Anthony Richardson Named Colts QB2: What It Means for His Future

Anthony Richardson Named Colts QB2: What It Means for His Future

Desk: Players · Indianapolis · Sept. 3, 2026

Anthony Richardson asked out.

No trade materialized.

On Thursday, Shane Steichen named him the Colts’ backup quarterback anyway.

QB2 is not a parade. For Richardson, it is not a burial either.

A year ago, losing the job to Daniel Jones felt like the end of a first-round bet. This time it feels like a door that did not close.

How Richardson won QB2

The fight was with Riley Leonard, the 2025 sixth-round pick who entered camp competing for the backup job.

Camp was close. The preseason was not.

Richardson went 21-of-33 for 249 yards. One interception. No touchdown passes. Ten carries, 68 yards, one rushing score. One lost fumble.

Leonard went 20-of-42 for 199 yards. Two interceptions. Six carries for 17 yards. Two fumbled snaps.

Steichen did not dress it up. Richardson made more plays. Leonard did not.

Richardson called it an honor. He said he was thankful they believed in him enough to make him QB2. He said he is ready to work.

That is the quote. The film is why he got the job.

Why Anthony Richardson lost the starting job last season

Last year Richardson lost the starting job to Jones.

Then the year got stranger. Jones tore his Achilles. Philip Rivers came out of retirement. Richardson landed on injured reserve after an orbital bone injury in warmups.

This offseason he asked for a trade. Indianapolis let him look. No deal was announced. That is all the public record shows.

Reports later tied the eye injury to how other teams evaluated a trade. We do not have a team on the record calling his market dead. We have a player who asked out and is still here.

Jones is the starter. Leonard stays as the developmental arm. Richardson is the one who would enter a live game first.

That matters in a league that eats starting quarterbacks. The Colts already lived that once.

What QB2 actually means for Richardson

QB2 is a job with a short fuse.

It is also the only on-ramp Richardson has left in Indianapolis.

He was the No. 4 pick in 2023. He started fast and then the injuries stacked. Shoulder. Accuracy. The eye. The trade request. None of that is erased by three preseason games.

Three preseason games did change the depth chart.

Richardson completed 63.6% of his passes. Leonard completed 47.6%.

That gap is why Steichen picked him.

Richardson said he has not talked to his agent about a trade “in a minute.” He said his focus is backing up Jones. Believe the quote. Also believe the calendar. His 2026 snaps could matter enormously to his next contract. Leonard still has years left on his rookie deal.

Indianapolis can still move him later. They chose not to move him now.

What happens to Anthony Richardson after 2026?

This season is an evaluation year.

Jones is the starter until he is not. Leonard still has years left on his rookie deal. Richardson is the one whose next contract could hinge on what happens when he gets his chance.

If Richardson plays well in a real game, Indianapolis has a reason to keep talking.

If he does not, the next stop is another roster.

If Jones gets hurt, the experiment starts again on a Sunday, not in a press conference.

QB2 is the job. 2026 is the test.

What it means

This is not a comeback montage.

This is a first-round pick who asked for the door and found the bench instead — and then won the bench.

For Indianapolis, it is a hedge. Jones is the present. Richardson is the emergency and the unfinished draft pick in the same body.

For Richardson, it is simpler. He is on the 53. He is one injury from a start. Last year that sentence would have sounded like a threat. This year it sounds like a chance he almost talked himself out of.

QB2 is not a parade.

On this roster, it is not a burial either.