Why the Colts are going all-in with Anthony Richardson.

jacobe brassett Philip Rivers Carson Wentz Matt Ryan the Indianapolis Colts have been rotating quarterback since Andrew Luck's sudden retirement in 2018 they thought they had finally stopped the carousel last year when they selected Anthony Richardson with the number four overall pick coming out of Florida he had all the tools of a prototypical dual threat quarterback and if he could just put it all together he might be one of the best quarterbacks in the league the scouting report on AR praised his Elite size strength and athleticism ability to make explosive plays with his arms and legs and his knack for navigating the pocket and willingness to take hits while he throws but it was also concerned with his ability to process the game at a high level saying he didn't always make anticipatory throws and was often times inaccurate due to his footwork and Rhythm feeding into his 53.8% completion rate in his final College season last year was supposed to get Richardson's feet wet he was good enough to win some games for sure but developing him in that first year was probably just as big of an objective seeing moments like this against the Los Angeles Rams in week four must have gotten the Colts coaching staff excited the Colts come out in shotgun with 11 personnel and will run verticals with their two receivers on the right side and the tight end with the receiver at the top of the screen running an out route the ram showed two high safeties meaning the middle of the field will likely be open if they drop into a cover two type look which they do Josh DS has a perfect route to beat this coverage with a seam cutting right through the middle to put the Deep safety on his side in conflict of whether to guard him or Michael Pitman Jr with the slot Corner taking Downs that safety feels like he can provide a little more help to Pitman but Richardson isn't worried about the corner chasing after his receiver since his back is fully turned in this situation he knows he just has to get it over him since he can't react the ball Richardson looks confident throwing here and delivers the pass with great touch to get it to his guy but his development came to a sudden end he started only four games in his rookie season before being sidelined for the year with an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder in week five so rather than spend a full season getting to know their new franchise quarterback Colts fans retreated to yet another passer in Gardner muu this season Richardson comes in as the unquestioned qb1 for the Colts but after a much abbreviated year one and playing in a division that has suddenly gotten much tougher will he be ready to lead his team to the playoffs in his sophomore season Indianapolis hasn't won the AFC South since 2014 last year they came extremely close with mchu at the helm it's been slightly Mandela affected after a couple months of Separation where the story has become they were one yard away from beating the Texans in a de facto week 18 playoff game the reality is they were one yard away from getting a first down to then have a chance to get a touchdown in the Red Zone but the sentiment is still there this was a team without their starter who came within yards of doing what they hadn't done in 10 years with Houston going on to beat the Browns and the Wild Card along with the emergence of CJ Stroud the Texans have quickly become NFL Darlings and been crowned the leaders in the South but the Colts don't seem so sure after the loss head coach Shane styken said we'll learn we'll grow and will'll come back stronger and it looks like they're taking that will come back part literally they've retained nearly 80% of their team from last year seeming content to run it back and show they were the better team all along the highlights on the offensive side include Wide Receiver Michael Pitman Jr who signed an extension this off season running back Jonathan Taylor who appeared in only 10 games last year and promising tight end galani Woods who didn't play at all due to injury of course this decision to run it back only makes sense if they feel like Richardson is that much better than menu and will come into this next year as a more polished player and with only 98 total dropbacks last year to go off it's a pretty big display of Confidence from the brass in Indianapolis while the small sample size is tough to draw conclusions from there were some things that could get you excited like his running ability he appeared to be as advertised on that front co-host of lockdown Colts Zack Hicks said in the 15 designed runs the Colts called for Richardson he gained 100 yards and scored four touchdowns culminating in a 26.7% explosive run rate on these carries but there were other numbers that could get you worried out of the 50 quarterbacks who had 95 drop backs or more last year Richardson's 59.5% completion rate ranked 45th while there were those flashes of high level accuracy like in that week four seam throw I showed earlier there were also plenty of times where his inconsistency shine through on this play against the Jaguars in week one Richardson tries to hit Mo Alli Cox in the honey hole but gets intercepted there are a couple issues here first it seemed odd to me that both Pitman and Ali Cox had routes going into the same area and I wondered if this was a miscommunication or busted play but focusing on what Richardson does here he gets some Happy Feet Galloping around behind the line and takes just a bit too long to get this throw out to fit this to Aly Cox in time Richardson has to make the pass as soon as the corner makes his decision of who to guard the flat or the out route in the intermediate the corner chooses the flat at first but by the time Richardson is throwing this he's recovering back to the tight end still Richardson may have gotten this to his guy had he thrown the ball with just a bit more touch to get it up and over the defender I think this is something that can be ironed out with more reps as he finds the range but it was clear in his film that he didn't yet have total control over the trajectories of his passes whether it was not throwing with enough anticipation in an