8/25 Indy star Colts

[JAFF]

Doyle

Doyel: Colts rookie QB Anthony Richardson shows his massive talent, flaws vs. Philadelphia
Gregg Doyel
Indianapolis Star


Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson is so talented, as we saw Thursday night against Philadelphia, he’ll win some games by himself this season. The rest of the Colts’ roster doesn’t look like much, on either side of the ball, but Richardson is so big and fast and elusive and strong-armed, he’ll drag his teammates, bench-press them, sprint them past a couple foes in 2023. Not sure if that’s a guess or a fact. Feels like both.

But Richardson is so raw, so not ready – as we saw Thursday night – he’ll lose some games by himself. Maybe more than a few.

Not a guess. Absolute fact.


This kid is the whole experience, I’m saying, and we saw all of it Thursday night. Even if it was for just one half of an NFL preseason game. Even if it was without pouting running back Jonathan Taylor. Even if it was against an Eagles defense featuring some of Philadelphia’s finest future fry cooks.

The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles played no starters on defense, but I’m not sure that matters. Not when it comes to the things Richardson can do, which are things nobody else can do. He’s the most perfect combination of size, speed and arm strength in NFL quarterback history. Yeah, that’s a mouthful. You’ll get used to it. You’re read it here before, and they were saying it on the Amazon Prime broadcast, Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, gushing over Richardson’s feet and arms and poise and moxie and even, for a few uncomfortable moments, his deep voice.


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Richardson’s final numbers for one half of football weren’t good, but you’ll get used to that as well. His numbers weren’t good at Florida, either, but this whole thing comes back to that second paragraph. Richardson isn’t just raw, not ready, for an NFL franchise quarterback in 2023. He was raw – he wasn’t ready – as an SEC quarterback in 2022.

But he does things nobody else can do. Big, strong, fast, elusive things, which is why the Colts took him fourth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. It’s also why he’s been anointed the starter, rather than Gardner Minshew II, who would complete more passes for more yards and fewer interceptions than Richardson, if given the chance. Minshew wouldn’t lose many games by himself, either.


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But he wouldn’t win any by himself. The Colts might go 0-17 with Minshew back there. This roster is that bad.

Richardson? Not sure how good he’ll be this season, but he’ll be fun, and he’ll give us the whole experience: Good, bad, ugly … and incredible.

As we saw Thursday night.

Aug 24, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) passes the ball while being hit by Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Marvin Wilson (73) and defensive tackle Robert Cooper (64) during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field.
Anthony Richardson: The good

After the Colts’ initial drive was gutted into a three-and-out by consecutive penalties against All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson – a false start, then an unnecessary holding penalty to wipe out a 16-yard run by Richardson on third-and-15 – Richardson led three consecutive scoring drives: touchdown, touchdown, field goal.

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The most exciting thing about Richardson was what happened every time the Colts snapped the ball:

The Eagles’ defense freaked out.

Look, Jonathan Taylor’s on my list. I’ve made that clear. But imagine him in the backfield with Anthony Richardson. Scary doesn’t begin to describe that combination, because Richardson by himself terrified the Eagles defense. If that were Taylor next to him, and not Evan Hull (better suited for third down) or Deon Jackson (better suited for the CFL), the Eagles might have just wet the grass at Lincoln Financial Field.

With their sprinkler system people. Grow up!

But really. With Eagles defenders keying on Richardson because he’s bigger than most of them and faster than all of them, Hull and Jackson had room to run. And when Richardson faked a handoff, it felt unfair. It froze the Eagles’ linebackers, their safeties, maybe a defensive end or two. Because what if Richardson is faking the handoff not to pass the ball, but to run it himself?

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Richardson ran it himself five times for 38 yards, and if you include the 16-yarder called back because of Nelson’s unneeded penalty, that’s 54 yards on six carries. In one half.

His passing numbers weren’t so good – 6-for-17 for 78 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions – but he had two balls dropped by rookie slot receiver Josh Downs. Richardson showed accuracy at times and mixed a changeup or two among his plus-plus fastball. The ingredients are there.

