In Greg Doyle’s world, the sky is falling and the apocalypse approaches

[Kray007]

Anthony Richardson looks good in practice. No eye problems, strong arm, hitting every receiver. He might…gasp…wait for it…beat out Riley Leonard for the backup role.

Oh, will the nightmare ever stop?

Am I alone in seeing no downside to this? I assume that the only way he claws his way up the depth chart is if he displays a degree of maturity missing up til now.

Call me crazy, but that isn’t impossible if for no other reason than the fact that the brain is reaching maturity when your 24th birthday rolls around.

The bottom line is that we just don’t have a window into what’s happening in the Quarterback room. We don’t know if the young man has discovered a zeal for film study. We don’t know if his recognition skills have progressed.

By the time training camp ends, we should have a few answers. If he leapfrogs Leonard, the sky hasn’t fallen. Leonard is young, and another year riding the bench isn’t a career killer.

[albany ed]

A new and improved AR can only be a good thing. My ideal scenario, is DJ isn't quite ready for the season and AR begins it. He kicks ass and becomes the QB we all hoped he could be. Then DJ is ready and he too can kick ass. We decide to trade one of them and the trade value is superb.

[Oldcolt]

Doyle just tried to rile folks up. His take is idiotic per usual. How on earth would AR showing progress be a negative to this team? Dude is likable and doesn't cause any internal problems. Still extremely young and not a fully developed person yet. Jones may look great-and that is a big deal-but so did Tatum until he didn't. The healing process doesn't always follow a straight arrow up. Having more options behind Jones is nothing but positive.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Kray007

Anthony Richardson looks good in practice. No eye problems, strong arm, hitting every receiver. He might …... gasp …... wait for it ...… beat out Riley Leonard for the backup role.

Oh, will the nightmare ever stop ???

Am I alone in seeing no downside to this ??? I assume that the only way in which he claws his way up the depth chart is if he displays a degree of maturity missing up until now.

Call me crazy, but that isn’t impossible if for no other reason than the fact that the brain is reaching maturity when your 24th birthday rolls around.

The bottom line is that we just don’t have a window into what’s happening in the Quarterback room. We don’t know if the young man has discovered a zeal for film study. We don’t know if his recognition skills have progressed.

By the time training camp ends, we should have a few answers. If he leapfrogs Leonard, the sky hasn’t fallen. Leonard is young, and another year riding the bench isn’t a career-killer.

o


Anthony Richardson Shines in Colts’ QB2 Competition vs Riley Leonard ...... This Is Not Good

(By Gregg Doyel)

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...s/90242089007/



The Colts had better trade tantalizing Anthony Richardson before they do something silly, and give him the backup-QB job over Riley Leonard.

Richardson and Leonard are competing for the QB-2 job behind Daniel Jones, who might not be ready for the 2026 season opener after his Achilles' injury last year.

Richardson looked great Wednesday during the first day of OTA's, but he generally looks great throwing against air, or even against teammates. Will the Colts be seduced by his potential ...... again ???



******************************************


INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson looked great on the team’s indoor practice field Wednesday, throwing routes against air and then against Colts defenders ...... teammates, you call them ...... during 11-on-11 drills. He always looks great in his non-contact jersey. And he generally looks great in drills.

You wonder why he’s still here.

Richardson asked the Colts for a trade in February. The Colts tried to make it happen, but it’s not that easy. Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II also requested a trade before the 2026 NFL Draft, but the Colts couldn’t find a partner and gave Moore away for nothing, granting the classy 30-year-old his release earlier this month.

We don’t know what Colts GM Chris Ballard was offered for Richardson, 24, or if he was offered anything, but he has said that he’s not going to just give Richardson away. Not in a trade, not in a release, not at all.

Ballard picked Richardson 4th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, and while he was doing the bidding of Colts owner Jim Irsay ...... who wanted a quarterback in the 1st round ...... Ballard seems tied to Richardson in a way that Shane Steichen is not.

Do Ballard and Steichen convey that with their words ??? Not precisely, no. Call it a feeling of mine, a hunch, a perception after years of listening to their news conferences and watching their body language. Ballard clearly is more invested in Richardson, genuinely likes him as a person ...... that matters to Ballard ...... and would no doubt love to see Richardson realize his massive potential here in Indianapolis.

“He's a good dude, and he's talented,” Ballard told reporters in March. “I still want good for Anthony, man. I think he's got a lot in him. He's had some bad luck."

Everybody wins ...... Richardson, Ballard, the Colts ...... if Richardson becomes the NFL quarterback he teased during the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Downtown Indianapolis ...... and becomes that quarterback here. At the combine that spring Richardson did things that we’d never seen a quarterback do, a combination of size, speed, agility and arm strength that still, to this day, boggles the mind.

