When Carolina Panthers stunned NFL world by benching quarterback Bryce Young The repercussions of the decision reverberated throughout the league in September.

Was it a franchise that invested a lot of draft capital to select Young first overall? I gave up on him 18 games into his professional career?

Did Young start his last game for the Panthers, even if it wasn’t in the NFL?

League sentiment focused the decision on three key principles: the need to regain Young’s confidence, the shallow pipeline of talent around him and the need to build a winning culture with first-year head coach Brian Callahan.

The Panthers didn’t think Young had the ability to elevate or even keep their team afloat. His skills and size were not a recipe for success. So Callahan made his decision, and the Panthers won the next game to avoid losing five in a row.

Fast forward to Tuesday and the news came Second 2023 first round quarterback’s bench.

It’s easy to relate the Indianapolis Colts’ decision to bench Anthony Richardson, the fourth overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, to the benching of the man drafted three spots ahead of him. But a closer look at the Colts’ decision to play Joe Flacco shows just how different everything is about these players.

Young’s 5-foot-11, 204-pound (generous) frame hurts him, while Richardson’s 6-4, 244-pound frame attracts talent evaluators. While Young’s 27 college starts and 949 college passes gave decision-makers a solid look at his potential, Richardson’s 13 starts on 393 attempts left them weighing in on big question marks.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen arrived in Indianapolis last year after coordinating an NFC champion offense in Philadelphia, as the Panthers consider what the locker room will look like if Canales doesn’t play the most talented quarterback who can help them win right now. Steichen led the Colts to a surprising winning record (9-8) in his first year in 2023 despite losing Richardson to season-ending shoulder surgery after just four starts.

The Panthers (1-7) have less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs. New York Times’ play-off forecaster. The 4-4 Colts still have a 30% chance.

as it is A common situation in teams’ decisions regarding young quarterbacksWhat is best for the team in the short term may not be in the long term.

So let’s explain how the Colts got to the point of benching a player who arguably needed experience more than anything else, and what the franchise risked with that decision.

The Colts outlined a plan for Richardson — and now they’re abandoning that plan

After Andrew Luck retired from the Colts ahead of the 2019 season, the Colts spent years trying to find answers to their quarterback questions.

They acquired Philip Rivers and Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan. Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew II each received one season. Neither of them won a playoff game, and Rivers was the only quarterback to reach that game in those five years. The franchise wanted a longer-term answer like the one they found with Peyton Manning and then Luck.

So they drafted a high-risk, high-reward quarterback. Richardson’s athleticism and playmaking ability were intriguing; He insisted the Colts were willing and ready to experience his development process as he tried to realize his potential.

“What we saw from Anthony was the upside of what we thought he could do moving forward,” general manager Chris Ballard told Yahoo Sports during training camp last year, before Richardson made his pro debut. “Of course you wish he started 30 games in college, but he didn’t. … He has work to do, but he is very talented and we are ready to meet the challenges he will face.

“I think we will see very good things, too.”

Fast forward to now, either side of shoulder surgery in October 2023, the Colts have seen both. In 10 games over the past two seasons, Richardson has completed 50.2% of his passes for seven touchdowns, eight interceptions and 1,535 yards. He also rushed for 378 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

Highlights have drawn attention, from Richardson’s four rushing touchdowns in just four games (and not full games) last year to Richardson’s two passes completed for 60-plus air yards in the Colts’ first game against the Texans this season. Richardson found receiver Alec Pierce for a touchdown that covered 65.3 air yards, becoming the first player in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016) to record two such completions in the same game.

“You want guys who can create and create big plays,” Ballard said. “You have to do this outside of the structure of Xs and Os. I think that’s what private players actually do. … There are moments when it should be done, and there are moments when it shouldn’t be done. “I think that’s going to be part of his development, knowing when to do it and when not to.”

Richardson probably hasn’t figured this out yet. His protection has let him down at times and his goals have had passes dropped 11 times in 10 games. per Pro Football Focus.

