The quarterback market, one that looked extremely bleak heading into this offseason, received a small bump this week. Although his limited NFL experience hasn’t been overly impressive, Anthony Richardson is now available after the Indianapolis Colts reportedly gave him permission to seek a trade.
He’s had some ups and plenty of downs but still has a ton of potential. To ESPN’s Michelle Smallmon, he might be worth taking a chance on in Pittsburgh.
“What about the Steelers?” Smallmon said Friday on Unsportsmanlike. “Mike McCarthy historically brings out the best in quarterbacks. You have a stable organization. Aaron Rodgers, to his credit, has been great at mentoring young quarterbacks. All the focus is gonna be on Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Richardson can kinda just sit back and chill and observe and learn.”
There’s a reason Richardson was drafted fourth overall in 2023. He’s got great size for the position, is extremely dangerous as a runner, and has one of the stronger arms the league has seen in quite some time. This deep touchdown pass in 2024 is all the evidence you need of that arm strength.
However, potential is one thing; realizing it at the NFL level is another. That’s something Richardson has yet to do, and it’s why he’s on the trade block. He missed most of the 2023 season as a rookie due to injuries but had a good first four games that year. Since then, it’s unfortunately been much more inconsistent.
Anthony Richardson has appeared in 17 games, starting 15 of them. He has a career completion rate of just 50.6-percent with 2,400 yards, 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He’s capable of freakishly athletic plays, but he just doesn’t make enough of the simple throws that NFL quarterbacks have to complete.
There’s also the injury bug, which has really hurt Richardson. In the 2023 season, Richardson suffered a concussion in Week 2 and a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 5. In 2024, he suffered a hip injury early against the Steelers and missed the rest of the game. He also missed the final two games of that year with foot and back injuries. In 2025, he injured his shoulder at the start of OTAs, then dislocated his finger in the first preseason game. He also suffered an orbital fracture in pregame warmups in Week 6. Point is, availability has been an issue early in his career.
If Rodgers does come back, the Steelers may simply choose to roll with Will Howard as a young QB to learn behind the veteran. But Richardson isn’t a bad player to take a chance on, either. There are a lot of intricacies in the game he’d pick up on from Rodgers. And, of course, Mike McCarthy’s ability to develop quarterbacks is a plus as well.
At the end of the day, Anthony Richardson has enough potential that some team will take a chance on him. And it’s hard to criticize whichever team that ends up being. Smallmon thinks the Steelers are a great candidate.
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