The Colts are making the right decision to start Daniel Jones over Anthony Richardson.
People are asking the wrong question about this situation.
They want to know what Jones did to win the job.
The real question is, what did Richardson do?
Don't Miss Out on the Best Betting Recommendations Available
Warren Sharp is entering his 20th year providing winning NFL recommendations to clients.
A $100 bettor was up $15,636 following Warren’s picks last season.
Click here to learn more about 2025 NFL Betting Packages!
First, they brought in a head coach who worked wonders for a mobile quarterback in Jalen Hurts, and they installed as Richardson-friendly an offense as they could possibly install.
Then they crowned Richardson the Week 1 starter for two straight seasons.
They gave him the QB1 reps all offseason.
He should know the offense inside and out.
This is his third year with this offense.
And at no point did Richardson separate himself despite Jones having to learn the new system that Richardson should have mastered.
On the contrary, he was making elementary mistakes in games that got him injured…again.
Before camp, Shane Steichen said the competition will come down to one thing: “consistency.”
The most consistent guy, and that includes “decision making.”
He literally said, “The operation, the communication in the huddle, the checks. The consistency will play a big factor.”
Richardson clearly was behind Jones, and he failed in a critical check, which got him injured as a result.
Richardson is certainly more talented than Jones, but in year three of the same offense, given the same passes, you need more than just talent to win a quarterback competition.
Steichen's job is on the line.
He set standards on what it would take to win and is simply abiding by those ground rules.
Among 55 QBs with at least 175 attempts the last two seasons, Richardson ranks:
- #55 of 55 in accuracy
- #55 of 55 in completion rate
- #50 of 55 in TD:INT ratio
- #46 of 55 in success rate
- #43 of 55 in EPA per attempt
Richardson was also dead last in completion percentage over expectation last year, with a completion percentage 11.3 percentage points lower than expected.
It gets even worse when you look at where he likes to throw, which is downfield.
Richardson has completed just 38% of passes 7 or more yards downfield when not pressured.
The NFL average is a 57% completion rate.
Not a single other QB is below a 45% completion rate.
On these throws, Richardson has only 1 touchdown and 6 interceptions.
Among all QBs when throwing 7+ yards downfield, Richardson ranks:
- Dead Last in completion rate
- Dead Last in EPA
- Dead Last in TD:INT ratio
You don’t want to compare Richardson to savvy vets?
Fine.
Let’s only look at QBs with 300+ attempts in their first two years in the NFL (Richardson has 348).
There are 103 such quarterbacks since 2000.
Richardson ranks:
- #103 of 103 in accuracy
- #102 of 103 in completion rate
- #94 of 103 in success rate
- #88 of 103 in TD:INT ratio
- #81 of 103 in EPA
- #40 of 103 in yards per attempt
Also, Richardson had 9 fumbles in his 10 career games before he was benched last season.
Jones might not be as talented as Richardson, but when using the guidelines Steichen set up for the quarterback competition, Jones was the obvious choice.