Anthony Richardson is a workout wonder, make no mistake about that. Can he play quarterback ??? He wasn’t terribly good at Florida in his one year as a starter (6-6 record, 54.7% career accuracy, 24 TD's and 15 INT's), or during his injury-plagued first 3 years here (8-7 career record, 50.6% accuracy, 11 TD’s, 13 INT’s.)

But the young man still looks great in the spring, making throws Wednesday that boggle the mind.

You wonder if it matters.

How did Riley Leonard look Wednesday ??? Oh, he looked fine. Nothing special, really ...... but then, Leonard is the opposite of Richardson. He’s not going to wow anyone in practice, certainly not with his arm-strength, but when he’s playing a real game against real defenses, he looks the part of a possible QB-1 someday.

Leonard was completing almost all of his passes on Wednesday against air, and even against Colts defenders ...... teammates, you call them ...... but so did Richardson. So did Daniel Jones, just 6 months removed the torn Achilles’ tendon that cost him the final 4 games of the 2025 NFL season. So did the guy wearing the No. 4 practice jersey, Seth Henigan. He played for Memphis State from 2021-24. Will Henigan ever play for the Colts ???

That’s how it feels regarding Anthony Richardson, too. Will he ever play (again) for the Colts ???

That would mean one of two disasters has happened ...... either Jones got hurt again, or the Colts got fooled again.

Nothing has changed with Richardson, for better or worse. He’s the same physical marvel he’s always been, the same charismatic guy, the same guy whose brain clearly works at a high level but whose eyes, to this point, haven’t been able to process the pre-snap tricks thrown his way by NFL defensive coordinators.

Maybe Richardson’s time away has cured that final part, his inability to decipher what the defense is trying to do to him before it does it to him. Richardson missed the final 12 games of last season after suffering that bizarre injury before the Arizona Cardinals game in October, when he was stretching with one of those strong elastic bands and the band broke off from his locker, sending a shard into his face.

Long after his face had healed, Richardson reported vision problems. He says those problems are gone.

“Everything’s cool,” he said, twice, when asked Wednesday about his vision.

What if his pre-snap vision has cleared as well ??? We’ll find out during the pre-season, if he’s still here when the Colts play their 2026 exhibition schedule against the New England Patriots, the Atlanta Facons, and the Detroit Lions.

Richardson doesn’t necessarily want to be here then, of course. He doesn’t necessarily want to be here now, other than to stay in shape for his next opportunity. No judgment in that last sentence, OK ??? Richardson asked to be traded because Jones clearly has become the Colts’ QB-1. Richardson wants a chance to compete for a starting NFL job, and if it’s not going to be here, then he doesn’t want to be here. Not beyond contractual obligations.

“I signed a contract,” Richardson said, explaining his presence on Wednesday at voluntary OTA’s when 3 healthy teammates ...... running back Jonathan Taylor, and cornerbacks Charvarius Ward and Sauce Gardner ...... were not. “I’m still on this team, regardless …... I have an obligation to this team to come out and play and perform, to be ready to play if they need me.”

I got an obligation to this team …... stirs the soul, doesn’t it ???

Steichen sound similarly unmoved.

“Right now, he’s here,” Steichen said of Richardson. “Obviously he hasn’t rescinded the trade (request), but he’s engaged, he’s in the meetings, he’s competing for the job.”

Right now he’s here …...

About that competition ...... is Richardson truly competing for the job ??? As it stands, on the first day of OTA’s, is it 50-50 between Richardson and Leonard ??? That’s what I asked Steichen.

“Yeah, it’s 50-50,” he said. “They’re competing.”

Richardson seems to think that the competition is on the up-and-up.

“Man,” he said, “as long as I come in here and do what I got to do and make sure I’m at the top of my ability and sharp, I think it’ll be good.”

Richardson hasn’t lost his swagger ...... can he pick up a blitz ??? Can he complete a pass from here to there against a defense not filled with teammates ??? These are things that we don’t know.

These are things that some other team can find out, someday.

The Colts better trade Anthony Richardson fast.

I’m watching Richardson throw a 30-yard sideline laser to tight end Drew Ogletree, and I’m not the only one watching. There are maybe 2 dozen media members at the Colts' OTA’s on Wednesday, TV and radio, and print, and digital ...... and as Richardson uncorks that beauty-of-a-pass, I’m asking one of them to handicap the QB-2 race between Leonard and Richardson.

“Like, is it 50-50 ???” is how I asked.

The media member thought for a moment.

“More like 75-25 for Leonard,” the media member said, “but that might be generous for Richardson.”

Richardson throws a 50-yard pass over the shoulder of former IU football receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. I ask another media member to handicap the Leonard-Richardson race.

“Maybe 90-10 for Leonard ???” that one suggested.

Richardson drills a manager in the hands with a short pass, making a popping noise. I ask another media member to handicap the Leonard-Richardson race. I say the scores so far are 75-25 and 90-10 for Leonard.

