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Insider: 10 thoughts on what to expect from Anthony Richardson and the 2023 Colts

Ten thoughts on this year's Colts team heading into Sunday's opener against the Jaguars:

1. New year, new coach, new quarterback, new scheme. Although the Colts rolled back many of the players who have built Chris Ballard’s core so far, the intrigue of this season is all about how Anthony Richardson fits into Shane Steichen’s scheme and what that marriage does for all the players around them.

Steichen has held back much of that scheme so far. But Sunday, we’ll start to see the real deal. It won’t be the advanced version like he had last year in Philadelphia. He doesn’t want to overwhelm his 21-year-old quarterback, and his teammates have to be on their assignments to make this work. Given that nine of the other starters are returning players, I think they’ll build some on Frank Reich’s playbook early and transition more and more to the Steichen-Richardson blend as the weeks roll on.


2. So, what should we expect to see that’s different? The most obvious element should be the quarterback run game. That’ll be one of Richardson’s progressions on passing plays when nobody is open. But it’ll also be by design.

Quarterback keepers allow a team to put 10 other blockers on the field. Steichen will use this in short yardage – get ready for the rugby-style quarterback sneak – as well as out of spread formations with a naturally light box. Also expect to see Richardson get to the edge on power plays, giving him a lane to build up speed and hopefully a matchup against a defensive back who isn’t so keen on tackling a 255-pound athlete.


More:If NFL lets him, Shane Steichen's bringing Philly's QB-push sneak to Colts

The rushing is what Richardson should be able to bring at a high level right away. Success is good for the offense, but it’s essential to easing the rookie through growing pains, ensuring there are highs to the lows. The more plays they can stay on the field as an offense, the more reps and experiences he'll notch under his belt.

Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson will start in Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium despite being just 21 years old.
3. Another reason we should see a heavy dose of Richardson runs is the absence of Jonathan Taylor. The Colts plan on playing a backfield by committee for the four-plus games they’ll play without him, splitting reps between Zack Moss, Deon Jackson and Evan Hull. The added threat of Richardson holding the ball on run-pass-option or zone read will open some early running lanes for them.


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But none of those backs possess the explosiveness or change of direction of Taylor and his 4.39-second 40-yard dash speed. Richardson, who ran a 4.44 40, does, and he has yards-after-contact potential at 255 pounds, too. He’s going to need to keep the ball sometimes to give them that chance.

“Winning the turnover battle and winning the explosive play battle is a big formula to winning around this league,” Steichen said.

And on his quarterback, “That’s one of his superpowers, is getting out of the pocket, running and creating explosive plays.”

(Sidenote: Richardson has an incredible backstory to get to Sunday's debut, and I got to spend a week in Gainesville discovering that this summer. I hope you'll check it out.)

TIM TEBOW, TOM BRADY AND FIGHTING FIRES: The making of Colts QB Anthony Richardson

4. The challenge here is going to be to get defenses to respect the running back enough to let Richardson keep the ball on the zone read. That was not how the Eagles approached them in the joint practices, as defensive ends converged on Richardson to force the hand-off, allowing safeties to step up on the running back.

The other challenge is finding a way to give Richardson the volume of chances to create an explosive play without absorbing the kind of hit that knocks him out of a game.

"We have to be smart," Steichen said. "There is a time and a place to go get it, and there is a time to be smart and get down or get out of bounds."

It is essential that the Colts protect Richardson, not only for the obvious reasons of his health but also because he can’t get the reps to develop in practice or games if he’s out injured. It’s the biggest risk they are taking with the Taylor standoff.

GO DEEPER: Jonathan Taylor and the Colts were a perfect marriage. Can they avoid a messy divorce?

5. The passing game is going to be a work in progress, obviously. You’ll see them gain some favorable matchups at times, where Richardson’s rushing will draw a safety into the box, send the other to the middle of the field and leave the sidelines open for Michael Pittman Jr. to work 1-on-1 on comeback routes and hitches and for Alec Pierce to fly down the field on nine-routes, at times off play-action.

