Former Gators QB Set to Battle for Starting Job with Colts

The Indianapolis Colts aren't guaranteeing the former Florida Gators quarterback the starting job heading into next season

The former Gator is in for a fight for his job | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Florida Gators and Indianapolis Colts fans are all too familiar with the Anthony Richardson experience. The former No. 4 overall pick has shown just enough brilliance to keep hope alive, but his inconsistency can cause frustration. He’s flashed the kind of talent that makes you believe he could be a franchise quarterback. He has also put up numbers that make you wonder if the Colts should already be looking for a new plan.

At the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, Colts general manager Chris Ballard confirmed that Richardson will be in an “open competition” for the starting quarterback job next season.

“We want to create real competition. I think it's good for the team, I think it's good for Anthony… everything's on the table. It will be open,” Ballard said.

That doesn’t sound like the type of commitment a franchise usually gives to a young quarterback they’re 100% sold on. And for good reason.

Last season, only started 11 games but still managed to tie for the third-most interceptions in the league (12). His completion percentage was a league-worst 47% among the 39 qualified quarterbacks—10 percentage points behind the next-worst QB, Spencer Rattler (57%). Even when you account for the flashes—the cannon arm, the ridiculous off-platform throws—his level of inefficiency is alarming.

Unfortunately, inaccuracy has followed Richardson since his time at Florida. In 2022, he had the lowest completion percentage among SEC quarterbacks (minimum 300 attempts) and threw the fourth-most interceptions (9). His raw tools got him drafted in the top five, but at some point, those tools have to translate into consistent production.

Colts fans, much like Gators fans before them, have seen both ends of the Richardson experience. The deep shots that make your jaw drop—like his 60-yard opening-week missile last season, right after slipping on the grass.

ANTHONY RICHARDSON 60-YARD DIME TO ALEC PIERCE.

📺: #HOUvsIND on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/p0xddm5Kl1

— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024

Or the iconic pump-fake/spin that broke the Internet while Florida took down No.7 Utah in the season opener.

HOLY PUMP FAKE ANTHONY RICHARDSONpic.twitter.com/g0XwwWcUAM

— uSTADIUM uNIVERSITY (@uSTADIUMCollege) September 4, 2022

But special only gets you so far if you can't protect the football. And if Richardson doesn’t make a leap in efficiency next season, his long-term future in Indianapolis will come into question.

The Colts currently hold the 14th pick in the upcoming draft, but there’s been no indication that they’re targeting a quarterback early. Free agency will offer some potential bridge options—Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, and Jameis Winston among them—but none of those names scream “long-term answer.”

Ballard is optimistic that Richardson will improve. “I think we are going to see a good version of him. I have a lot of faith in the guys he's training with.”

For the Colts’ sake, that faith better be rewarded.