Shane Steichen: Anthony Richardson's completion percentage "definitely needs to improve"

When the Colts drafted Anthony Richardson at No. 4 overall two years ago, they likely didn't envision him being a part of a quarterback competition entering 2025.

But that's what Indianapolis is facing this spring, as the club signed Daniel Jones to push Richardson this offseason.

One of the biggest issues Richardson has to improve is his completion rate. While Richardson was at 60 percent in his four games as a rookie, that dropped to 48 percent in his 11 starts in 2024. Richardson’s best day as a passer was the Week 11 win over the Jets, as he completed 20-of-30 passes for 272 yards with a touchdown and no picks.

But he also had two games with a completion rate in the 30s — the Week 8 loss to Indianapolis (10-of-32) and the Week 12 loss to Detroit (11-of-28).

“That definitely needs to improve, the completion percentage,” head coach Shane Steichen said on Monday at the annual league meeting. “I think you can’t go broke taking a profit. But getting those completions are huge. And just moving the chains — instead of being in second-and-10, maybe taking the check-downs, [you get] yourself into second-and-2. So, we’re going to be working on that this offseason and going into training camp.”

Steichen noted Richardson was aware that the club planned to bring in competition since they talked about it at the end of the season.

“[W]e sat down and talked about it and said, you know, ‘We need to bring in some competition for Anthony,’” Steichen said. "Obviously, Anthony’s shown some signs of really good things. But we’re just looking for consistency on a day-to-day basis.”

While Steichen doesn’t have a timeline on when he’d like to have a decision at this point, he does have a plan to split reps between the two quarterbacks. And while Richardson still needs snaps — as has been the case since when he was drafted — now the 22-year-old QB must do what he can in limited time.

“That’s part of the process right now that we’re going through, is the competition,” Steichen said. “So, he’s going to have to take advantage of the reps that he gets — him and Daniel. It’s a competition and competition makes everyone better.”