But the moments where the defense knows they’re throwing are going to be quite challenging given the consistency, chemistry and timing that hasn’t developed yet. That's where someone will need to step up as a safety blanket at tight end. With Jelani Woods on injured reserve and Drew Ogletree essentially a rookie, Kylen Granson seems like the best bet. But that trust must become consistent.

Indianapolis Colts third-round rookie Josh Downs will start in the slot against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
6. I do expect to see a steady role for Josh Downs early on. Steichen said he’ll start in the slot. He has the closest thing to chemistry with Richardson, the roommate he connected with early on in rookie minicamp. And his short-area role seemed to take a boost in value with the absence of Taylor and the injury to Woods, among other tight end absences. The Colts have to avoid three-and-outs and obvious passing downs, and I expect them to use Downs as a pseudo run game the way offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter has out of the slot at different points in his career.

Downs might look like a rookie in size, but he doesn’t play or talk like one. This third-round pick is a two-time 1,000-yard receiver with two different quarterbacks at North Carolina. He’s sharp in his special awareness and his ability to avoid contact. His hands look natural. There might be a hard ceiling on a player who is 5-foot-10, 175 pounds and a rookie, but I bet he plays like a pro early on.

7. On defense, I’ll be interested to see what strides Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo can take. We’ve been saying that for a couple years, but this year feels paramount with the loss of Yannick Ngakoue and the youth in the secondary. The only way the Colts have an adequate pass defense is if the edge rush is a plus group. It can’t just fall on DeForest Buckner and the inside rush either, though that’s where I expect Odeyingbo to be at his best, rushing in place of Grover Stewart.

Samson Ebukam will factor, of course, but he’s been a No. 2 rusher his whole career, and he isn't playing opposite Nick Bosa now. (Bosa is so essential to the players around him that the 49ers just paid him $122 million guaranteed.) Paye is the first-round talent who has slimmed down a few pounds in order to bring juice around the edge while still holding the size to take on a tight end, too. In his third year, he could use a double-digit sack season.

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Darrell Baker Jr. will make his first career start on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
8. That secondary is going to have growing pains when the top the outside cornerbacks combine for 174 career defensive snaps, all belonging to Dallis Flowers. Playing Flowers and Darrell Baker Jr. so much and developing second-round rookie JuJu Brents is all about trying to find a gem at a premium position heading into 2024.

That evaluation is going to cost some big plays, because as confident as these young players are, they still haven’t seen the nuances of NFL route running and the connections between veteran quarterbacks and receivers that toast young players on the regular.

But this is where Shaquille Leonard’s ability to stay healthy and return to All-Pro form is critical. The best way to make up for completions allowed is with turnovers, as the 2021 Colts discovered. If he can force enough timely ones, it’ll help maintain the young cornerbacks’ confidence and allow the defense to put Richardson in some favorable spots on the field.

MORE: 'Make people shut up': Cleared, Colts Shaquille Leonard out to prove doubters wrong again

9. I picked the Colts to go 6-11 in my game-by-game predictions. Surely, this will go better than last year, when I picked them to go 12-5.

There’s a world where the 2023 Colts can squeeze out eight wins against one of the easiest schedules – if the offensive line bounces back, if Taylor comes back after four weeks, if Richardson can hit his ceiling, if Pittman Jr. can ascend to No. 1 receiver status, if the edge rush grows up and if Leonard plays like The Maniac again.

But injuries, unfortunately, are guaranteed to happen, and the depth on this team is as concerning as any I’ve been around -- namely at offensive line and wide receiver, or the positions that impact Richardson the most. It's the cost of going young and holding resources toward future seasons. Some players are going to be overwhelmed by the circumstances at times. And in a passing league, the part of the Colts that’s developing the most on both sides of the ball is likely to take some lumps.

Aside from Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III in 2012, quarterbacks drafted in the top 10 don't carry teams to winning records as rookies. Setting expectations realistically is important for how we judge this rookie quarterback and the process around him.

Patience, everybody.

Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson was one of seven players named captains for the 2023 season.
10. This season is really about the young players -- how they develop and what they tell us about the timeline this franchise is on come January. That obviously starts with Richardson, but it extends to names like Bernhard Raimann, Dallis Flowers, Darrell Baker Jr., JuJu Brents, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, Michael Pittman Jr., Jelani Woods, Drew Ogletree, Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo. Those are the premium positions where the Colts have lacked dudes, and they need some to emerge with real potential.

Ultimately, though, it’ll come back to No. 5. They have to find a way to use this rookie season as a positive by keeping him healthy, allowing him to flash his upside, growing through mistakes, improving his mechanics and learning how to deal with success and failure in a way that teammates want to rock with.

By the time he walks off the field in Week 18, whether the Colts have two wins or eight, they need to feel better about the No. 4 pick than they do right now. That doesn’t mean he has to blow the doors off. It does mean he has to put some reality behind the concept of Anthony Richardson. It’ll mean everything for a franchise on its seventh Week 1 starter in seven years, praying that the end to the carousel is wearing No. 5.

[JAFF]

Article on hull

INDIANAPOLIS — At first, everything was surreal to Colts rookie running back Evan Hull.

Drafted in the fifth round (No. 176 overall), Hull couldn’t believe he was actually going to be a professional football player. He made his way to Indianapolis, met his new coaches, got a tour of the facility, and then, it hit him.

Above a locker in the Colts’ facility, there was a nameplate. Next to the Colts’ traditional blue horseshoe, it read: Evan Hull, 26.

“Coming into the building, I didn’t know what my number was going to be, I didn’t know what to expect to see in the locker room,” Hull said. “I saw the 26, the number that I’ve had all through high school and college. That was a special moment for me, just to see my locker, see that I belong here, there’s a space for me in this locker room.”


The Colts drafted Hull primarily as a third-down back with pass-catching abilities; he came to Indianapolis from Northwestern, where he was the Wildcats’ main offensive threat. He nearly broke the 1,000-yard mark in the 2022 season, rushing 221 times for 913 yards and five touchdowns. He also racked up 543 receiving yards for two touchdowns and had 181 yards on nine kick returns.

“I’d say catching the ball in the backfield is one of my biggest strengths,” Hull said. “It’s something I’ve shown a lot at Northwestern, and I think that’s part of the reason why they drafted me is to have that kind of third-down ability in the screen game, in the pass game, to get the ball in space or make a play.”

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 24: Anthony Richardson #5 and Evan Hull #26 of the Indianapolis Colts react following a touchdown by Hull during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on August 24, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Shaq returns:'Make people shut up': Cleared, Colts Shaquille Leonard out to prove doubters wrong again

Now, Hull doesn’t only belong in Indianapolis — he’s a crucial constant in the Colts’ ever-changing running back room.

He’s always ready. He constantly has his nose in the Colts’ playbook, looks at all of his film from practice or preseason games and takes copious notes from the running backs’ meetings.


“That’s what you want from any player, but especially a young player,” third-year tailback Deon Jackson said. “He picks up everything pretty fast. He didn’t really have a learning curve or a leaning period, he came in and he was ready to go. And that’s all you can ask for.”

Jackson, who has spent his entire three-year NFL career with the Colts on the practice squad and active roster, has served as a mentor for Hull through OTAs, training camp and the preseason.


“He’s the older guy, he’s been through it,” Hull said. “He knows what it’s like to have been a rookie at one point, so I’m just trying to get on the field, leaning on him, leaning on my teammates, and just taking it one day at a time.”

Coming into the season, Hull may have a larger role than he anticipated in his rookie year.


Hull was expected to work behind running backs Jonathan Taylor and Zack Moss, competing with Jackson for the third-string running back spot. But Taylor and Moss have missed varying amounts of time throughout training camp and the preseason, leaving Jackson and Hull to take the majority of snaps.

“I kind of went through the same thing last year, when JT went down and Nyheim (Hines) went down and I had to step up and play and start a couple games last year,” Jackson said. “It’s not anything new to me, but Evan has kind of picked up everything faster … He’s a super smart player, super talented, I think he’s going to be really good in this league.”


Moss missed most of training camp and all three preseason games with a broken forearm. He returned to practice Monday but has been limited.

