The Indianapolis Colts will face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Anthony Richardson.
Anthony Richardson’s Rest-of-Season Fantasy Outlook
I don’t want to pile on, but the number of unimpressive stats surrounding Anthony Richardson is getting out of control. He earned the lowest QB+ grade of Week 8, which is hard to do when you connect on a 69-yard touchdown in a week where every team was in action.
One big play should elevate you out of the basement, but when you complete 29% of your passes with zero scores outside of that play, you get what you deserve grade-wise. That Josh Downs score is the only one Richardson has thrown since Week 2 (80 attempts), and he hasn’t pushed the ball over the line with his legs since the season opener.
In theory, I should be enamored with Richardson’s ability to pick up cheap points with his legs (101 rush yards in his two games back from injury, so no real restrictions there), but I just can’t get there.
The bad interception at the end of the first half demonstrates that he is broken in more ways than just decision-making. He’s completely lost all confidence as a passer, and that’s made him unplayable.
The Vikings have as many multi-INT games as multi-TD pass games allowed this season, and it certainly feels as if Richardson is more likely to slide into the latter bucket than the former. The Colts shared this assessment and, on Tuesday, made it official that they were opting to go to Joe Flacco under center.
If you have the roster space, holding Richardson for a week or two is still my preferred option — if for no other reason than this franchise has more to gain by learning as much as they can about him than chasing 2024 success by way of Flacco.
If you are desperate for wins — a very real possibility given that your projected starting QB has been abysmal — cutting ties is an acceptable action.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
