Colts QB Anthony Richardson Sr. is just 24 years old but already facing a critical preseason

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. turned 24 years old in May. And yet, it seems like his NFL career is slipping away fast.

Richardson was the fourth pick of the NFL Draft just three years ago. According to the Colts’ depth chart he is currently on equal footing for the team’s backup quarterback job with Riley Leonard, a sixth-round pick from a year ago who was benched in favor of 44-year-old Philip Rivers coming out of retirement late last season. When the Colts put out their depth chart on Monday, it listed the QB2 behind Daniel Jones as Richardson or Leonard. Colts coach Shane Steichen hasn’t said which quarterback will start Thursday’s preseason opener for the team, but both will play most of the game.

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This clearly wasn’t part of the plan when the Colts made one of the biggest draft gambles in recent memory with Richardson, a raw and inexperienced quarterback out of Florida who had an athletic profile that was off the charts. After 15 NFL starts, we’re already projecting which team will give Richardson his second chance.

Whenever Richardson does play this preseason, it’s going to be very important for him to play well.

Anthony Richardson Sr. battling for a spot somewhere

Richardson made a trade request in February, but no deal has happened and also seems unlikely to happen six months later.

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It’s hard to say where it all leaves Richardson. Jones is without any question the Colts’ starter. Leonard is at least tied with Richardson on the depth chart. If Richardson can’t beat him out, perhaps the Colts just admit the mistake and release him before the season.

Some team would take a shot at fixing him if he is cut. We’ve seen flashes of the talent that made Richardson a top four pick, and he still has the impressive size, arm strength and athleticism at a young age. We’ve seen other highly drafted quarterbacks take advantage of a second chance elsewhere.

But it needs to be a complete reboot. Richardson hasn’t shown NFL-level accuracy yet. He has just a 50.6% completion percentage. His decision making hasn’t been great, which shouldn’t have been a big surprise after just 13 college starts. He probably should have been a mid- or late-round pick who could develop slowly, instead of having the burden of being such a high pick and playing right away. And not that Richardson needed more questions on his ledger, but he has even had issues catching shotgun snaps this training camp.

And on top of all of the flaws in Richardson’s game, there is his injury history too.

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Richardson’s injury history

Richardson suffered a fractured orbital bone when he was hit in the face by a resistance band in pregame warmups. He was out for two months, and when he came back Colts coach Shane Steichen said he still had some vision limitations. Over the weekend, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said that Richardson might still be dealing with issues with his vision.

That’s a question teams will have to answer when and if Richardson becomes available. Richardson already had other injury issues that slowed his development.

Unless Richardson wins the No. 2 job in Indianapolis and gets a chance to play in the regular season, he might be down to a few preseason games to put something positive on tape for other teams to look at. Or to save his career in Indianapolis, though he has already said he wants out. A poor preseason would give other teams even more hesitancy to invest in him, other than a blind bet on his draft pedigree.

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There aren’t many quarterbacks drafted as highly as Richardson who have washed out of the NFL after just 15 starts. The Colts threw in the towel quickly, pivoting to Jones last offseason. It looked even worse for Richardson when Jones played very well before his Achilles injury.

Richardson is in danger of fading further into obscurity even though he has fewer than what amounts to a full season of NFL starts. Had everything worked out as planned for his career, he’d be sitting out this preseason, staying healthy for his start in the regular season opener.

Instead, Richardson has three preseason games ahead of him to make a new impression on his team or anyone else thinking about giving him a second chance if he gets released, or perhaps even in a low-cost trade. At age 24, he has already reached a critical juncture in his career.