Yes, another Anthony Richardson and Colts mismanagement article!
A lot of this has been said before when it comes to quarterback development and the Colts, but now there’s a real comparison to look at with the Raiders and Mendoza, and it makes the contrast even clearer.
There’s a right way to develop a young quarterback in the NFL, and then there’s what the Colts did with Anthony Richardson.
What the Raiders are doing right now with Kirk Cousins and a young quarterback like Mendoza is not complicated.
It’s structured. It’s patient. It reflects an actual plan. And more importantly, it highlights the exact mistake the Colts made.
Once urgency creeps into a front office, everything changes. The focus shifts away from what a player can become and toward what he can provide immediately. That shift is dangerous at any position, but especially at quarterback.
Anthony Richardson was never a plug-and-play quarterback. He entered the league as one of the rawest prospects in recent memory. He had limited college experience, inconsistent accuracy, and decision-making that needed serious development. The physical tools were elite, but the position itself was still developing.
Because of that, he required more time than most. His ceiling was extremely high, but the path to reach it was always going to take patience and structure.
The Colts seemed to believe in throwing him into the fire right away…
Richardson was pushed toward the starting role early and asked to figure things out in real time. There were flashes, but also predictable struggles. The injury followed, then more inconsistency, and now only a few years later there is little to no trade market for him. Ballard has acknowledged that the situation is not where it needs to be.
That outcome did not happen randomly; it came from the way the situation was handled from the start.
Cousins vs Minshew is the Entire Story
If you want to understand the difference between the Colts and the Raiders, look at who each team placed next to their young quarterback.
The Colts brought in Gardner Minshew. He is a capable backup, but that is the role he fits. Over the previous three seasons prior to signing with the Colts, he had started only 12 games. He wasn’t and is not a long-term starter, and more importantly, he is not the type of veteran you bring in to guide a raw quarterback through the early stages of development. It felt more like insurance than a plan.
Now look at the Raiders: they are bringing in Kirk Cousins. While he has trailed off slightly over the last few seasons, he was still productive last year and, more importantly, brings a level of experience that is hard to replicate. Cousins has operated in a wide variety of offenses, understands how to manage protections and reads, and is widely respected as a professional and as a football mind. He is not just there to play. He is there to set a standard and help develop the quarterback behind him.
It is also worth noting that it is not set in stone that Cousins will start right away, but everything about this move suggests that is the plan. The Raiders are clearly positioning Mendoza to begin as QB2, giving him time to learn before being asked to carry the offense.
That is what a real plan looks like.
You Don’t Develop QBs by Throwing Them in Too Early
There is always an argument that young quarterbacks need reps, and there is truth to that. At some point, they have to play. They need to see live defenses, process information quickly, and learn from mistakes. But that only works if the foundation is strong enough to support it.
When a quarterback is as raw as Richardson was, throwing him into action too early does not speed up development and it usually creates problems. Mechanics can break down under pressure, reads become rushed, and bad habits form quickly. The bigger issue is confidence; once that starts to slip, everything else becomes harder. We saw that pattern with Richardson.
Instead of steady growth, it turned into inconsistency and uncertainty. The environment never allowed him to build a stable base before being tested at full speed.
Patience is often misunderstood. It is not about delaying development. It is about protecting it and protecting the quarterback’s confidence, which is probably the most important thing. Quarterbacks are sensitive and fragile creatures and they need to be nurtured very carefully. If you kill their confidence, it may never come back.
The league has already shown what works. Patrick Mahomes sat behind Alex Smith, Aaron Rodgers waited for years behind Brett Favre and Josh Allen developed in a more controlled environment early in his career. Even teams like the Patriots focused on structure before handing full control to a young quarterback.
The common factor is simple. Those teams had a plan, and they stuck to it and the Raiders are following that model.
The Colts did not follow that model and they paid the price.
The Colts Didn’t Have a Plan
This goes beyond Richardson.
It speaks to a larger issue with how the Colts have handled the quarterback position since Andrew Luck retired. The team has cycled through short-term solutions, reacted to problems as they came up, and struggled to establish any real stability.
When they finally drafted a quarterback with elite upside, they had an opportunity to do things differently. Instead, they approached the situation with the same urgency that has defined their decisions for years.
Even if Richardson never reaches his ceiling, the Colts never gave themselves a fair evaluation window. The development process was rushed, the environment was not properly structured, and now the organization is pivoting again.
At this point, it is difficult to see Richardson ever finding success in Indianapolis. That does not mean the talent is gone. It likely means the situation no longer works for him.
In a different environment, with a clearer plan and more patience, he may still develop into something meaningful.
This isn’t a defense of Anthony Richardson because I don’t think Richardson is that good as a quarterback or was ever worthy of such a high draft pick, but the Colts never gave this guy a chance to have any type of success.
And maybe I’m beating a dead horse with this storyline, but seeing the Raiders actually give their young quarterback a chance to succeed by doing things the right way just infuriates me.
