We Are Evaluating Everything

[krunk]

They just asked Steichen if Ant was starting Sunday and he said "We Are Evaluating Everything". That ain't good at all! We got trouble.

 

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

What does Flacco accomplish? If you lose with AR then you get a better draft pick to move forward with someone else. It doesn’t accomplish anything. I look for vets to be traded this offseason and everyone is fired. Which means another 2 to 3 years with no QB and a bad team. It’s not worth it anymore. 

[GoColts8818]

Yeah that is line a team says when they know they are in trouble and don’t have answers

[JediXMan]

Giving up on your 1st round QB after only 10 games played and still being 4-4 is something that’s so ridiculous lol. Ballard and Shane will also have to go since he was the one that drafted him.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Maybe it’s to light a fire under him. Making him compete with Flacco all week to get him to understand what it takes to be a nfl QB. Mt guess is they will split reps and make him earn it for Sunday.

 

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, JediXMan said:

Giving up on your 4th QB round after only 10 games played and still being 4-4 is something that’s so ridiculous lol. Ballard and Shane will also have to go since he was the one that drafted him.

Yep. This also has irsays meddling all over it. We are looking at another bad 3 years or so with no QB and trading vets if they give up on him with no answer what to do after 

[compuls1v3]

"Steichen said there was no discussion at halftime on Sunday of replacing Richardson with Joe Flacco, and said Richardson tapping out of Sunday's game for a third-and-23 play did not factor into the Colts evaluating Richardson being their starting quarterback. Both Steichen and center Ryan Kelly, though, said they had conversations with Richardson about tapping out of the game not being up to the Colts' standard.

"We had a conversation about it this morning in the quarterback room, which I'll keep private, but obviously in those situations he knows, right, on those type of deals, you can't take yourself out," Steichen said. "It's a learned experience for him and he's gotta grow from it.""
 

Glad to see both Kelly and Steichen addressing the tapping out.  Gotta hold him accountable for taking himself out of the game for a NON injury.

[GoColts8818]

I am not a fan of QB shuffles if that’s the route the Colts go. I think Flacco is nothing more than band aide that’s going to look worse the longer it’s out there but it’s very hard to argue AR has shown he belongs on the field at this point.  It would be one things if he was showing signs of progressing but he’s not if anything he’s getting worse as teams figure out how to attack him.

[GoColts8818]

3 minutes ago, compuls1v3 said:

"Steichen said there was no discussion at halftime on Sunday of replacing Richardson with Joe Flacco, and said Richardson tapping out of Sunday's game for a third-and-23 play did not factor into the Colts evaluating Richardson being their starting quarterback. Both Steichen and center Ryan Kelly, though, said they had conversations with Richardson about tapping out of the game not being up to the Colts' standard.

"We had a conversation about it this morning in the quarterback room, which I'll keep private, but obviously in those situations he knows, right, on those type of deals, you can't take yourself out," Steichen said. "It's a learned experience for him and he's gotta grow from it.""
 

Glad to see both Kelly and Steichen addressing the tapping out.  Gotta hold him accountable for taking himself out of the game for a NON injury.

I am not as concerned about the tap out stuff but I do get it from a players perspective, especially guys like Pittman and Kelly we know aren’t 100% and are gutting it out to play.  You are the QB and face of the team how do you look those guys in the face and say hey I know you guys are battling through stuff but I am not going too.  Good on Kelly for stepping up as a team leader to talk to AR about it and not just leaving it up to the coaches.

[RollerColt]

2 minutes ago, compuls1v3 said:

"Steichen said there was no discussion at halftime on Sunday of replacing Richardson with Joe Flacco, and said Richardson tapping out of Sunday's game for a third-and-23 play did not factor into the Colts evaluating Richardson being their starting quarterback. Both Steichen and center Ryan Kelly, though, said they had conversations with Richardson about tapping out of the game not being up to the Colts' standard.

"We had a conversation about it this morning in the quarterback room, which I'll keep private, but obviously in those situations he knows, right, on those type of deals, you can't take yourself out," Steichen said. "It's a learned experience for him and he's gotta grow from it.""
 

Glad to see both Kelly and Steichen addressing the tapping out.  Gotta hold him accountable for taking himself out of the game for a NON injury.

Well that's damning and pretty much confirms everything we've been discussing. 

 

The kid isn't ready. It's obvious... We're in trouble. 

[IinD]

I think that's just lip service. 

 

We've hitched our wagon to AR for better or worse. You roll with him this year and if it's that bad pull the trigger again next season and draft a QB.

 

Sucks, but that's where we are.

[Nesjan3]

If they decide to bench him I think its rather pointless. We are not winning the SB no matter what. AR has already been on the bench injured something like 20 of 25 possible starts. Not sure how much more sitting is going to help. He has very little real game experience since high school. While I am firmly in the camp of AR has shown me enough that he is not an NFL caliber starter. I do still think that whatever little chance he has to succeed will come with reps and experience. 

