Former Florida Gators QB Benched by Indianapolis Colts

Former Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson is faced with another stint on the bench before the 2025 NFL season has even started. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Stephen Holder, the Indianapolis Colts will start Daniel Jones Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins.

Richardson has lost out to a quarterback who was released by the New York Giants midseason due to poor performance.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen said, via Schefter, that this is a long-term plan. This isn't a scenario like last season, where the former Gator could jump back in at any time when things go south.

“He's the starting QB for the season,” Steichen said on Tuesday. “I don’t want to have a short leash on that.”

Schefter reported that the Colts have publicly said Anthony Richardson doesn't need to win the quarterback battle to have a future in Indianapolis. However, the team will now have a tough decision to make on Richardson’s fifth-year team option for the 2027 season.

Richardson began last season as the Colts' starting quarterback, but had to earn it back. Following the Week 8 loss to the Houston Texans, he was benched in favor of Joe Flacco after both a poor performance and taking himself out of the game.

The whole situation had a bizarre atmosphere to it, but in the end, Richardson got the starting job back two games later and held the position until the end of the season.

Following last season and for most of this ramp up toward the regular season Richardson was presumed to be the starting quarterback for the Colts again this season. That changed in a hurry.

When looking at Jones' preseason numbers, it's telling of how quickly things are going south for the former Gators quarterback. In preseason, Jones has complete 53.1% of his passes for 245 yards and has no touchdowns and no interceptions.

These numbers are nothing spectatular, yet Richardson seized to be the default option at QB1.

Along with poor performance, Richardson has also dealt with injuries, including a shoulder injury.

Richardson played for the Gators from 2020 to 2022, but was only the full-time starter during his final season. He completed 53.8% of his passes for 2,549 yards and threw 17 touchdowns to nine interceptions. He also rushed for 654 yards and picked up nine more touchdowns from the ground.

The pure athleticism intrigued a lot of NFL teams, boosting his draft stock. The Colts took a flyer on him with the fourth-overall pick of the NFL Draft.

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