If you haven't heard by now, news broke yesterday that the Indianapolis Colts have officially made the decision to not pick up the fifth-year option for quarterback Anthony Richardson, as they seek to trade him. It's seemingly a procedural decision, but a franchise altering one nonetheless. Unfortunately for Richardson and the Colts, the former 2023 fourth-overall selection has yet to find his footing as a signal-caller at the professional level.
Since his debut in 2023, Richardson's performance with Indianapolis has been defined by injuries and inefficiency from under center. On the injury front, Richardson has dealt with everything from concussions, to back issues, shoulder problems and even orbital fractures. As a whole, said injuries cost him 19 out of 34 total games from 2023-2024, which roughly equals 56% of his early career missed.
In terms of actual quarterback play, Richardson has been one of the most ineffective players at the position since he first stepped on the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week one of 2023. For his Colts tenure (2023-2025), Richardson has a abysmal stat line of:
- 17 games played
- 177/350 (50.6 completion %)
- 2,400 yards (6.9 average)
- 11 touchdowns, 13 interceptions
- 21 sacks
- 67.8 passer rating
Even with an offensive mastermind like Shane Steichen at the helm as head coach and play-caller, Richardson struggled to string together productive outings. As such, RIchardson's stock dropped dramatically, Daniel Jones got signed and now Richardson is effectively on his way out of Lucas Oil Stadium.
As a result of this major development, the Houston Texans and quarterback C.J. Stroud now stand alone as the sole victors of the 2023 quarterback draft class sweepstakes (at least for the AFC South).
Texans and C.J. Stroud stand tall as winners of 2023 QB draft arms race
In what has become the stuff of local legend, Stroud was the second passer selected in the 2023 draft. He was picked after the Heisman trophy-winning Bryce Young (Alabama), who went to the Carolina Panthers with the number one-overall pick. After Stroud came the draft combine genetic freak in the aforementioned Richardson at fourth-overall to Indy, and then the mayonnaise infused coffee drinking Will Levis in the top of the second round to the Tennessee Titans.
Richardson and Levis are almost one and the same
At the time of writing, both Richardson and Levis are on the outs with their respective organizations. Funny enough, Richardson and Levis both fit the same narrative. They were both praised for their raw physical traits coming out of college, but injuries and poor production at the position have created untenable circumstances for the teams who drafted them.
Young had a rebound year in 2025
On the other hand, Young his enjoyed a bit of a career resurgence in 2025. After suffering through a disastrous first two seasons, which included a benching in year two, Young rebounded to put together a 3,011-yard, 25 total touchdown campaign that launched the Panthers into the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-2018 season (losing an electric 34-31 Wildcard game against the Los Angeles Rams). Yet, none in the group have the resume of Stroud.
Stroud's performance has been best overall
Since 2023, Stroud has led the Texans to their best three-year stretch in franchise history. In three seasons, he's guided his team to back-to-back AFC South titles (2023-2024), three consecutive AFC Playoff berths and three-straight AFC Divisional round games.
His team has gone 32-19 since he's arrived (28-18 when he's played), and are now positioning themselves for a legitimate Super Bowl run as a result of Stroud's emergence. Even though he's had his struggles as of late, he's had the best total career thus far out of this group of four. Considering Young's recent success, he would of course be second place. Thus, 2026 might be a two-player race in this theoretical discussion.
Stroud and Young in a two-player race for 'best QB of 2023'
In reality, a "who's the best?" debate centered around Stroud and Young won't be something that many should expect to be legitimized by the singal caller involved. Stround and Young are close, and it's on record that they're rooting for eachother's respective successes in the NFL.
Sure, they're both competitive and want to demostrate their individual brilliance. But they also understand the importance of being a support system for one another in the midst of the gauntlet that is the NFL. Although, it should be noted that Stroud is currently 0-1 against Young head-to-head in the NFL thus far, which is something he would most likely want to rectify in the near future.
Regardless, Stroud and Young are the only two prominent names from the 2023 quarterback crop that actually panned out in any significant way for their organziations. We'll see who takes the bigger leap in 2026.
Add us as a preferred source on Google