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, IinD said:

I think that's just lip service. 

 

We've hitched our wagon to AR for better or worse. You roll with him this year and if it's that bad pull the trigger again next season and draft a QB.

 

Sucks, but that's where we are.

You know if this season spirals, and it very well could, and the Colts are in position to draft a QB in the first round this year I think you have to think really hard about doing it.  

[RollerColt]

I agree with all you. Benching him honestly isn't going to do much except make this worse. We honestly could use a high draft pick on this depleted team. No choice but to roll with the kid I guess. 

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

You know if this season spirals, and it very well could, and the Colts are in position to draft a QB in the first round this year I think you have to think really hard about doing it.  

Are there any prospects that are good? 

 

I don't want the Sanders kid and his circus...

[DougDew]

22 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

What does Flacco accomplish? If you lose with AR then you get a better draft pick to move forward with someone else. It doesn’t accomplish anything. 

I agree.  I will say that there is an evaluation period taking place....we all know that.  The issue is, will the benching be short or longer term.  When you bench AR, under what conditions would he start again?.......A Flacco injury or poor performance? 

 

Seems like it would be hard for AR to start again this season if Flacco starts and we remain mathematically competitive. 

 

 

[BlackTiger]

I'd rather watch better games with Joe at this point.

 

To me Ballard should probably go, he builds 500 teams that never win anything in the post season.  Shane should be under scrutiny and Anthony sits until they see a better passer in practice.

 

As for the draft Id be looking at QBS.  not necessarily all on in replacing AR but bringing in competition 

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, RollerColt said:

I agree with all you. Benching him honestly isn't going to do much except make this worse. We honestly could use a high draft pick on this depleted team. No choice but to roll with the kid I guess. 

Are there any prospects that are good? 

 

I don't want the Sanders kid and his circus...

Ewers will be there he’s a senior and shocked everyone by not coming out last year.  There is also Milroe from Bama and Crason Beck from Georgia.

[DougDew]

5 minutes ago, BlackTiger said:

I'd rather watch better games with Joe at this point.

 

To me Ballard should probably go, he builds 500 teams that never win anything in the post season.  Shane should be under scrutiny and Anthony sits until they see a better passer in practice.

 

As for the draft Id be looking at QBS.  not necessarily all on in replacing AR but bringing in competition 

It seems clear to me that AR isn't really close to being an NFL starter.  Like other QBs, he can learn by practicing.  He doesn't need to play to develop more skills and better decision making from the level he seems to be playing at.

[John Waylon]

 

They assured us that they could handle this project and all the ins and outs that came with it.

 

What’s worse is Ballard could back into an 8-9 record under Flacco and retain his job. It’s like a cyclical nightmare. 

[DougDew]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

Ewers will be there he’s a senior and shocked everyone by not coming out last year.  There is also Milroe from Bama and Crason Beck from Georgia.

And Curtis Rourke from IU will be a better NFL QB than all of them, and probably be a lower draft pick.  Not that we should give up on AR yet.

[ojsglove]

If you truly want to be a QB in the NFL, tapping out in a game shouldn't even enter your mind.  

[IinD]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

You know if this season spirals, and it very well could, and the Colts are in position to draft a QB in the first round this year I think you have to think really hard about doing it.  

Absolutely. Teams do it all the time. 

 

We can't be married to AR regardless of all the 'intangibles' he has. Every year we see top QB's bust so it was bound to happen to us eventually as well. I'm sure the teams fans who drafted guys like Trubisky, Rosen, Wilson, Lance, Manziel, Paxton Lynch, Leinert, Quinn, Bortles, Gabbert, EJ Manuel etc thought they were good after getting their guy.. (Lol, I thought of those off the top of my head).

 

If we spiral and he looks really terrible, dump him.

[Dark_Indy]

At this point in the season, with 3 of your four losses being divisional games, the season is effectively over. The Colts with AR are not going to keep pace with the Texans, and the Texans have the full tiebreaker. 

 

The *best* thing they can do at this point is leave AR in. He's a loser, and there's really no need to go out and win anymore games. Pack it in for the draft. Hopefully whoever the next GM is (and I like Ballard, so it's tough to say that) can get us a quarterback. 

[IndyEV]

1 minute ago, DougDew said:

And Curtis Rourke from IU will be a better NFL QB than all of them, and probably be a lower draft pick.  Not that we should give up on AR yet.

 

Ward from Miami is another project that Ballard would probably love to take a chance on, but I really like the Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel! He’s the most tenured and experienced QB ever in CFball!