More:Colts RB Zack Moss will likely miss six weeks with broken arm

More:Jonathan Taylor and the Colts were a perfect marriage. Can they avoid a messy divorce?

Taylor has not practiced at all throughout training camp or preseason as he continues to recover from an offseason ankle injury. The star running back has also faced an ongoing contract dispute with the Colts’ front office and has requested a trade. The Colts did not trade him, and Taylor ended training camp on the physically unable to perform list, so he will miss the first four games. Indianapolis still has until Oct. 31 to trade Taylor.

With a limited room, head coach Shane Steichen said he would be using a “running back-by-committee” scheme between Moss, Jackson, and Hull, at least for the first four weeks of the season. Whoever has the “hot hand” at the time, Steichen said, will be the back they run with.


More:Colts will use RB-by-committee approach despite return of Zack Moss

“How I feel about the hot hand is you're in the zone, and you don’t feel like anybody can stop you on that field,” Hull said. “You can see it from a coach’s perspective, like, ‘Keep that guy in, he’s feeling it.’”

In the running back-by-committee scheme, Hull will likely make his NFL regular-season debut Sunday, And the Maple Grove, Minnesota, product is making sure his family will be in Lucas Oil Stadium by any means possible.

“My mom and dad are coming out, and I mean, I had to make sure they come out; it’s the first one,” Hull said. “I told them, ‘Flights, don’t worry about that, don’t worry about any of that, like you guys gotta come out here.’”

[JAFF]

Make people shut up': Cleared, Colts Shaquille Leonard out to prove doubters wrong again

INDIANAPOLIS — Shaquille Leonard has heard every criticism, seen every post, read every word written.

He keeps the worst ones.

Saves them as screenshots to his phone, pictures he can call up any time he wants.

Leonard knows there are people saying he’ll never be the same player again, doubting his ability to come back full strength from the injury that plagued him for years, limited him to just three games last season and forced two surgeries.

“I’m just gaining more heart, knowing that so many people are counting me out, just having the will to keep going,” Leonard said. “No matter how many times I’ve been knocked down, just continue to get back up and continue to put my best foot forward.”

Aug 12, 2023; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard (53) warms up before a pre-season game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Leonard has been cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol, leaving no obstacles in his way to starting the season opener against the Jaguars on Sunday, both the end of a long road and the beginning of a new one.

He spent a long time, too long, battling the effects of the pressure two discs in his back were putting on the nerves leading to his left leg. First there was the problem of thinking it was only the ankle, then the discovery of the spinal injury, then returning from surgery too quickly, leading to a second surgery last November.


Leonard believes he’s back now. The three-time first-team All-Pro linebacker was cleared physically at the start of training camp and kept checking off markers on his way back to the starting lineup.

“It’s better,” Leonard said. “I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to the guy I was back in ’19. I’m happy with where I’m at.”


A concussion suffered in the first joint practice against the Chicago Bears has been Leonard’s only setback.

Leonard has been through three concussions now in the NFL — one in 2019, one last season and this one in training camp — but he says he’s not concerned about concussions going forward.

He’s ready to play.


How much he plays against Jacksonville will be left up to the coaching staff. The Colts have carefully ramped up Leonard’s workload over the course of training camp, but he was a full participant in practices before suffering the concussion against the Bears.


From the sounds of it, he’d like to be on the field as much as possible.

“That’s not my job to decide that,” Leonard said. “My job is to go out there and play as many plays as I possibly can. If the coaches say there’s a pitch count, it is what it is. I have no idea.”


Leonard is keeping his goals simple this season, drawing on familiar motivation, the slights that have motivated him throughout his career.

While some athletes try to avoid the noise, Leonard embraces it, and he has a lot of ammunition in his phone now. Two years of doubt, two years seeing people say he’ll never be back from the injury, among other things.

The rise of social media has made it easier than ever to find the critics.

“I’d say 60-40 you listen to it, because it gives you that drive and that fire to go keep fighting,” Leonard said. “When people talk trash and say things, some people can go the other way with it and truly go downhill.”

Trash talk has always pushed Leonard the other way.

