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One of the quarterback competitions taking place this NFL offseason will be in Indianapolis, as the Colts determine who their offensive leader will be for 2025 -- or at least to start 2025. The Colts added Daniel Jones this offseason on a one-year contract and have former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson entering his third season, leaving the starting job up in the air.
Richardson's career has been rocky, starting just four games in his rookie season due to injury. He missed two weeks in 2024 due to an oblique injury, pulled himself out of their Week 8 game for one play because "needed a break" and was benched the next week in favor of veteran Joe Flacco. Richardson earned back his starting job in Week 11 after two losses from a Flacco-led offense.
Ahead of the benching, Richardson's 44.4 completion percentage across six weeks was worst in the league. He finished the regular season with a 47.7 completion percentage, 1,814 passing yards, eight touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 6-5 record. The 22-year-old also had 499 rushing yards with six rushing touchdowns.
Right now, it doesn't look like Richardson is the answer to long-term success in Indy, so he has a lot to prove -- not just this season, but before the season even begins. Richardson may not have the chance to redeem himself again during the year if he loses the starting job to Jones, who has also had a rocky career.
Jones got benched last season as well, before being released by the New York Giants, who drafted him in the first round in 2019. He spent the rest of 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings, finishing the season with a 63.3 completion percentage, 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions and a 2-8 record as a starter.
Neither quarterback is the clear frontrunner though both have the potential to win the starting job. Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin believes a quarterback competition will actually have a positive impact on Richardson, who enters his most important year yet.
"I love Anthony," Franklin said. "Obviously, being in there with him in the trenches through the highs and lows of the season last year, it was tough, but [I'm] obviously supporting him and his growth."
Franklin noted that not all successful quarterbacks start out that way and many struggled before they find their footing.
"I think with the turn of how we've seen some of these quarterbacks who were drafted extremely high get put in new situations and are able to blossom, you watch Geno Smith, you watch Sam Darnold," the 2024 Pro Bowler said. "The list goes on of these different guys who just get in another building -- Baker Mayfield -- and they're able to, with a fresh set of eyes and a fresh set of situations, be able to be successful and be able to play up to the expectations of their draft status."
Franklin notes that he personally thrived from competition, saying it made him better and he was able to learn from others who had more experience than him.
"Competition's going to help everybody. Obviously, I still love Anthony, still believe in Anthony, but I know Daniel Jones is going to help elevate that room, too," he said.
How Richardson responds to fighting for his job will be telling, and Franklin believes the best way to go about it is to "put your head down and grind." Competition will "bring out the best out of everybody involved in the situation," Franklin says.
