Richardson's work ethic, like his physical ability, is off the charts
Richardson's work ethic, like his physical ability, is off the charts
https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...w/70160568007/
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INDIANAPOLIS – Grown men are whacking Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson with sticks, and he’s not slowing down. They’re padded, these sticks, but Colts coaches and staffers aren’t exactly checking their swings. They’ve formed a gauntlet and they’re whacking him as he runs past, one of the first drills of Richardson’s first day on the grass at the Colts’ complex on 56th Street, and he’s running through the gauntlet and hanging onto the football until he reaches the end zone, where he lopes to the goalposts and does a finger roll over the cross bar.
When people say Anthony Richardson is playing a different game than everyone else, this is not what they mean.
But he is playing a different game than everyone else, or at least, a different version of the same game – NFL football – people around here have been watching since the Colts pulled into town in 1984. We’ve never seen someone like this at the quarterback position, or any position, and new Colts coach Shane Steichen isn’t even pretending to be interested in much of anything on the field. He’s following Richardson from drill to drill, standing close to him, giving him pointers on the most basic things – like, how to drop back – and you understand.
For Steichen, a certifiable quarterback whisperer, to focus his considerable attention on anyone else out here on the first day of Colts rookie minicamp, would be coaching malpractice. Other staff members can tell him about some of these other rookies, or Steichen can take it from me:
Receiver Josh Downs, the third-round pick out of North Carolina, is tiny but quick, and he catches everything.
Tight end Will Mallory, a fifth-round pick out of Miami, is large but fast, and he catches everything.
Running back Even Hull, a fifth-round pick out of Northwestern, is stocky but shifty, and he catches everything.
Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson takes a selfie with fans after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the fourth overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo.
Insider: Projecting Colts depth chart after NFL Draft with Anthony Richardson, other rookies
These are going to be three of Richardson’s best friends and weapons over the next 5-10 years, would be my guess, but we’re not here to guess. Not anymore. That’s what we’ve been doing, the Colts included, since the 2023 NFL Combine was here and Richardson was posting measurements – all together now – of 6-4 and 244 pounds, with a 4.43-second time for 40 yards and a 40½ inch vertical
Since that epic performance, the Colts have been locked onto Richardson. It’s why they weren’t interested in entering the Trade-up Derby with Carolina and Lord knows who else for the Chicago Bears’ No. 1 overall pick. It’s why GM Chris Ballard said at the combine, and I quote, "I think we'll get the best player in the draft, to be quite honest with you. Why? Because we’re at (No.) 4. I mean, that’s a great position to be in."
The Colts have been dreaming, but guessing, that Richardson could become something special, something unstoppable, here in Indianapolis.
But the time for guessing is over, as I’ve said. Now it’s time to work, and here’s the best news I could give you, on a day like this:
Anthony Richardson’s work ethic is like everything else about him. It’s off the charts.
Teammates will – do – love Anthony Richardson
Richardson has just thrown a short pass to Hull, one of his first passes of the day, and it was complete – he was throwing against air, as in, no defensive players – but Steichen sees something he doesn’t love. He’s saying something to Richardson, then showing him what he means, pretending to be a quarterback, pretending to start his drop-back, taking one short step and then a big slide back.
Richardson is staring and nodding, and then doing it on his own. One short step, then a big slide back. Over and over until it’s his turn again in the drill – there are three quarterbacks at camp – and then he’s doing it for real. A short step and a big slide and a dart to Mallory.
Steichen is like Richardson’s shadow, following him from drill to drill, leaving his side only on drills where the quarterbacks aren’t throwing the ball. They’re working on their handoffs, and apparently Richardson can already do it like a pro, because Steichen is watching another position group. But now the quarterbacks are about to throw some more, patterns not against air but the next easiest thing: various equipment managers standing near ball-catchers down the field, giving Richardson the illusion of coverage.
Here comes Steichen, but he might want to bring some Advil or ibuprofen or at least some ice, because Richardson is throwing passes into the end zone to an equipment manager, a guy I’ve seen catch passes for years, long and athletic, no doubt a football player in high school – looks like a receiver – and the guy is flinching. Literally, the equipment guy is moving his head when Richardson’s pass arrives, 6 inches above his forehead, because 6 inches is too close for comfort when a player throws as hard as Anthony Richardson.
So, the work ethic? Get this: The rookies are staying at the same hotel, which allowed Richardson and Downs to meet Thursday night. Pretty soon they're outside, playing catch.
"Just from that," Downs was saying, "I know he’s ready to go any time and he’s going to put in the work to be great.”
Richardson’s accuracy needs work – this is not breaking news; he completed 53.8% of his passes in his only season as a starter at Florida – and indeed he misses a few receivers during 7-on-7 drills. But this is also true: He’s going to have more than his share of passes dropped, because he throws it so hard. He’ll learn to take something off his fastball when circumstances allow, but I saw receivers drop several of his passes on Friday. I did not see receivers drop any passes thrown by the other two quarterbacks, Kyle Vantrease of Georgia Southern and Logan Bonner of Utah State, though in fairness, I was a lot like Shane Steichen on Friday:
Not watching anyone as closely as I was watching Anthony Richardson.
