Anthony Richardson takes the field before a game during the 2023 season. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Ben Staker
Sports Editor
Earlier this week, the Indianapolis Colts announced they would be going back to starting quarterback Anthony Richardson again. This decision comes after the team benched him just a few weeks ago in favor of the veteran, Joe Flacco.
Richardson was selected fourth overall in the 2023 NFL draft and after only ten starts, the team decided to bench him. He was impressive in his four starts during his rookie season last year but struggled to find his footing in year two.
Seeing another young quarterback get benched before the team even gives them a chance had me asking myself, does the NFL have a quarterback development problem?
It seems like every NFL season another young quarterback is getting benched. Whether they deserve it or not is different in each case, but most of them are being given up on by their coaching staff and franchise.
For example, Richardson isn’t even the only quarterback from his draft class who has been benched this season. The number one overall pick from the same draft class, Bryce Young was benched as well. It was only after an injury that Young was given the starting job back.
To put things into perspective, of the quarterbacks drafted in the first round from the 2021-2023 NFL drafts, only two of the nine are still established starters on the team that drafted them, Bryce Young and Richardson have been benched, and the other five are no longer starters or are on a different team. The turnover in the NFL is quick, but to not allow a quarterback the team drafted in the first round to finish their rookie contract seems crazy.
I think the NFL quarterback problem dwindles down to more than development. While the development of all young players, especially quarterbacks, is vital to a career, the problem is bigger than that.
The problem starts in every NFL front office. When a team needs a quarterback, they’re willing to do anything it takes to find one. In an effort to save their job, most NFL general managers will try to take a quarterback in the first round of the draft, regardless of whether the player is worth the position they’re being selected at.
So, I think the problem is that NFL teams pick young quarterbacks who aren’t ready to play yet, put them into terrible situations, and recycle them too quickly even though the team knows they never gave them a fair shot.
The way to fix this problem is for the owners of every NFL team to give their general managers time to build a competitive roster. If the owners can accept their team won’t win many games or make a lot of money for a few years, this problem might be solved.
The issue starts at the top, and can only be fixed there. Owners, front offices, and coaching staff feeling pressure is what creates this problem. Everyone needs to learn how to be patient, and maybe more teams will be able to develop the quarterbacks they select early in the draft.