Either offensive-minded Colts coach Shane Steichen is a chef, or he’s not.

Anthony Richardson: The bad

Richardson has no idea – yet – when to leave the pocket, so here’s what he has decided: Better to leave too soon than too late. The pocket doesn’t have to collapse for Richardson to take off. It just has to buckle a bit, and he’s gone.

Bright side, he’s big and fast and yadda yadda yadda. Taking off isn’t a bad option. It’s also not sustainable. Not for 17 games over the course of several seasons. Richardson is a more explosive athlete, but he’s no bigger than Andrew Luck, and Luck couldn’t survive the beating. My suspicion, my fear, is that Richardson will take an even worse beating for the same reason NBA star Zion Williamson can’t stay healthy: The human body has limits, and Richardson, like Williamson, will push those limits. He’ll be in the open field, so big and moving so fast, and it’s like Zion when the 6-6, 295-pounder spins like a little guy and his knee just says: Nope.

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Or consider what happens in baseball when a Major League hitter smacks a 100-mph fastball. The ball goes a lot farther than when the fastball is 92 mph, right? Speed times velocity equals … look, nobody told you there’d be math. But Richardson in the open field 10-15 times a game, as scary as that will be for the defense, will be scarier for Colts owner Jim Irsay.

Also bad: Richardson’s consistency. Remember a few years ago when Colts general manager Chris Ballard tired of quarterback Carson Wentz because he couldn’t “make the layups”? Richardson misses them like a kid who’s never shot a basketball in his life, throwing it 10 feet over the basket, er, Michael Pittman Jr.’s head. He throws a screen pass wide of Deon Jackson in the flat. He throws it so far behind Pittman, running a few steps in front of him, that the big Colts receiver puts on the breaks and reaches back and succeeds in catching the ball and hurting himself (he missed just a few plays).

Richardson completed just 54.7% of his passes over three seasons at Florida, one of the worst percentages of any quarterback in the country in that stretch.

Richardson’s accuracy needs work. So does his pocket presence. He’ll learn on the job.

Anthony Richardson: The ugly

Late in the half, his only half, Richardson seemed to lose focus. It felt like he didn’t want to be on the field anymore, like he’d done well earlier and just wanted to be done.

Unless that was just me. Richardson was 6-for-11 at one point, with three consecutive scoring possessions, and I’ll be honest: I was hoping Steichen would pull him. Before the game Steichen had said he’d play Richardson most of the first half, maybe all of it, and with the Colts leading 17-10 with 3:36 left in the half, I was thinking: Most, please. Not all.

Alas, Richardson played the final two series and got worse as he went along, missing on his final six passes. His attempts got worse and worse, as did everything else. On one play he dropped back to pass and, standing alone in the pocket, lost control of the ball as he started to throw it. Officials called it a fumble, and the Eagles would’ve recovered had Pittman not big-brothered the future Philadelphia fry cook who jumped on it first.

Pittman simply took it from the poor guy, a remarkable victory that distracted from the horrible defeat Richardson had just suffered.

If this were a TV commercial, somebody would’ve asked Richardson if he was hungry – then offered him a Snickers bar. Because after his super start, he was looking like Steve Buscemi. Oh come on, you’ve seen the ad. Snickers introduced it during the 2015 Super Bowl.

Anthony Richardson: The incredible

Richardson has a 102-mph fastball but lobbed a beautiful back-shoulder pass to receiver Alec Pierce – whose inability to do anything but run as far as he can, as fast as he can, is starting to concern me – but the pass was broken up. The result was what it was, but the pass was spectacular.

Some of his runs also were spectacular, like the 16-yarder negated by Nelson’s penalty. Richardson needed 15 yards for a first down, encountered a future Philadelphia fry cook after 12 yards, and ran through him like a grease fire to extend the drive.

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Or how about the time Eagles linebacker Ben VanSumeren had a free shot at Richardson on a blitz, but Richardson hit the eject button and was just … gone? He spun away from VanSumeren for a gain of 5 yards.

