INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts have gotten only a few glimpses of the type of player Anthony Richardson is going to be on the practice field, a tiny percentage of the work he’ll do over the course of his full rookie season.
But they’re already learning a little about the way Richardson is wired.
The perfectionist streak the No. 4 pick carries. The way he goes through his throwing motion on plays when other quarterbacks are taking the actual snap in practice. The way he chides himself after throws he doesn’t like, sometimes even after completions.
“He wants to make every throw, and he wants to put it in the right spot to maximize it,” Colts quarterbacks coach Cam Turner said. “He grades himself hard. That’s where all that comes in, where he might be mad because a ball’s back shoulder when it should be in front.”
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Doyel:Colts QB Anthony Richardson's work ethic, like his physical ability, is off the charts
When new Colts head coach Shane Steichen talked about finding a quarterback this spring, he often talked about looking for a quarterback with obsessive qualities, a player desperate to get better at his position.
“The guys that love, love playing that position, love the grind and they love the process, have a chance to be successful,” Steichen said at the NFL’s owner’s meetings, before the team’s official visit with Richardson.
The way Richardson responds to mistakes is a window into why Steichen and the Colts decided the Florida quarterback was their man despite just 13 college starts and pedestrian production in those starts.
Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson reacts 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.
Richardson has otherworldly physical tools, to be sure, but Steichen made it clear during the pre-draft process that the quality he wanted most in a quarterback — the one trait that tied Philip Rivers, Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts together — was an intangible that’s hard to see on a player’s tape.
An obsession with the grind is no guarantee that Richardson will hit his ceiling, or a trump card that can turn any quarterback into a superstar.
But there are signs Richardson has it in him at the NFL level, and that gives the Colts coaching staff a foundation.
“He’s hungry,” Turner said. “He wants to learn. He wants to be coached. He wants to watch guys do it on film. He wants us to explain things.”
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Richardson, like every rookie in the NFL, has a lot to learn.
A complex playbook, played at a speed faster than he’s seen before, using mechanics and fundamentals that are different from the coaching points he took at Florida.
“We’re doing some things differently with his footwork and his technique,” Turner said.
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Under Steichen, Indianapolis will build its offense around Richardson and the concepts he handles best right away, but that doesn’t mean the same mechanics that produced a completion percent of .547 at Florida are the right markers to hit in the Indianapolis offense.
“The five-step drop out of the gun, that’s definitely different,” Richardson said. “I never did that in college, so I’m constantly repping that, getting better at that."
Richardson also likely has to learn a little more than other rookies, given his age, lack of starting experience in college and the revolving Florida coaching door that kept putting different voices in his ear.
Indianapolis believes Richardson is more accurate than his collegiate numbers indicate, and that the accuracy can improve if his fundamentals become second nature.
“Speeding up my footwork,” Richardson said. “They always told me that in college, I have to speed up my footwork. I’m always trying to work on that and get the timing right, down with my receivers.”
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That’s why Richardson is taking extra “throws” in practice, going through his throwing motion while other quarterbacks take their practice snaps.
“That’s just getting comfortable with the new teaching here,” Richardson said. “Working on it, repping it every day, because you only get so many limited reps. … I feel like extra reps will definitely pay off.”
While Richardson works, the Colts coaching staff is hard at work learning their new quarterback.
Specifically, how Richardson learns best.
“All guys learn differently,” Steichen said. “Some guys are audio learners, some guys are rep learners, some guys are visual learners, and that’s our job as coaches, to figure that out. Once we have that, as coaches, mastering how he sees it, that’s kind of how we attack each day from a mental standpoint.”
Richardson’s a little bit more of a visual learner, Steichen believes, although the commitment to giving himself extra “snaps” by mimicking the play beyond the line of scrimmage is also a sign that Richardson learns by getting as many repetitions as possible.
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The important thing is Richardson is soaking up everything the Colts throw at him.
“A great attitude,” backup quarterback Gardner Minshew said. “Very humble, willing to learn, willing to admit he’s wrong.”
Willing to call himself out, then go through the work to get it right again.
None of the signs the Colts are seeing now are a guarantee. Richardson has a lot of work to do to become the franchise quarterback Indianapolis desperately needs.
But the Colts have seen a few signs that he has the desire to do the work it’s going to take.
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05-23-2023, 11:32 AM
Anthony Richardson shows perfectionist streak immediately
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