Anthony Richardson's career with the Indianapolis Colts has gotten off to a rocky start, but that hasn't necessarily been a surprise. Richardson came out of Florida as a young and raw but talented quarterback prospect. Though the Colts drafted him with the No. 4 pick in 2023, it was expected Richardson would need time to develop, especially after a season-ending shoulder injury cut his development short as a rookie.

The Colts appeared to lose their patience with Richardson during his second NFL season, benching him during the middle of the season for Joe Flacco before ultimately letting him regain the starting role in the second half of the season.

Indianapolis did sign veteran Daniel Jones and draft Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard this offseason, but general manager Chris Ballard made it clear that the team does believe in having patience with the quarterback position. Ballard just also feels adding competition will allow both Richardson and Jones to improve.

"Competition brings out the best in everybody," Ballard said on the Rich Eisen Show. "We're so impatient nowadays, we have zero patience with players. If they're not, especially the quarterback position, if they're not a superstar right away, they're a failure. Which I disagree with. They've got to work through their struggles, and they have to fail, and they have to get up, and have to get better from it. I think we have two guys that are an example of that had moments of success but also had some struggles. To watch both Anthony and Daniel compete against each other is going to be good for both of them."

The last several NFL seasons have shown that a number of teams across the league may have been too quick to give up on quarterbacks. Though it can be difficult to wait as a quarterback goes through growing pains, especially when young quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels are successful right off the bat, some players just need more time and/or a better situation. Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold have all gone from castoffs to proving they can be successful in the NFL with the right coaching and supporting cast.

Richardson still has to prove he can become a reliable starting quarterback, but the Colts would be wise to give him both time and a proper chance.

More NFL on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Colts GM Had Refreshing Take on Being Patient With QB Anthony Richardson.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate