Trent Richardson's Failure Means Colts Will Need Another Crack at Fixing RB

The only thing notable about the Indianapolis run game in Sunday night's season-ending 45-7 loss in New England was just how utterly unremarkable it was. 

The Patriots sold out to stop the pass, and the Colts, on backs No. 3 and No. 4 of the season, could muster only 83 yards on the ground as the game script slowly solidified into a pass-only zone. Much to the chagrin of head coach Chuck Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson, their dream team that would be able to stop the run and run the ball could do neither. 

The lesson the Colts should take from 2014 is that Trent Richardson is not the running back that can implement the ball-control offense they'd like to run. As a healthy scratch throughout the playoffs—some of that due to personal problems nobody will get into—Richardson's absence was only noticed in that the running game became terrible without him rather than staying abysmal. 

Richardson is due a little over $3.1 million in fully guaranteed salary in 2015. That he's been so bad that the Colts actually have a debate on what to do with his roster spot speaks volumes about where he's at. I suspect the Colts will eventually release him, though it might be a little later into training camp than Colts fans would prefer. My sense is we'll have to sit through the typical OTA fluff and see how he performs in the preseason before they completely terminate the investment. 

Then there's running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who was a big part of the offensive renaissance the Colts had in the first half of the season, becoming quarterback Andrew Luck's top red-zone passing threat. Bradshaw has a long history of being a good running back, which is a polite way of saying that he's pretty old. He's also a walking injury risk, having ended both of his Colts seasons on IR and suffering chronic neck and foot issues since his days with the Giants.  

The perfect role for Bradshaw at this point, since he can't be counted on to stay healthy, is a situational one. Richardson's inability to assume a full role has forced Bradshaw to play more than he needs to, and he's an unrestricted free agent for 2015. I don't think the Colts necessarily need to let him walk, but the argument is there that replacing him makes sense. 

Player	DVOA (Rk)	DYAR (Rk)
Trent Richardson	-58 (41)	-17.5% (41)
Ahmad Bradshaw	26 (nr)	-1.7% (nr)
Dan Herron	18 (nr)	-2.8% (nr)

Finally, Dan Herron performed admirably in a tough spot, but he's fumble-prone and hardly brings the kind of sustaining ground force that the Colts can rely on. He would have shown that when he was pressed into action if the ability was actually there.

The good news for Grigson and Pagano is that this is a terrific time to be looking for a running back. The free-agency class is stacked, the draft has several scouts buzzing, and high-profile guys like Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice could come cheap as they look for public relations redemption.

Player	Team	DVOA (Rk)	DYAR (Rk)
DeMarco Murray	DAL	14.7% (5)	381 (1)
Frank Gore	SF	6.3% (13)	154 (10)
Ryan Mathews	SD	11.4% (nr)	62 (nr)
Shane Vereen	NE	-7.1% (nr)	5 (nr)
Mark Ingram (Saints hold option)	NO	2.9% (14)	109 (13)

While I wouldn't look to address running back early in the draft, nor would I want to be the team paying DeMarco Murray after the punishment he absorbed in 2014, I think it's clear that Grigson and Pagano value this sort of back to the point where speculation on it is mandated. I could easily see the Colts spending their first-round pick on Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon III or Georgia's Todd Gurley—all it'd do is affirm what we already knew about the architect's vision for their team. 

Personally, I'd probably do something like bring in New England back Shane Vereen to replace Bradshaw, then spend a mid-round pick on a guy like Boise State's Jay Ajayi or Indiana's Tevin Coleman rather than find a true franchise back. I don't think the ends justify the means, especially given all the new contracts the Colts will have to hand out to players like Luck, receiver T.Y. Hilton, tight end Dwayne Allen and tackle Anthony Castonzo. 

But whatever road the Colts choose to take at running back, it's clear that a change is necessary. Richardson doesn't cut it. For this team to truly take on the ball-control personality it wants, it needs to find a back or backfield combo capable of sustaining drives. 

Richardson isn't that guy, and Bradshaw can't handle 200 carries of punishment at this point in his career. It's time to look elsewhere.

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Three-Cone Drill podcast. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.