“Maybe 95-5,” this one tells me. “For Leonard.”

Down the way, another media member is watching the show being put on by Richardson and saying something like, “If I’m coming out here blindly and picking a team, I want the alien in the No. 5.”

Richardson wears No. 5.

I ask another one to handicap the Leonard-Richardson race.

“It’s got to be Richardson,” this one says.

Local media seems torn, though we’re leaning toward Leonard in the most unscientific of polling methods. Count me in the Leonard camp, by the way. And count me closer to 95-5. That makes the local media score 4-2 for Leonard. What does that mean ??? About as much as the sight of Richardson telling a staffer to back up and get even closer to the sideline, then drilling the 45-yard pass perfectly.

It might get your attention. But it means nothing.

The first 2 quarterbacks on the field for OTA’s were Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard. They worked side-by-side in simultaneous drills, while Richardson and Henigan were paired up. The first quarterback on the field during team drills ...... 11-on-11 ...... was Richardson, working with the starting offense against the starting defense while Jones rested.

What does any of that mean ??? Nothing.

Reporter to Steichen, noting that Richardson got reps ahead of Leonard in team drills ...... “I know that it alternates on days that we’re not here.”

“Correct” Steichen said, interrupting the question.

Reporter ...... “Can you explain the process ???”

Steichen ...... “Those guys will compete. Richardson and Riley will compete, and we’ll flip the reps every other day. They will get the same reps with the 1's and the 2's throughout OTA’s.”

Apparently they’re competing for the back-up job, though depending on whom you ask, there should be no competition.

The 2026 Indianapolis Colts’ back-up QB should be Riley Leonard, obviously. No, it should be Anthony Richardson. No, Leonard. No, …...

Stop the madness, Chris Ballard. Trade Richardson before he fools us all again.

o

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Kray007

Anthony Richardson looks good in practice. No eye problems, strong arm, hitting every receiver. He might …... gasp …... wait for it ...… beat out Riley Leonard for the backup role.

Oh, will the nightmare ever stop ???

Am I alone in seeing no downside to this ??? I assume that the only way in which he claws his way up the depth chart is if he displays a degree of maturity missing up until now.

Call me crazy, but that isn’t impossible if for no other reason than the fact that the brain is reaching maturity when your 24th birthday rolls around.

The bottom line is that we just don’t have a window into what’s happening in the Quarterback room. We don’t know if the young man has discovered a zeal for film study. We don’t know if his recognition skills have progressed.

By the time training camp ends, we should have a few answers. If he leapfrogs Leonard, the sky hasn’t fallen. Leonard is young, and another year riding the bench isn’t a career-killer.

o


Prior to the 2025 season, Richardson lost 10 pounds of body-fat by improving his diet and doing more cardiovascular exercise ...... he seems to be very committed to maximizing his abilities for his profession.

o

[Mr. Session]

I saw that on google, couldn't read it because of it being behind the paywall but saw it was Doyle and thought maybe it wouldn't be much anyway.

And While I appreciate C & O posting that, genuinely so, I am glad I didn't read it. I only made it like halfway through before I had to nope out of that shit.

[ChoppedWood]

While I still genuinely would love nothing more to see a fairy tale ashes to dominance story arc for AR- and for the Colts, I still think it very unlikely. If he were to emerge as finally having put it all together and he were to become what everyone was hoping with the # 4 pick, the franchises outlook suddenly becomes rosy- still very young and with a LOT to prove. Would be great for us.

However, what is in the best interests of AR, and of the Colts? It's to promote the absolute shit out of him as this tantalizing untapped potential starting to manifest itself in the hopes that a camp injury happens and some scout / GM says F it, let's give up a pick for AR and see if there's anything to this seeming resurgence. Win win for both him and us. Fresh lease with a real chance for him and he's no longer still in the background looming from a Colts fans perspective every single minute there is even a slight wobble at the position- injury or performance related.

[apballin]

Ok I’ll entertain this… there’s alot of different ways to look at this here’s how I slice it…

Let’s play the what if game!!!

What if Richardson wins the backup job ends up getting playing time and actually comes in and plays some really good football?

Then what? His contract is up, you gonna give him 50 mil a year?

To me this is Richardson and the Colts trying to improve his trade value because they don’t wanna cut him. They’re hoping another team out there will fall in love with the hype.

The contract situation and Riley Leonard’s ascension have made this an easy decision.

Richardson may end up being a starter and a good QB someday or hell he could end up being a career backup Gardner Minshew type, I still wish him the best because the situation got botched on both sides. Colts were desperate and tried to force things that they should’ve known better. Richardson was a young guy that acted like he won the lottery instead of working his ass off.

No matter what while it lasts the “QB #2 battle “ will be fun to watch