Colts' Anthony Richardson Makes Offense Exciting Again in Indy
Watching Indianapolis Colts offensive football in 2022 was absolutely brutal.
The combination of poor quarterback and offensive line play made it a struggle to move the ball down the field. The Colts finished second-to-last in the league in scoring, making it a milestone when they scored over 20 points. The offense was bad, and it was boring to watch.
That will not be the case this season, nor will it be for the foreseeable future. The reason? Anthony Richardson.
Richardson took part in his second preseason game on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Eagles rested most of their starters, the Colts chose to play Richardson and their starters for most of the first half. Indy was using their final preseason game as more of a dress rehearsal for the regular season.
Head coach Shane Steichen also used this game to get Richardson more reps with the guys he will be playing with on Sundays. While the Colts ended up winning their final preseason contest 27-13, the focus was on the play of Richardson. The rookie quarterback proved why the Colts are so high on his potential.
If you look at the box score, you would think Richardson played poorly. He finished 6-of-17 (35%) for 78 yards through the air with 38 yards on five carries (7.6 avg.). But context matters with Richardson's performance, as the Colts focused on opening up the passing game and taking deep shots rather than dink-and-dunk down the field.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The result was a poor completion percentage for Richardson all the while leading the Colts to 17 points in the first half, scoring on three of the first four drives.
“Shoot, I thought (Richardson) did a solid job," Steichen said after the game. "We scored three out of the first four drives, which is good. The two-minute drive wasn’t what we wanted, but we’ll go back, look at the tape. I thought he did some really good things and some things we’ve got to clean up as well.”
The biggest thing that stood out about Richardson on Thursday night was his ability to escape pressure. At 6'4" and 250 pounds, Richardson is a massive human being who is tough to bring down in the pocket. Add to that his incredible athletic ability and speed, and Richardson has yet to be sacked.
On multiple occasions, Richardson turned a would-be sack for an eight-yard loss into a scramble that netted a six to seven-yard gain. Even when the Eagles could keep him contained in the pocket and tried to bring him down, Richardson got the ball away.
In 2022, those plays would have been sacks, setting the offense back and killing drives. That will not be the case moving forward.
“I just try to keep my eyes down the field unless there’s a wide open lane," Richardson explained. "If there’s an opportunity to give someone the ball, then it’s their job to run the ball I just have to deliver it. If there’s an opportunity to give someone the ball I’m going to take that opportunity instead of running it myself, but if I see a lane I’m going to try to take it and get some yards for the team.”
The other area Richardson excelled at on Thursday was throws to the intermediate part of the field. Richardson calmly went through his reads and delivered strikes to his receivers. While the stats do not reflect many completions, and there were a couple of drops, Richardson did his job most of the night by throwing accurate balls to his teammates.
The throw of the night was during the middle of the second quarter, with the Colts around midfield. Richardson dropped back and threw a laser to tight end Kylen Granson over to the left side for a chunk gain. The ball whistled right over the linebacker's head, and Granson was able to haul it in.
“We were trying not to do too many checks in the preseason," Richardson said. "We were trying to keep it a little vanilla just so that we can get reps and play fast. But Coach Steichen was on the sideline telling me to check it, and I was like, ‘Okay fine, let’s check this.’ We work that throw all the time in practice. 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.”
While Richardson had plenty of flashes on Thursday night, it was not perfect. Richardson does need to continue working on his accuracy and footwork, as the rookie sailed throws on more than one occasion. There are also some throws and decisions Richardson would like to have back, including starring down his receiver on a route that almost ended in an interception.
Richardson's game is not refined by any means, and there will be plenty of times throughout the regular season when he struggles. What is important is that Richardson continues to grow and learn from his mistakes as he develops into the quarterback the Colts think he can become. And with the preseason now behind him, Richardson is ready to play in the games that actually matter.
“I’m excited to see the way we game plan," Richardson admitted. "I’m looking forward to playing the long season. We were talking about it in the locker room that it’s going to be a grind for sure. But I’m excited to see how we game plan against certain teams and see how the offense does.”
Colts fans need to buckle up for the rollercoaster. There will be many highs for Richardson throughout the 2023 season but also plenty of lows. It is all about the experience for the rookie quarterback and his development for years to come.
But rest assured, offense is exciting and fun again in Indy.
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