Anthony Richardson to Start Colts' 1st Preseason Game, Daniel Jones Will Play Week 2

Anthony Richardson will have the opportunity to make the first in-game impression of the Indianapolis Colts' quarterback battle ahead of the 2025 season.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen announced Tuesday that Richardson will start Thursday's preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. The plan is then to start Daniel Jones in the team's second preseason contest against the Green Bay Packers.

In a perfect world for the Colts, Richardson would seize the opportunity and establish himself as the franchise quarterback they envisioned when they selected him with the No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft.

Yet he has been anything but consistent throughout his first two seasons in the league.

Richardson has completed just 50.6 percent of his career passes for 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions through 15 games. Injuries limited him to just four contests as a rookie, and he dealt with more injuries and a benching in his second season in 2024.

At the time of his benching for veteran Joe Flacco last season, he was completing an ugly 44.4 percent of his passes. The benching also came shortly after he checked himself out of a game because of fatigue.

The Florida product brings an element to the game that many other quarterbacks don't with his ability to run the ball, but he will only take the next step as a surefire starter in the NFL if he can become a more consistent passer.

As for Jones, he is quite familiar with struggling to live up to the expectations that come with being a high draft pick.

The New York Giants selected him with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft, but he is just 24-44-1 as a starter. New York ended up releasing him in November of last season after he was benched for Tommy DeVito.

He finished the season on the Minnesota Vikings, although he never appeared in a game.

Indianapolis signed Jones for depth this offseason, and he will have an opportunity to start and prove himself as well during the preseason. The quarterback race could come down to which one performs better in game action, as neither has a long history of sustained success to fall back on even if Jones has more experience.

The Colts open the season on Sept. 7 against the Miami Dolphins.