But my favorite Richardson moment – go ahead and get used to reading that, too – was earlier in that drive. Third-and-10 from the Colts’ 38. Richardson felt pressure that may or may not have been there, took off, and had about seven easy yards. But he needed 10, and he’s greedy, so rather than going out of bounds he cut up field for 12 yards. Richardson is 6-4 and 240 pounds, and the nearest Eagles defender missed all of him.

This was Anthony Richardson in full. As long as you don’t look too closely at the scoreboard, you’re going to enjoy this season. Well, some of it.

But opposing teams better get the Colts now, while Richardson's young. Because he's going to grow up fast, and when he does, good luck stopping that.

[JAFF]

How a check and a throw to Kylen Granson shows Anthony Richardson's growth in the playbook

PHILADELPHIA - Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson is growing into Shane Steichen's offense by the weeks and hours and sometimes by the throw.

Pre- and post-snap, this is a 21-year-old rookie growing up because he has to.

Take a second-quarter play from the Colts' 27-13 preseason victory over the Eagles on Thursday: Richardson was in the shotgun on a 2nd-and-4 when he spotted something in the defensive alignment before the play, so he stepped forward and yelled a check to his teammates to the right and left.

“We were trying not to do too many checks in the preseason. We were trying to keep it a little vanilla just so that we can get reps and play fast," Richardson said. "But Coach Steichen was on the sideline telling me to check it, and I was like, ‘Okay fine, let’s check this.’"


What he checked into had a quick answer. Richardson took a five-step drop and fired immediately to where tight end Kylen Granson was running a flag route from the slot to the short side of the field against zone coverage. The linebacker to Granson's back shoulder made the adjustment, but Richardson's throw had enough loft on it to avoid his hands and fall into the outstretched white gloves of his 6-foot-3 tight end.

Granson collected the ball as the defender fell to the ground and stepped out of bounds for a 17-yard gain.


"We work that throw all the time in practice," Richardson said. "I had a pretty good feel on that and I knew the coverage was going to roll down like that. I was just trying to give my guy a chance and luckily he caught the ball.”

The coach who asked for the check was standing right along the sideline where Granson made the catch.


"The linebacker was trying to undercut it right there," Steichen said. "He put it only where Granson could catch it. It was a heck of a throw."

Richardson doesn't have it all figured out quite yet. He has yet to face a pro defense that has game planned for him. Against the Eagles, he was 6 of 17 passing, and though some of the misses were drops, he also has a tendency to miss high or wide to receivers outside the numbers. It's all part of the process of being a 21-year-old rookie with 13 starts above the high school level.


Richardson's floor is supposed to be his rushing ability, translating a historic mix of 6-foot-4 and 255-pound size with 4.43-second 40-yard dash speed and 10-foot-9 broad jump burst into the type of scrambler and designed runner who can flip the math on defenses trying to defend the run. He displayed that most consistently Thursday, evading pressure in order to lead the Colts with 38 yards on five carries for a healthy 7.6-yard average.

But 14 training camp practices in a red no-contact jersey have forced Richardson to work on the parts of his game that are less developed, such as drop-back passing. He completed 54.7% of his passes at Florida with 24 touchdown passes to 15 interceptions, and he has not hidden from how far he needs to come in the most fundamental area of becoming a quarterback.


But he has made strides in his understanding of Steichen's playbook, which incorporates heavy shotgun looks and RPO concepts and was advanced enough to enable Jalen Hurts and the Eagles to ascend to the Super Bowl last season with the No. 3 offense by Football Outsiders' DVOA metric, which measures efficiency against the league average.


Richardson has also made strides in his connections with certain receivers, from pre-snap communication to audibling to the routes they can run best to placing the ball in spots where they can expect it and prefer it in order to execute various concepts.

All of it was on display on that throw to Granson.

"It's just an innate feeling going in," Granson said. "You can feel the confidence going in from his side and from your side because you know where the ball is going to be and he knows where you're going to be. I feel like it's a confidence that works both ways."

