On draft night, the word “raw” followed Anthony Richardson everywhere. He had one full season as the starter at Florida. He was drafted not for polish, but for traits – arguably some of the most rare physical tools we’ve ever seen at the position.
This is the type of athletic ceiling that made him a top-five pick:
Fifteen NFL starts later, the Colts appear ready to move on.
Developmental quarterbacks take time. Richardson was drafted for ceiling, not readiness. If I’m a quarterback-needy general manager, I’m calling immediately. A 23-year-old former top-five pick with elite arm strength and rare athleticism does not become available often – especially at a discount. It’s a risk, as the title says, but it’s a risk worth taking if the price is right.
This throw here is unbelievable, and shows a flash of that amazing arm talent:
Also add in the fact he will now have a chip on his shoulder with his original team moving on from him so soon. Moving on suggests the Colts believe a safer option provides more certainty. I’m not so sure Daniel Jones coming off a torn Achilles is going to be the long-term answer either. Availability matters – and I understand Richardson has not been – but durability for mobile quarterbacks is often learned, not innate (minus the eye injury from the exercise band which was off the field).
I feel like this is a broader league trend of giving up on QB’s too soon. We hear all the time how QB in the NFL is so tough to play, how defenses and the game moves so much quicker, and how learning playbooks can take time. And yet? We see a trend of teams moving on way too quickly from QB’s. Even the Browns moved on from Baker Mayfield, the only quarterback to deliver them sustained competence in years. Sam Darnold bounced around on a few teams, and now he’s a Super Bowl winning QB. Even Josh Allen needed a few years before he became the Josh Allen we know today.
I think part of the reason teams are too quick to move on is the short leashes coaches may have. Coaches are under so much pressure to win, and win fast, or the organization may move on. Coaches, especially new hires, rarely get multi-year grace periods. When a coach is managing for job security, development becomes a luxury. And developmental quarterbacks often become collateral damage in the pursuit of immediate results. The NFL doesn’t always seem to have the patience it pretends to when it drafts these “developmental” guys.
When a team drafts a traits-based QB that they say they understand needs time to develop, do they actually mean it? Or are they hoping he develops faster than history suggests? Because if you aren’t prepared for uneven football, you shouldn’t draft upside. Because upside, by definition, requires patience. We’ll see if Anthony Richardson becomes a new QB that was given up on too soon.
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