Because of that, I feel qualified to tell you: This guy is going to be beloved in the locker room. He’s going to be a great teammate.
Don’t make me compare him to Carson Wentz, but something happened Friday and, well, too late. Here comes the comparison.
Sure, let's make a Carson Wentz comparison
You know how things jump out at you, even things you’re not looking for? You know how those are the things that jump out at you the most? This jumped out at me two years ago, and again on Friday:
Two years ago: New Colts QB Carson Wentz is at training camp, and he’s not talking to fellow quarterbacks Sam Ehlinger and Jacob Eason. He’s not even looking at them. He does his reps and then stands by himself, or by Frank Reich. If it was Wentz’s job, as a veteran, to help bring along developmental QB’s like Ehlinger and Eason, I promise you this: That would’ve comes as news to Wentz.
Friday: Anthony Richardson throws a passes into the end zone, to Mallory, and walks back to the quarterback line. Bonner is standing there. Richardson gives him a fist to bump. They’re both watching the other quarterback, Vantrease, throw passes into the end zone, but now Richardson is working on that technique Steichen had shown him earlier: One short step, one large slide.
Bonner had been watching Vantrease, but now he’s watching Richardson – and now he’s working on the technique Steichen had shown Richardson earlier: One short stop, one large slide. They’re doing it side by side, Bonner and Richardson, until Vantrease appears. His turn to get a fist bump from the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Did Richardson just make that throw??!
Something else I noticed about Anthony Richardson: He’s a quick learner. Also, he has a rocket for an arm. Both were on display in the same drill, where he’s throwing 40-yard passes to tight ends running a seam route. I mean, I think it was 40 yards. Looked a lot shorter on the first one, as Mallory runs down field and Richardson hits him in stride with a heater at shoulder level. Not knowing how far the pass was, I look back from Mallory to Richardson, and count off eight field-width yardage lines. There are 5 yards between each line.
Do the math.
The numbers don’t add up, because the pass had left Richardson’s hand at shoulder level, and it reached the 6-4, 239-pound Mallory at shoulder level, and it never rose or fell along the way. Ever heard someone talk about a quarterback who can throw a ball 40 yards “on a clothesline”?
I just saw it happen.
Now, next time up, Richardson’s 40-yard clothesline is a step or two ahead of 6-6, 251-pound Dagan Rienks, a tryout candidate from Colorado Mesa. Quickly, it all makes sense: Rienks is much larger than Mallory, who runs the 40 in 4.54 seconds, putting him in the top 3% of all tight ends tested since 1987 for the NFL Draft. In other words, Rienks is probably a step or two slower than Mallory. Richardson has just seen what that means, in real time.
Next time Rienks runs the pattern – same 40-yard seam route – Richardson hits him in stride.
Tony Dungy wants a look, too
Shane Steichen isn’t the only Colts head coach studying Anthony Richardson. Tony Dungy – former Colts head coach, you’ve heard of him – is also here.
The Indy Mini is Saturday, and Dungy has run in the 5K several times in recent years. Maybe he’s back for that. Whatever the case, he’s at practice Friday, standing behind one end zone with Colts Ring of Honor member Bill Brooks, when former linebacker David Thornton approaches. Seeing how Thornton works for the Colts, he can – and does – get Dungy closer to the action.
Within moments Dungy is on the sideline, standing level with Richardson, who right now is learning how to enter the huddle.
Seriously, this is happening. The Colts are doing 11-on-11 drills, and 10 members of the offense form a mostly enclosed circle while Richardson stands off to the side, perhaps getting the play call into his helmet. He trots into the huddle, closing the circle, leans in for a few moments, and then everyone claps in unison and lines up to run the play.
Richardson may be inexperienced and even raw, yes, but with that size and strength and power and arm strength, he’s the finest lump of quarterback clay in NFL history. Shane Steichen, a quarterback expert, is coaching him with a scalpel, carving away the excess material, leaving room only for closed circles and one short step followed by a large slide.
Doyel on draft night: Richardson is the perfect lump of QB clay; can Colts develop him?
If this works, if the Colts cash in the lottery ticket that is Anthony Richardson, the payoff will carry this franchise, this city, to heights last seen – and seen just once, in 2007 – when Peyton Manning was in town. For now Richardson remains only a ticket, just a piece of paper, worthless and priceless at the same time, but he is willing to work toward that reward.
For now he is in the middle of another circle, dozens of Colts rookies and tryout candidates forming a cocoon around the quarterback in the red No. 5 non-contact jersey. Practice is over, but the horn does not dismiss you. Anthony Richardson dismisses you.
And that’s what happens, on the count of three.
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05-09-2023, 06:58 AM
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