The real games are coming now, and they will present chess moves to the types of schematic advantages Steichen is trying to give his young quarterback. Richardson won't be facing backups in those games, like he was Thursday night.

But he's going to start as many as his health allows this season because the goal is to get reps and to learn and build through them. Along the way, he and Steichen will find their own common identity, marrying concepts with abilities and sprinkling in some improvisation, all in the hopes of building this unique quarterback who flickers and pops each time he takes the field.


"We were talking about it in the locker room that it’s going to be a grind for sure," Richardson said. "But I’m excited to see how we game plan against certain teams and see how the offense does.”

[JAFF]

Insider: Anthony Richardson's potential, pitfalls on display in Colts win

Two teams in very different positions faced off in Thursday night’s preseason finale, and the way the Colts and Eagles handled the game was a sign of each team’s expectations for the 2023 season.

Philadelphia, fully established and coming off of a Super Bowl appearance, didn’t play its starters.

Indianapolis, trying to crawl back off the bottom of the standings with a new head coach in Shane Steichen and a rookie quarterback in Anthony Richardson, played its starters for almost the entire first half, putting together a true dress rehearsal in a 27-13 victory over the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

From here on out, the Colts have four days and change to make the difficult decisions required to reduce the roster to 53 players by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline, and there’s plenty to take away from Thursday night’s dress rehearsal.

Anthony Richardson should be a fun ride

Drafted with the No. 4 pick, Richardson is still working on fixing the accuracy issues that plagued him in college, and at times those problems were evident in a 6 of 17 performance on Thursday, including a handful of misses that were overthrown, and one ball that was tossed into jeopardy and nearly picked off.


Richardson also nearly lost a fumble when the ball slipped out of his hands on a throw, a nagging issue during training camp.

But the talent is there, and Richardson’s legs are going to produce a lot of highlights, both in the pocket and out of it. On one play, an Eagles pass rusher had Richardson dead to rights, and the rookie spun away, made the rusher miss entirely and picked up 8 yards to help set up a field goal.


The running game the Colts will use with Richardson largely remains a mystery — that’s by design, as Steichen doesn’t want to tip his hand — but the ability is evident, and Thursday night was the best glimpse anybody’s gotten so far. Richardson rushed for 38 yards on five carries, and his presence opened holes for a group of running backs that has struggled to get more than what’s blocked so far, although rookie Evan Hull had six carries for 25 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles.

Richardson also had some nice throws in his six completions, particularly on play-action throws where he had to get the ball out quickly and one gorgeous 17-yard throw to tight end Kylen Granson up the sideline.


Young wide receivers struggle

For the most part, the Colts’ young trio of wide receivers has been solid on the practice fields at Grand Park.

But Thursday night didn’t look that way.

Second-year receiver Alec Pierce, who is coming off an encouraging rookie season despite playing in an offense that couldn’t take advantage of his skills, couldn’t bring down any of Richardson’s efforts to get him the ball, and third-round rookie Josh Downs, who has been automatic during training camp, let a Richardson fastball go through his hands when it should have been an easy first down.

Pierce and Downs have looked promising on the practice field, and it’s probably best to chalk Thursday night up to a hiccup until the problems continue in the regular season.

Thin offensive line takes another hit

There have been a few encouraging signs from the Colts starting offensive line, most notably a solid training camp and preseason from left tackle Bernhard Raimann, whose development is critical for the offensive line’s success.

But penalties have been a problem, and Quenton Nelson committed two on the first series — a false start and a hold — to kill that series, and then the team’s depth appeared to take a hit early in the second half. Fourth-year interior lineman Danny Pinter, who has often been Ryan Kelly’s backup at center and started in place of the injured Kelly on Thursday night, was carted off the field after a player rolled over his leg, and he was quickly downgraded to out by the Colts’ medical staff.


Indianapolis has struggled to get consistent play from its second-team offensive line throughout training camp, and a significant injury to Pinter would take a versatile piece out of the equation, forcing Indianapolis to make some tough decisions — and potentially some waiver claims — in the coming days.

