Reports of Anthony Richardson’s demise, he says, are greatly exaggerated. The quarterback says he’ll be just fine when training camp opens in four weeks.
“I’m all good,” Richardson told 247 Sports while at community events in Gainesville, Florida. “Not really even a bump in the road. I feel like I tripped. I fell. Just got back up and hit the ground running again.”
Earlier, Richardson experienced soreness in his throwing shoulder, raising concerns about him potentially missing substantial time. Shane Steichen indicates he wasn’t sure if Richardson would be ready for camp. He missed almost all of the 2023 season after a surgery to the same shoulder.
But Richardson is apparently healthy, making him again the favorite to be Indianapolis’ Week 1 starter. Daniel Jones may take over at some point; he’s gotten more offseason work. But the Colts are probably still holding out hope that things will click in for the No. 4 pick of the 2023 draft.
For fantasy purposes, Richardson’s unique abilities as a runner make him worth a late-round dice role. He was terrible as a passer last year, completing only 48 percent of his passes (2nd-worst by any regular starter in the last 20 years), but he averaged 45 rushing yards in his 11 starts, with 6 TDs.
With the way fantasy leagues are scored, mobile quarterbacks can be relevant, even if they’re pretty lousy as passers.
In the last 15 years, there have been 39 quarterbacks who’ve averaged top-5 rushing numbers while ranking outside the top 20 in passing stats. That’s assuming 6 points for touchdowns, 4 for TD passes, 1 for every 10 rushing yards and 1 for every 20 passing yards. Of those 39 passers, 10 finished with top-10 numbers (on a per-game basis), and another 20 at least ranked in the top 20. Only nine ranked outside the top 20.
Richardson was in this group last year, averaging only 165 passing yards, with 8 TDs in 11 games, but he averaged 45 rushing yards in those same 11, with 6 TDs. Those numbers ranked 19th among quarterbacks last year who started at least half the season.
In the chart below, top-10 quarterbacks are in bold, while those outside the top 20 are tagged with black dots.
It’s not realistic to hope for Richardson to be anything other than a bottom-10 passer, but if he can improve a notch in that area, some chance he moves up into the top 15 at the position.
| LESSER PASSERS WITH TOP-5 RUSHING NUMBERS (last 15 yrs) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | St | Pass | TDP | Run | TDR | Pt/G | Rk |
| 2010 | David Garrard, Jac. | 14 | 195.3 | 1.64 | 19.9 | .36 | 20.5 | 13 |
| 2010 | • Colt McCoy, Clev. | 8 | 197.0 | .75 | 17.0 | .13 | 15.3 | 27 |
| 2011 | Tim Tebow, Den. | 11 | 150.0 | 1.00 | 56.6 | .45 | 20.3 | 12 |
| 2012 | Robert Griffin, Was. | 15 | 213.3 | 1.33 | 54.3 | .47 | 24.2 | 5 |
| 2012 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 194.9 | 1.63 | 30.6 | .25 | 20.8 | 12 |
| 2013 | Cam Newton, Car. | 16 | 211.2 | 1.50 | 36.6 | .38 | 22.5 | 7 |
| 2013 | Terrelle Pryor, Oak. | 9 | 196.2 | .78 | 61.4 | .22 | 20.4 | 17 |
| 2013 | • Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 16 | 199.8 | 1.31 | 32.8 | .25 | 20.0 | 21 |
| 2013 | • Geno Smith, NYJ | 16 | 190.4 | .75 | 22.9 | .38 | 17.1 | 27 |
| 2013 | • Christian Ponder, Min. | 9 | 142.2 | .56 | 16.9 | .44 | 13.7 | 32 |
| 2014 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 217.2 | 1.25 | 53.1 | .38 | 23.4 | 6 |
| 2014 | Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 16 | 210.6 | 1.19 | 39.9 | .06 | 19.6 | 19 |
| 2014 | • Blake Bortles, Jac. | 13 | 206.5 | .69 | 29.9 | .00 | 16.2 | 27 |
| 2015 | Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 14 | 216.8 | 1.43 | 40.6 | .29 | 22.5 | 14 |
| 2015 | • Alex Smith, K.C. | 16 | 217.9 | 1.25 | 31.1 | .13 | 20.0 | 24 |
| 2015 | • Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 8 | 201.9 | .75 | 32.0 | .13 | 17.3 | 28 |
| 2016 | Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 11 | 203.7 | 1.45 | 42.5 | .18 | 21.5 | 13 |
| 2016 | Cam Newton, Car. | 15 | 233.9 | 1.27 | 23.9 | .33 | 21.4 | 16 |
| 2016 | Dak Prescott, Dall. | 16 | 229.2 | 1.44 | 17.6 | .38 | 21.2 | 17 |
| 2016 | Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 15 | 201.5 | 1.13 | 38.7 | .40 | 21.1 | 18 |
| 2017 | Brett Hundley, G.B. | 9 | 204.0 | 1.00 | 30.0 | .22 | 18.8 | 17 |
| 2017 | • DeShone Kizer, Clev. | 15 | 192.9 | .73 | 27.9 | .33 | 17.4 | 21 |
| 2018 | Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 14 | 230.2 | 1.71 | 30.1 | .21 | 23.2 | 10 |
| 2018 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 11 | 181.8 | .91 | 55.0 | .73 | 22.8 | 13 |
| 2018 | Dak Prescott, Dall. | 16 | 242.8 | 1.38 | 19.1 | .38 | 22.0 | 16 |
| 2019 | Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 16 | 232.6 | 1.25 | 34.0 | .25 | 21.9 | 13 |
| 2019 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 16 | 193.1 | 1.25 | 31.9 | .56 | 21.6 | 14 |
| 2020 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 15 | 183.8 | 1.73 | 67.0 | .47 | 25.8 | 8 |
| 2020 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 12 | 218.3 | 1.33 | 23.0 | .42 | 21.9 | 14 |
| 2020 | • Cam Newton, N.E. | 15 | 177.1 | .53 | 39.5 | .87 | 20.3 | 22 |
| 2021 | Jalen Hurts, Phil. | 15 | 209.6 | 1.07 | 52.3 | .67 | 24.0 | 10 |
| 2021 | Sam Darnold, Car. | 11 | 212.5 | .82 | 19.2 | .45 | 18.5 | 18 |
| 2022 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 12 | 186.8 | 1.42 | 63.7 | .25 | 23.0 | 5 |
| 2022 | Justin Fields, Chi. | 15 | 149.5 | 1.13 | 76.2 | .53 | 23.0 | 6 |
| 2022 | Daniel Jones, NYG | 16 | 200.3 | .94 | 44.3 | .44 | 21.1 | 13 |
| 2023 | Justin Fields, Chi. | 13 | 197.1 | 1.23 | 50.5 | .31 | 21.7 | 9 |
| 2023 | Joshua Dobbs, 2TM | 12 | 192.2 | .92 | 29.6 | .42 | 19.1 | 19 |
| 2024 | Jalen Hurts, Phil. | 15 | 193.5 | 1.20 | 42.0 | .93 | 24.3 | 5 |
| 2024 | Anthony Richardson, Ind. | 11 | 164.9 | .73 | 45.4 | .55 | 19.1 | 19 |
—Ian Allan