Simply by taking the field Sunday against the Jaguars, he’ll be proving some critics wrong, but that’s never been enough for Leonard.


He’s out there to prove he’s back to being a difference-maker, the kind of havoc-wreaking presence he’s been in every full season as a Colt, even when he was less than 100%.

If anybody doubts he can do that, he’s probably already seen the words.

“With me, I try to use that as fuel to make my game go up,” Leonard said. “Make people shut up. That’s the goal, each and every week.”

Then he goes out and finds new people to muzzle.

[JAFF]

Michael Pittman Jr.'s goal in a contract year? 'Be the guy that Anthony can trust'

INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Pittman Jr. has always been a goals guy.

Pittman writes them out before the season, keeps track of how he’s doing during the season.

A handful of his goals are numbers. The counting stats, the stuff that goes on the back of a football card and sets his fantasy football rankings from year to year.

Some goals are simple.

Like the most important goal he’s set for 2023.

“I’ll tell you one of them,” Pittman said. “Be the guy that Anthony (Richardson) can trust in any situation.”


Pittman Jr. has a lot riding on this season.

Firmly established as a productive wide receiver after piling up 182 catches, 2,007 yards and 10 touchdowns over the past two seasons despite playing with four different starting quarterbacks, Pittman Jr. is headed into the final year of his rookie deal, and another big statistical season could send his next contract skyrocketing.


If that’s on his mind, though, Pittman hasn’t let it slip out much publicly, saying he’s willing to let his agent handle it. Being a wide receiver has its advantages; a rising market for pass catchers means Pittman will almost certainly get the big deal he’s seeking, as long as he stays healthy.

Pittman does believe he’s established himself as one of the better receivers in the NFL.


Even if he doesn’t like to say he’s a No. 1 receiver out of respect for the other receivers on the Indianapolis offense.

“If you’re asking me if I feel like a dominant receiver, then I would say yes,” Pittman said.

A truly dominant receiver could be a potent weapon for Richardson, who will open the season as the Indianapolis starting quarterback after making just 13 starts in his college career at Florida.


The rookie quarterback is carrying the hopes and dreams of an entire franchise.

And Pittman, who grew up around the NFL, has a pretty good idea how difficult that can be.

“Being a quarterback is probably the hardest job in sports,” Pittman said. “For him, being so young, I don’t want to make his job more difficult. I want to make it easy. Any way I can do that, take on more responsibility, I’m going to try to do that.”


A playmaking wide receiver can take a lot of worry away from a rookie quarterback, who already has to focus on reading defenses he’s never seen before, making the right audibles and adjusting to coverages that often change after the snap.

Richardson doesn’t need to be worrying about whether or not his receivers will be in the right place.

Established, legendary quarterbacks who have been in the NFL for a decade do not want to have to deal with that kind of uncertainty.

What a quarterback needs is a receiver who will be exactly where he’s expected to be.

“I think it’s everything,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “Making sure you’re on the same page, because all guys run routes just a little bit different. The depths might be a little different on certain things, for certain defenders, the body language is a big deal when you’re throwing to those guys.”


Pittman has been there for Richardson throughout the offseason, taking over the lead on setting up the player-led offseason minicamp the Colts always hold during the dog days of summer, being on the field for every practice in order to build chemistry with the rookie.

More:Inside the Colts' player-led offseason throwing sessions in Miami

But he’s also been around enough to know that Richardson’s not always going to put the ball in exactly the spot Pittman wants it to be.

When that happens, any quarterback — not just the rookies — need a receiver who can go get it anyway.

“Sometimes, I’ve just got to make a play,” Pittman said. “It may not be the best pass, it may not be the best route. … Sometimes, I’ve got to make him right, sometimes he’s got to make me right.”

If Pittman is playing at that level, the other goals, the ones he wasn’t willing to share publicly, will likely come, and the lucrative second contract every NFL player wants to land will end up following in due time.


In other words, if he takes care of Richardson, the rest will take care of itself.

“I’m just trying to lift weight off of him,” Pittman said. “He’s got the weight of the world on him.”

A truly dominant receiver makes the hardest job in sports a little easier.

And it’s hard to put a value on that.