Uneven day for young cornerbacks

Darrell Baker Jr. and Dallis Flowers, the two young cornerbacks likely starting on the outside around Kenny Moore II, didn’t have to play against Eagles stars A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith on Thursday night.

And there were a couple of nice plays from each player. Baker Jr. and Flowers each had two pass breakups, and they combined for nine tackles.

There were also a few throws that should have been made by Eagles backups Marcus Mariota and Tanner McKee against both players, and it underscored the fact that Flowers and Baker Jr. are a pair of second-year players who have just 174 combined snaps, all of them by Flowers, under their belts so

[njcoltfan]

Doyles a complete ass, he continues with this " The Colts have a terrible roster" shit ! This team is going to surprise a lot of people this year ! I haven't been this excited going into a season since Luck's abrupt retirement, and i've been watching and rooting for the Colt's since the '50s !!

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by njcoltfan

Doyles a complete ass, he continues with this " The Colts have a terrible roster" shit ! This team is going to surprise a lot of people this year ! I haven't been this excited going into a season since Luck's abrupt retirement, and i've been watching and rooting for the Colt's since the '50s !!

It's the classic shallow pundit understanding of one star playing with a bunch of guys who don't matter. Nobody matters to these pundits except the guys who do Gatorade commercials.

He could easily write as well about Justin Timberlake's new movie role or red carpet outfit.

The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by njcoltfan

Doyle's a complete ass, l as he continues with this "The Colts have a terrible roster" shit !!! This team is going to surprise a lot of people this year !!! l I haven't been this excited going into a season since Luck's abrupt retirement, and I've been watching and rooting for the Colt's since the '50s !!!

o



In 2022, the Colts beat the Chiefs and barely lost to the Eagles by one point ...... somewhere in there is a talented, capable team that can compete with almost any squad in the NFL.

The Colts have talent ...... whether or not they actually convert that talent into l W's l on the scoreboard this upcoming season is an entirely different animal.

o

[nate505]

While I want to see wins every season, this is one of those rare seasons where I'm just going to sit back and try to enjoy the ride as much as I can.

I'm sure in game threads I'll grumble about bad plays, but as long as Richardson doesn't do anything completely boneheaded for many many games in a row I'm just going to enjoy watching him play and let the chips fall where they may.

[IndyNorm]

Look, Jonathan Taylor’s on my list. I’ve made that clear. But imagine him in the backfield with Anthony Richardson. Scary doesn’t begin to describe that combination, because Richardson by himself terrified the Eagles defense. If that were Taylor next to him, and not Evan Hull (better suited for third down) or Deon Jackson (better suited for the CFL), the Eagles might have just wet the grass at Lincoln Financial Field.

This comment really irked me. On top of no reason to insult Jackson, Jackson is a good ST and has done enough as a RB when given the chance to show that he belongs on an NFL roster.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by nate505

While I want to see wins every season, this is one of those rare seasons where I'm just going to sit back and try to enjoy the ride as much as I can.

I'm sure in game threads I'll grumble about bad plays, but as long as Richardson doesn't do anything completely boneheaded for many many games in a row I'm just going to enjoy watching him play and let the chips fall where they may.

Agreed. You can't measure success this year in Ws and Ls, but by how well AR progresses through the year. Fully expect AR to struggle early on. Hopefully the light goes on for him ~mid season, and he improves from there to where we're super excited for '24 by the end of the season.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by JAFF

Doyle

Also bad: Richardson’s consistency. Remember a few years ago when Colts general manager Chris Ballard tired of quarterback Carson Wentz because he couldn’t “make the layups”? Richardson misses them like a kid who’s never shot a basketball in his life, throwing it 10 feet over the basket, er, Michael Pittman Jr.’s head. He throws a screen pass wide of Deon Jackson in the flat. He throws it so far behind Pittman, running a few steps in front of him, that the big Colts receiver puts on the breaks and reaches back and succeeds in catching the ball and hurting himself (he missed just a few plays).

This guy is supposed to be a journalist, that is, someone who writes well, but spelled "brakes' as "breaks", lmao. What a hack.