[krunk]

18 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

I agree with all you. Benching him honestly isn't going to do much except make this worse. We honestly could use a high draft pick on this depleted team. No choice but to roll with the kid I guess. 

Are there any prospects that are good? 

 

I don't want the Sanders kid and his circus...

Speak for yourself. I like Shadeur.

He's accurate, a competitor, has a high football I.Q. And has taken a beating but never tapped out. Along with being trained on the game by pros his entire life.  I can sort of see not wanting to hear Deions opinions on his usage all the time. Only thing I don't like about Shadeur is he isn't the best under pressure but neither was Stroud coming out of college.

[Superman]

10 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

They assured us that they could handle this project and all the ins and outs that came with it.

 

And if they pull the cord on Richardson right now, they'll prove that the entire staff is not up to the job.

 

If this is a way to make Richardson take some accountability for some of his decision making, fine. I don't know if it's the best way to do that, but whatever. 

 

But if they don't see how they are failing Richardson with their own decisions -- offensive gameplans, lack of discipline, etc. -- then all of it is a lost cause. Developing a project QB like Richardson was always going to be difficult and require a lot of patience. They probably made him the starter too fast in 2023, and since then I believe they've done a poor job of putting him in position to succeed within the obvious limitations he has. Now if they pull him off the field rather than simplifying the offense, it will be an even bigger mistake.

 

What's worse, they might be thinking 'we can just give him a reset, like the Panthers did with Bryce Young.' The problem is that Richardson won't get better just because time passes. He needs to play, but he needs to be carefully deployed and nurtured. And Steichen is blowing it on that front.

[funktacious2]

We need to just stay the course. I don’t care that we are mathematically still in contention. No one wants Sam Ehlinger as our franchise QB and Flacco’s days are numbered. We are not winning a superbowl this year.

 

We invested a 4th overall pick in a guy with 10 college starts, very raw but high potential and elite physical traits. He’s the youngest QB in the league. He had limited starts in college and has what? 10 starts so far in the NFL? We can judge taking that kind of risk, but we did it knowing we had to commit to the process of giving him time to learn and make mistakes. Him going out for the season was a travesty that has delayed his growth and put us in a situation where we may have to pull the plug sooner than we hope because going into a 3rd year and not seeing much improvement would be a big risk if we opt again to make no new moves. For the rest of the year, what’s the real downside? Just fans being frustrated at worst? We are going to be anyways if we finish with 9 wins and miss the playoffs. More win-win outcomes with AR tbh. Either he improves and we’re all happy or he stays the same or regresses further and we have a better draft position going into a draft with quite a few 1st round potential QB prospects.

[coltsblue1844]

40 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

What does Flacco accomplish? If you lose with AR then you get a better draft pick to move forward with someone else. It doesn’t accomplish anything. I look for vets to be traded this offseason and everyone is fired. Which means another 2 to 3 years with no QB and a bad team. It’s not worth it anymore. 

Right now we have an above average team but a bad QB. With Flacco starting we would be 2-0 vs Houston and would have beaten Green Bay...7-1 and perhaps you'd be singing a different tune.

 

Too many QBs get thrown in before they're ready and then they bust. No one knows if AR will bust or not, but right now he is costing our team games.

 

He has also shown a lack of maturity and lack of accountability. Says his passing is great, says he is "one of one"...takes himself out on 3rd down because he is winded (or that's the reason he gave). Either way, unacceptable for the "face of the franchise"

[Smonroe]

They'll take the rest of the year to evaluate him. 

 

In the meantime, evaluate how the receivers don't get any separation, evaluate how the O line is getting beat by three guys, evaluate the play calling, and evaluate your GM's refusal to bring in any help.

 

 

[BrazilColts]

If getting to the playoff and fairness to the other players than the Colts organization sitting at 4-4 stands a good chance to make it to the playoff. In doing so the Colts will either play 100% Flacco or a hybrid situation between Flacco and AR. Hopefully AR maturity realizes his deficiencies. Yesterday he was in total denial. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

11 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

And if they pull the cord on Richardson right now, they'll prove that the entire staff is not up to the job.

 

If this is a way to make Richardson take some accountability for some of his decision making, fine. I don't know if it's the best way to do that, but whatever. 

 

But if they don't see how they are failing Richardson with their own decisions -- offensive gameplans, lack of discipline, etc. -- then all of it is a lost cause. Developing a project QB like Richardson was always going to be difficult and require a lot of patience. They probably made him the starter too fast in 2023, and since then I believe they've done a poor job of putting him in position to succeed within the obvious limitations he has. Now if they pull him off the field rather than simplifying the offense, it will be an even bigger mistake.

 

What's worse, they might be thinking 'we can just give him a reset, like the Panthers did with Bryce Young.' The problem is that Richardson won't get better just because time passes. He needs to play, but he needs to be carefully deployed and nurtured. And Steichen is blowing it on that front.

