Anthony Richardson’s tenure with the Colts has been nothing but mundane. A rollercoaster that produced some jaw dropping highs, but also some really embarrassing and painful lows.
Year 3 was essentially a redshirt year for Anthony Richardson, a bit backwards in terms of standard development, but I do think it gave him a chance to take a much needed step back– even if his year on the bench was interrupted by a freak eye injury.
Anthony Richardson is often described as inconsistent. But if he’s consistent with
anything, it’s how often his film looks so inconsistent. The 2026 film is yet another rollercoaster, and now we’re wondering if any team wants to hop on the ride.
WHAT HAS IMPROVED?
Anthony Richardson is certainly getting better at making layups look more like layups. That’s the most notable improvement that almost anyone who has watched him in his career could tell you.
I think particularly on speed outs he has a more relaxed throwing motion, in an effort to take a bit of gas off of some of his throws. It’s definitely helped him make shorter throws look a lot easier.
This is a side by side from AR throwing a speed out vs. a corner in off coverage. It’s a very easy throw obviously, but in 2026 these seem to be actually easy for Anthony Richardson.
If you’re looking for a rep to hang onto and point to AR’s improvement, there is none better than this rep vs the Lions.
He recognizes Cover Zero, meaning the Lions will be blitzing one more guy than the Colts can block. So Anthony Richardson brings the Tight End in to block on this play. Now the Colts have 7 blockers to counter the 7 guys in the box that are going to bliz. If the Lions want to blitz the safety as the extra rusher that’s 12 yards from the line of scrimmage, then so be it.
Next he signals to NWI and Anthony Gould to change the play to a Cover Zero beater. In Cover Zero, DBs will be inside leveraged because they have no safety help and want to funnel plays to the sideline. So the Colts run Anthony Gould on a flat route to beat the coverage.
After ALL OF THAT, the snap is atrocious and throws the timing off of the play. But without panicking AR gets this ball out on time for a completion.
High level QB play.
I think his footwork is more calm (on certain plays).
WHAT HAS NOT?
Consistency and mental errors.
This play stands out in particular to me. Versus press coverage, a lot of routes “convert”, because if a corner is in your hip pocket from the line of scrimmage, you can’t threaten their leverage or take advantage of space.
I would bet vs. single high press, this route converts to a Go. You can see Treadwell dust the DB off the line and put his hand up. But Anthony Richardson throws this like he’s expecting the original route (guessing a comeback) to still be on.
I still think there needs to be way more consistency. The layups are starting to look like layups, but this is also a ball that needs to be completed. Everyone will have a miss every so often, but there are throws like these that leave you incredibly frustrated because the WR has no chance.
Also, when you’ve put the ball on the ground a plethora of times in your career, you can’t afford to it in a glorified tryout for NFL teams. Unfortunately the fumble in New England is not going to help him put that narrative to bed.
BOTTOM LINE
Full transparency, I’ve had this article written already, but have been holding out to see if the Colts would make a move prior to the 6 PM deadline. It appears he’s made the initial 53 man roster, likely as the QB2? I would be kind of shocked if Anthony Richardson is on the roster for the entire year and then just walks in free agency while the Colts get nothing in return. I’d also be shocked if Anthony Richardson doesn’t request his release at some point in the year. He’s a guy who’s desperate for a fresh start. All along it’s felt like the best thing for both sides was to orchestrate a trade. I am surprised it has not happened.
If Anthony Richardson is the Colts QB2 this year, you could certainly do much worse. I also think he’s more of an option for a team who wants to develop him into someone who could compete for a job in the future, not someone like the Colts who need a reliable option that could win them a game today.
