Colts Captain Announces Final Verdict on Anthony Richardson as Colts Decide Daniel Jones’ Future

Joining the Indianapolis Colts in 2023, Anthony Richardson would’ve imagined his life changing forever. And his life did change, but unfortunately, it was for the worse. Ever since he suffered the AC joint injury in his rookie year, everything changed for him. While he was supposed to be the Colts’ starting quarterback, he was forced to be on the sidelines. Eventually, he only played 4 games that year, passing for 577 yards and 3 touchdowns. Going into 2024, there were hopes that Anthony would come back stronger from the injury. Growing as a player and a pillar for the Colts’ offense. But things have changed!

An oblique injury and a poor run of form forced the youngster to be benched briefly. This resulted in yet another poor season. Just as everyone thought that he had put his injuries behind him, a new development emerged: an aggravation of the AC joint injury. According to coach Shane Steichen, Richardson has a shoulder injury that will sideline him indefinitely. Yes! The QB is struggling with poor form and injuries, which in turn are affecting his performance and career. However, it now seems that he has found support from somewhere he might not have completely expected: His team’s captain.

Appearing on Kay Adams’ show Up & Adams, Colts’ captain Zaire Franklin talked about Anthony Richardson. Replying to Kay’s question on Anthony’s growth since the last season, Zaire discussed how the kid has matured over the last year or so. He also highlighted how easily people judge young players without thinking much. “I definitely see a growth in maturity just from, like, kind of how he’s moving around, you know. I think sometimes it’s definitely easy for people to judge young players just because you know, sometimes we forget what it was like to be 21-22,” he said. Referring to the intense criticism that Anthony is getting for his recurring injuries and poor form.

The linebacker also spoke about how he has seen Anthony grow in maturity just from the experiences that he’s had. He even sees Anthony growing into the type of leader and player that he wants to be. “When you feel like with this age and maturity, you kind of got some answers because you live through certain things. Him coming to the league, he had to learn a lot of stuff on the fly. But I definitely see you know, just in him, his growing into his personality, growing into the type of leader, the type you know teammate he wants to be,” Zaire said. He also shared his experience of how it took some time for him to get comfortable in the dressing room. Nevertheless, he did, and it led to him being named the captain in his third year.

Sharing his verdict on Anthony Richardson’s growth in the team and even overall, Zaire said, “He’s definitely been growing. Definitely been building….been trying to put the work in and stuff too. And it was showing too when he was practicing. Unfortunately, he got a little setback, but I’m not worried about it. I think he’s going to be okay.” By talking about the setback, Zaire was referring to the aggravation of the old injury, which happened during the OTAs a few days ago.

This new development has put Anthony out of contention, at least until the first couple of weeks of the training camp. This extended period of absence has now forced the management to focus on former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and his growth into the team through the training camps.

Daniel Jones may become the starting quarterback

Daniel Jones was brought in earlier this offseason on a one-year, $14 million contract as a backup for Anthony Richardson. However, the recent injury to Anthony has carved a path for Jones to the ultimate destination: The starting quarterback position. Jones will now have to take the most amount of snaps as Richardson is predicted to miss some period of the training camp. This means that there will be pressure on Jones to perform as he takes over Richardson’s role for the time being

“There’s seemingly a new sheriff in town,” Angela Moryan of WISH-TV said as the injury news broke. She referred to Jones as the new sheriff in the town. “The Horseshoe prepares to kick off veteran minicamp on Tuesday with Daniel Jones taking the majority — if not all — the starting quarterback reps as Anthony Richardson is sidelined with a right shoulder injury.” The reporter confirmed that Jones will be the first-choice quarterback in case Anthony is a no-show.

While Jones himself has not played a lot over the past couple of years, he still has better stats than Richardson. And an even better injury record. Jones, in 2023 and 2024 combined, has played a total of 16 games, somewhat similar to Anthony (15). However, during this period, Jones has passed 2,979 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. He also has an accuracy of 67.5% and 63.3% in 2023 and 2024, respectively, which is also higher than Richardson’s 59.5% and 47.7%.

The stats and injury records seem to favor Jones at the moment. It will be interesting to see how early Anthony can come back. And whether he can surpass Jones’ level and maintain his QB1 status.

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