The Indianapolis Colts are entering a critical 2025 NFL season. After finishing with an 8-9 record in 2024, some people thought that head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard were going to be fired.
However, the Colts kept them both and they have not made the postseason since the 2020 NFL season. There will be a quarterback battle between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones. Richardson currently has a shoulder injury and there is a chance that Jones could be the Week 1 starter for Indianapolis instead.
NFL Analyst Thinks Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Shane Steichen Will Not Gamble His Job On Anthony Richardson
Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports is currently creating his power rankings for the 2025 NFL season. He listed the Colts at number 24 entering the season. Schwab feels like one of the biggest storylines for this franchise has been Richardson’s lack of production and how Steichen shouldn’t rely on him to potentially save his job. Schwab said,
“This is how the Richardson story has gone for the Colts. There have been a few highlights. There have been many more frustrations over his ineffectiveness as a passer, and setbacks due to injuries. If the Colts get to camp and Richardson is missing practice, limited when he does practice or compromised by his shoulder, it’s hard to believe head coach Shane Steichen (who is on the hot seat) would gamble his job on a quarterback who is unable to show tangible progress before the season starts.
The Colts were 8-9 last season, but it seemed like they were much worse due to the Richardson issue. Richardson was benched early in the season, and got his job back only because Joe Flacco was bad too. Richardson’s completion percentage for the season was 47.7%. The only other quarterbacks since 1988 with at least 250 attempts and a completion percentage under 48% are Stan Gelbaugh, Heath Shuler, Craig Whelihan, Akili Smith and Tim Tebow. Richardson was 12.9% worse in completion percentage than any other quarterback that had 250 attempts last season. Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in completion percentage at 72.9%; Richardson would have had to complete 245 passes in a row last season to match that. Despite all that, the Colts were close to a .500 team.”
During the 2024 season, to go along with his 47.7% completion percentage, he only threw for 1,814 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 499 yards on 86 carries and six touchdowns, along with averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
Richardson is only 23 years old, but he is not showing much progress with his game. There is no doubt that this was a massive miss by Ballard. Richardson was also benched during the 2024 season in favor of Joe Flacco. Also, with his shoulder injury, there is a chance that Jones is in line to start Week 1.
Jones signed a one-year deal with the Colts in free agency. He would be a better bet to save Steichen’s job for another year than Richardson would be. Jones was released by the New York Giants during the middle of the 2024 season and then he signed with the Minnesota Vikings practice squad. If Richardson has to start in place of Jones at any point in 2025, then there is a chance that Steichen and Ballard will not survive being on this staff past the 2025 NFL season.
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