The Colts need Anthony Richardson to become an X-men next year as the team’s clear ‘x-factor’ with continued boom or bust potential.
According to PFF, incumbent Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback Anthony Richardson is their pick for the team’s ‘X-factor’ ahead of the 2025 campaign yet again:
X-factor for 2025: QB Anthony Richardson
It’s truly now or never for Richardson in Indianapolis. He has a strong offensive line in front of him, a good running back in Jonathan Taylor and one of the better receiving corps in football. If he can’t become more accurate in Year 3, he could quickly be replaced by highly paid free-agent signing Daniel Jones.
It’s no secret that the NFL’s starting quarterback position is the most important, especially in today’s modernized passing league.
While Richardson isn’t in the mold of a traditional pocket passer, featuring elite dual-threat mobility and a booming arm, that along with it comes some accuracy and turnover concerns, there’s no question that his upcoming play (or Daniel Jones’ for that matter, should he falter) will likely be the Achilles heel of the Colts’ ultimate 2025 season success.
Richardson in particular can make plays, as an alien athletically at QB1, that realistically only less than a handful of his starting quarterback peers can make league-wide (i.e., the Lamar Jacksons, the Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allens of the world).
We’ve seen flashes of it, from Richardson’s ridiculous deep touchdown throw in the 2024 opener to his game-winning play late in games during the final stretch run last year.
However, the Colts just didn’t get enough consistently good starting quarterback play last year, and it ultimately led to the team falling short of the playoff sticks yet again.
With Richardson, it’s so far been a roller coaster ride with boom or bust potential. The ceilings are sky high, as good as any elite quarterback in the league, while the lows, are too often and reminiscent of a starting quarterback who only had 13 collegiate starts to his name and calling card may have been blowing up athletically at the NFL Combine.
For Richardson, we know that he can elevate his game, but he also has to maintain it for 17 games because the success of the 2025 Colts largely depends on him.