Anthony Richardson's statistical profile has been called many things. But one thing you rarely hear him called is "successful against the spread." Second-year quarterbacks that get benched are often underperforming the betting market's expectations, after all.
But Richardson has been good ATS in his small sample. He's 7-3 against the spread in his career — 5-2 ATS as an underdog and 2-1 as a favorite.
And Richardson has gone 5-1 against the spread in 2024, the highest ROI of any quarterback with at least five starts this season. Again, unusual for a quarterback benched for a journeyman backup.
This Sunday against the Jets, Richardson will start in place of Joe Flacco. Colts coach Shane Steichen said Richardson will start for the remainder of the season.
Stats Tell the Opposite Story About Richardson…
Prior to his two-week benching, there were some wild stats about Richardson's passing numbers in his first 1.5 seasons.
- Richardson's 44.4% completion percentage is the lowest in NFL this season by a good margin. The next-lowest completion percentage among qualified QBs is by New England's Jacoby Brissett (59.1%).
- That completion percentage is the fourth-lowest of any player through the first eight games of the season since 2000. He's ahead of 2000 Akili Smith, 2009 Derek Anderson, and 2013 Josh Freeman.
- His QB Rating is the lowest in the league among qualified QBs at 57.2. Bryce Young is next at 66.9.
- His career completion percentage is fifth-lowest among QBs in their first 10 career starts (minimum 200 pass attempts). He's ahead of 2001-2005 Mike McMahon, 2000-2003 Anthony Wright, 2010-2011 Tim Tebow, and 2011 Blaine Gabbert.
An unusual juxtaposition — we'll see if he can continue exceeding the betting market's bar with these sorts of numbers, or if one has to give.
