The Indianapolis Colts will have a QB battle between Anthony Richardson and a quarterback to be named later.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard told reporters Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine that Richardson will face “open competition” for the starting quarterback job in 2025, with the team planning to bring in another passer.
As Ballard put it, the aim is to give Richardson a challenge as the former No. 4 pick continues to grow:
“It’s got to be somebody that can really challenge him from a production standpoint … It’s got to be the right guy to create real competition, but we want to create real competition. I think it’s good for the team, I think it’s good for Anthony.
“We drafted Anthony high knowing it was going to take some time, and we know there was going to be some hiccups along the way. I know we all want a finished product right now. I do, you do, fans do, we all do, but I think as he continues to progress in his young career, us adding competition, I think, will up everybody’s game.”
Richardson just finished his second NFL season, and the results thus far, from both health and production standpoints, have not been encouraging. He won the starting job out of training camp as a rookie but was limited to four games due to a concussion and sprained AC joint. He returned last season but again encountered injuries and was ineffective overall.
He was benched in favor of backup Joe Flacco, got the job back after Flacco struggled, then had more of the same issues.
It’s tough to say that Richardson has developed as hoped entering Year 3, but he’s still only 22 years old because he was so young when he entered the draft. He’s essentially a normal draft prospect age now. He is three days older than Miami’s Cam Ward, seen as the top QB prospect of the draft, and only a few months older than Alabama’s Jalen Milroe. He is younger than Ohio State’s Will Howard and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.
The point is the Colts still have some time for Richardson to figure things out. That said, you also can’t blame them for bringing in another option at QB when they were arguably a competent, consistent passer away from making the playoffs last season. Per OverTheCap, they have $35.2 million in cap space to play with for 2025.
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