, $14 Million contract in 2025, led Indianapolis to an 8-2 start that placed the team atop the AFC standings before fracturing his left fibula and tearing his right Achilles tendon. Despite those injuries, the Colts placed the transition tag on Jones this offseason and then re-signed him on a 2-year, $88 Million deal that solidified him as the team’s QB of the future.

The Colts’ organizational pivot away from Richardson was years in the making. Richardson showed promise as a rookie, scoring seven total TDs in his first four games (three passing and four rushing) while completing 59.5 percent of his passes. But Richardson’s first year was cut short after he suffered a severe AC joint sprain in his right (throwing) shoulder that required surgery.

Richardson returned for the 2024 campaign, but his performance took a noticeable dip as he finished with a 47.7 completion percentage, the lowest mark in the NFL and the lowest in Colts history. He was limited to 11 games because of injuries and a 2-game benching that came on the heels of him tapping out of a game against the Houston Texans because he was “tired.” Richardson’s request for a sub, something QBs rarely do unless they’re injured, was viewed as a cardinal sin by some of his teammates and drew league-wide criticism.

Veteran Joe Flacco replaced Richardson as the starting QB, but after Flacco played poorly and the Colts lost back-to-back games, Richardson was reinserted into the starting lineup. In his return, Richardson authored the best performance of his career in a road win against the New York Jets. He had 3 total touchdowns (one passing and two rushing), highlighted by the game-winning, 4-yard TD run with 46 seconds left. He also completed 20-of-30 passes for 272 yards.

Richardson, however, was unable to string together enough strong performances to become the team’s unquestioned starter. At the end of his second season, Colts general manager Chris Ballard declared an open quarterback competition with a to-be-determined challenger, which wound up being Jones. It took Jones only a few months to supplant Richardson as QB1, winning the job by the end of training camp.

Richardson entered the 2025 campaign as Jones’ backup, but he suffered an orbital fracture during a pregame warmup accident in October that required surgery and left him with impaired vision in his right eye. He remained on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Richardson’s representatives provided the Colts with medical documentation in February, around the same time his trade request became public, that showed the dual-threat QB has since regained “20/20 vision” when using both of his eyes, league sources told The Athletic. But when Ballard was asked last month if Richardson had regained his full vision, the GM was less definitive.

“He’s still recovering a little bit, but he’s cleared for activity and doing everything,” Ballard said. “So, I think he’s in a good spot.”

o

Someone needs to fire this editor. It says 4 QBs were drafted (there were just 3) in the first round, and named the three. Any good editor would have caught this and made the correction.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

Someone needs to fire this editor. It says 4 QBs were drafted (there were just 3) in the 1st round, and named the three. Any good editor would have caught this and made the correction.

o


That was my fault. Even though I cut-and-pasted the article, I typed in "4" in when he had "three" written out because I did a bit of touch-up editing myself. I prefer numbers instead of words, even though words are grammatically correct for single-digit numbers.

Sorry ...... I'll repost it correctly.

o