Former Gators QB Anthony Richardson Renamed Indianapolis Colts Starter

After being benched the last couple weeks, the Colts are giving the former fourth-overall draft pick another shot at the starting job

Indianapolis Colts and former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is once again the starter / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Former Florida Gators and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is reportedly returning to the starting role for the rest of the season. 

Adam Schefter reported that along with that, the Colts are “adamant they have not given up on him.” 

Colts head coach Shane Steichen also noted, “he's seen Richardson make strides over the last two weeks.” 

The Colts benched Richardson following the 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Oct. 27. In a surprising decision, Richardson took himself out of the game because he “was tired.”  

It didn’t help that he went 10-of-32 (31.3%) for 175 yards with a touchdown and an interception in that game. But even if the Colts said it wouldn’t influence their decision, it’s hard to believe it didn’t. Poor performance and then pulling yourself from the game for a perplexing reason are two things when put together that would get you benched. 

Richardson has completed just 59 of his 133 pass attempts (44.4%) so far this season with four touchdowns to seven picks and 958 passing yards. Heading into the game on Oct. 27, he hadn’t had a touchdown pass in over a month. 

During his two games as the starter, Joe Flacco wasn’t bad but he didn’t perform well enough to keep Richardson benched the rest of the year. 

The Colts lost both games, and Flacco threw a combined two touchdowns to four interceptions in those games. Fortunes didn’t change with the aging former Super Bowl MVP, so they must figured they should give Richardson the playing time. 

He does have the deep ball going for him at the very least. 

Richardson was the fourth-overall pick out of UF less than 18 months ago. In his only full season as a college starter, he completed just 53.8% of his passes and had 17 touchdowns to nine interceptions. On top of that, he had nine rushing touchdowns.