Even so, the offense at Richardson’s disposal ranged from inconsistent to incompetent. Richardson’s 57.2 passer rating ranks 34th among 34 quarterbacks who have attempted at least 100 passes this season. His 32.4% success rate (at least 40% on first down, 60% on second down, 100% on third and fourth) ranks 34th out of 34, according to Pro Football Reference.

Flacco, who the Colts promoted ahead of Richardson, ranks eighth with a 102.2 passer rating and 21st with a 43.9% success rate.

It’s easy to argue that Flacco is more poised to win when the Colts face the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Detroit Lions in November. That seems to be affecting Ballard, who is clinging on to a job in an impatient league. Only Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins has gone longer than Ballard without making a Super Bowl appearance. The Colts have reached the playoffs twice since his hiring in 2017, winning only once; this was a wild card game following the 2018 season.

Ballard is keen to end this drought and secure his job by 2025. Steichen, meanwhile, wants to show owner Jim Irsay that the success he had with Minshew last year was not a coincidence but an indication of his ability to elevate the roster.

So at .500, with Houston two games ahead in the AFC South, they’re hoping Flacco can comfortably deliver the playoff magic he provided the Cleveland Browns last season.

It could be.

But what impact will this have on Richardson, who said after the loss Sunday how he was a “great passer” and “can run the ball way better than any other quarterback” except perhaps Lamar Jackson?

Ballard’s 2023 promises ring hollow with this center.

“For any point guard, it takes time to do the job and he has to play,” Ballard told Yahoo Sports 15 months ago. “There will be some highs, there will be some really good moments and there will be some really bad moments. I think you can look at the background of most young quarterbacks: They go through this process, and you have to stick with them and let them learn and grow.

“And don’t jump off the cliff and lose yourself.”

As the Colts take a step back, expect them to ‘evaluate’ everything, including QB

If Ballard’s definition of losing his cool is reversing course on Richardson’s snap count, the Colts had not yet fallen into the abyss after Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Texans.

“We’ve got to keep working on it,” Steichen said postgame. “(Richardson) has a good work ethic. He is examining these. Man, it’s a process. We’re doing this together.

“This is not about one man. “This is the team.”

Steichen’s support weakened on Monday. Whenever asked about Richardson starting, the head coach had this to say: “We evaluate everything.”

Steichen discussed “ongoing conversations” about the QB’s role in the offense, improving play, and running back alternatives. How can the Colts make the intermediate throws that plague Richardson easier and simplify defensive diagnostics for a player with far less read experience than most?

Steichen began toeing the Colts’ party line that playing Richardson was the best path for his development.

“I think it could go either way,” Steichen said. “There are some guys who were thrown into the fire early. There are others too, let them sit back and watch. The more you play, the more you learn in that position. But sometimes it helps to sit back and watch? Yes, of course there is.”

Richardson will now have that advantage.

He will also have the chance to take advantage of what center Ryan Kelly called a “learning moment” for a young player after Richardson was rested from Sunday’s game.

Richardson’s decision to give up the game because “he was tired, I’m not going to lie” sparked criticism. Coaches and executives around the league wonder what impact this will have on a locker room full of players who are likely tired but struggling while their leader rests.

“He knows that’s not the standard he should be held to, and the rest of the team is holding him back,” Kelly said Monday. “I’m sure he will receive some criticism about this, and rightly so. This is a very harsh look. (But) if anyone questions how hard he plays, I don’t think that’s the case.

“If you watch the film, of course we couldn’t move the ball effectively at times. But he gives everything for his teammates.”

When will Richardson next get the chance to give his all for his team?

Not sure.

While some around the league wonder how a quarterback bounces back from that slump, others argue that a player who can’t bounce back from a humiliation doesn’t have the resources to be a franchise player.

Young’s next starting opportunity came six weeks after he was benched, when Andy Dalton sprained his thumb. Young threw for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. 28-14 defeat Sunday to the Denver Broncos.

Given how different the backup circumstances are, this may not be indicative of Richardson’s next step.

We expect the Colts to continue evaluating his development.

“We take everything apart and evaluate everything,” Steichen said. “We all need to get better. We’re sitting at .500. Looking back, there’s a lot of areas we can improve on. I’m not just talking about forwards. I’m talking about everything.”

“We must continue to progress better”