arc to get it into that honey hole area or where he just flat out missed guys too high or behind them there were a lot of passing yards he left on the field but the Colts and especially styen don't seem bothered they've maintained that they've got their guy of course even if they didn't they wouldn't tell us but do think there's something to the enthusiasm and specifics in how Richardson's head coach talks about him he had a really good feel where to go with the football early you know what I mean and it might not be his first read but it would be like a guy on a jet motion and it's like I'm going to throw an over oh my gosh no one covered the guy on the the jet motion ball and like he popped one against uh gosh who was that against I think it was Tennessee it was early to DS and boom and downs went down the silid for 20 but I was just like oh they didn't cover him he saw too like here ball like you can't quack can't that's playing quarterback styken will likely be the secret sauce that has a major impact on how well the Colts offense generally and Anthony Richardson specifically perform next year coming over from the Eagles last year styen has quickly become one of my favorite coordinators coaches to watch for his creativity and just how many wrinkles each play might have here's a read option play I wanted to highlight in week one against the Jaguars the Colt started off with a stunted orbit motion with Downs similar to the kind of motion the Chiefs run in their famous corn dog play the window dressing pulls the Jacksonville Defender into the middle of the field and opens up more space laterally and sets him up to be swallowed by Alec Pierce coming off the line to block this part of the play just got me so excited to watch because I think it's so clever DS's motion essentially allows the Colts to swap blocking assignments for him and Pierce and keep the Jaguars off balance while Richardson starts charging out of the back field you can imagine how many wrinkles could come out of this one formation and motion concept whether it's actually handing off to the back turning this into a screen pass to Downs running a triple option where Downs becomes the pitchman or just running straight play action and having the receivers Run Deep with a speed steer coming out in the flat with the collection of skill players that the Colts have and the threat of Richardson to tuck and run or throw it deep Sten can put tons of pressure on the defense without them knowing where the ball is going and the players appear to trust him to put them in positions to succeed for example after the Colts season ended many commentators questioned their decision to throw that fourth and one pass to Tyler Goodson a rookie running back who had six receptions all year but Jonathan Taylor spoke for the team when he said have you really questioned his calls all year he's always been calling the right play at the right time I don't think anyone questioned the call no one did Indianapolis will expect and I think rightfully so that Sten will continue making the right call at the right time having that kind of Coach to pair with Richardson who makes playing quarterback easier and a guy who has already had success building an offense around a guy like Jaylen Herz is a fantastic fit to give AR a good chance to maximize on his potential the last thing I wanted to mention here is that Richardson displayed on a few occasions what can really make him special his ability to extend plays with his strength and legs turning nightmares into positive yardage or points here's one example on a two-point conversion he takes the snap and Aaron Donald beats the Colts Right Guard almost immediately and Chaos ensues but Richardson makes Donald Miss stumbles yet stays on his feet and then keeps his eyes up to find the easy pass for two just before getting clocked resilience and resourcefulness at its finest for Anthony Richardson I think the jury is still out in terms of just what his ceiling can be especially when it seems there's some work to do to raise his floor into becoming a more consistent quarterback every down I think that's what this year will be all about definitely the Colts will be thrilled to see some of those explosive passes and runs he flashed here and there in his first 98 dropbacks but I think they'll be even more excited if they see his completion rate improve dramatically and see him fit more into the pace and Rhythm of the NFL game but the question is if Richardson will stop the Colts quarterback Carousel I think that's a pretty sure bet something catastrophic would have to happen for him to not at least have his fifth year option picked up when the time comes he has so much talent and versatility as a player and the Colts organization seems to really believe in and have ideas of how to best utilize his talents what he could be as a final product is incredibly tantalizing all the while the AFC South has suddenly become a very tough division the Texans are the favorites the Jacksonville Jaguars are no slouches themselves and while the Titans are in a bit of a rebuilding year they won't be an easy out either all four of these teams have young upand cominging quarterbacks and the trajectory of each of them could decide the direction of this division for the next half decade at least CJ strad is the clear leader of the four right now but I really don't think you have to squint that hard to imagine that a fully formed Richardson could eventually make this into a heated debate thank you so much for watching this video please remember to give it a like if you did enjoy it and please consider subscribing to the channel so you can catch the next one thanks bye

Channel: Football Doesn't Matter

Views: 19,991

Keywords: Anthony Richardson, Anthony Richardson highlights, Anthony Richardson news, indianapolis colts, indianapolis colts highlights, indianapolis colts news, shane steichen, nfl offseason, nfl news, nfl breakdown, anthony richardson breakdown, anthony richardson analysis, colts analysis, all 22, football analysis, brett kollmann, alex rollins, Anthony Richardson breakdown, Colts offense

Id: V3mCsfSbYoQ

Length: 11min 42sec (702 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 01 2024