Steichen was asked how they can make things simpler today. He had a good answer but I am not sure he will do it.

[C_Lew]

Giving up on AR at this juncture would be a critical mistake. Hopefully this is just a teaching moment of sort.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

8 minutes ago, BrazilColts said:

If getting to the playoff and fairness to the other players than the Colts organization sitting at 4-4 stands a good chance to make it to the playoff. In doing so the Colts will either play 100% Flacco or a hybrid situation between Flacco and AR. Hopefully AR maturity realizes his deficiencies. Yesterday he was in total denial. 

Especially with the AFC a mess. There are basically only 8 or 9 teams going for 7 spots. Bengals could get back in it. We will see. Basically it’d colts, Steelers, ravens, chargers and broncos Texans chiefs bills . The teams behind colts are falling bad. Right now it doesn’t look like there will be many teams competing for wild card spots.

 

Its still a bad look and colts have done him no favors. 

 

 

[GoColts8818]

14 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

And if they pull the cord on Richardson right now, they'll prove that the entire staff is not up to the job.

 

If this is a way to make Richardson take some accountability for some of his decision making, fine. I don't know if it's the best way to do that, but whatever. 

 

But if they don't see how they are failing Richardson with their own decisions -- offensive gameplans, lack of discipline, etc. -- then all of it is a lost cause. Developing a project QB like Richardson was always going to be difficult and require a lot of patience. They probably made him the starter too fast in 2023, and since then I believe they've done a poor job of putting him in position to succeed within the obvious limitations he has. Now if they pull him off the field rather than simplifying the offense, it will be an even bigger mistake.

 

What's worse, they might be thinking 'we can just give him a reset, like the Panthers did with Bryce Young.' The problem is that Richardson won't get better just because time passes. He needs to play, but he needs to be carefully deployed and nurtured. And Steichen is blowing it on that front.

Maybe I am just a prisoner of the moment but I don’t think AR is it and I don’t think this staff is it.  Shane reminds me more and more of Frank every week.  Very stubborn, very do what we do, and very reluctant to change and acknowledge reality.  

[Solid84]

57 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

Well that's damning and pretty much confirms everything we've been discussing. 

 

The kid isn't ready. It's obvious... We're in trouble. 

The right move was to not start him at all to begin with. He's not ready and he never was, but benching him now is going to do more harm than good.

[RollerColt]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

Maybe I am just a prisoner of the moment but I don’t think AR is it and I don’t think this staff is it.  Shane reminds me more and more of Frank every week.  Very stubborn, very do what we do, and very reluctant to change and acknowledge reality.  

I spent most of last night watching Anthony’s all-22s for each game this season (I have not slept in days… not sure what’s wrong).

 

What I’m seeing on the tape is concerning on a lot of levels…

 

And then with what Shane and Anthony have been saying this season and quite frankly for the last few years including leading up to Richardson’s draft…

 

It seems like the staff and Anthony have differing opinions on what QB he’s supposed to be. 
 

AR views himself as a running QB who on occasion throws. He believes he’s not a prototypical QB, but something entirely else.

 

The staff thinks he can be a pocket passer who can run on designed plays.

 

Neither is on the same page it feels like… 

[ShuteAt168]

AR thinks he throws the football “great.” He thinks it’s cool to just take a play off — something his coach said he can’t do and for which he’s been criticized by every former player I’ve heard comment. I hope AR is a star someday because I like the Colts, but maybe he could benefit from the harsh reality of getting benched. He’s not self aware enough for it to hurt his confidence and it seems impossible for him to complete a lower percentage of passes. What could it hurt. I hope AR plays because he’s interesting and exciting —for better or worse—but I don’t think sitting him down is a ludicrous decision for a guy with his numbers. Just my 2 cents. 

[Solid84]

46 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

You know if this season spirals, and it very well could, and the Colts are in position to draft a QB in the first round this year I think you have to think really hard about doing it.  

If the Colts are in a position where they are seriously considering drafting a new QB this offseason it won't be Ballard & Co making that call I feel. It's more than just a new QB if that's the route the Irsays want to go. it's a complete team rebuild top to bottom. I think that's a HUGE decision based off one season of QB play...

[RollerColt]

2 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

The right move was to not start him at all to begin with. He's note ready and he never was, but benching him now is going to do more harm than good.

I absolutely agree. He needed to sit and learn. 
 

But benching him now… is admitting he’s not it. It would basically signal we’re already moving on.

 

I can’t pretend to know what’s going on in the locker room and sidelines. Maybe he’s not listening to the coaching? 

[Patrick Miller]

AR has sucked and the tap out just made things worse. Drafting him was a mistake. We can win with Flacco this season and either draft or sign another qb next season. Richardson is a lost cause.