On August 24, 2019, Andrew Luck stunned the sports world by announcing his retirement at 29 years old. After being blessed with quality quarterback play since the turn of the century, the Colts were suddenly desperate. Their attempts to remain competitive in the post-Luck era were designed for short-term mediocrity, and that’s exactly what happened. Indianapolis eventually hit rock bottom in 2022 after delaying the inevitable, finishing 3rd in the AFC South with a 4-12-1 record.
Redefining the Indianapolis Colts’ Offensive Identity
A New Era
It was time to address the quarterback position for good, and they were in a prime spot to do that. They owned the 4th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with plenty of prospects to choose from. Indianapolis’ decision came down to Anthony Richardson or Will Levis, and they preferred the former. It’s not difficult to understand the appeal for Richardson. He’s built like a tight end (6’4″, 244 lbs), moves like a running back (4.44 40-yard dash), and has tons of arm strength. Richardson’s athletic tools alone were enough for Indianapolis to justify drafting him fourth overall.
Lost amid the fixation on Richardson’s physical abilities is the fact that he’s a deeply flawed player. Excitement over athletic testing results isn’t anything new, but in Richardson’s case, it completely masked his deficiencies.
Richardson’s Red Flags
For starters, Richardson hardly played during his three seasons at Florida. After riding the bench for most of his first two years, he finished college with just 393 pass attempts. For reference, Caleb Williams had 388 pass attempts this season alone. This comes into question when considering the importance of experience, which can make or break a quarterback’s career. It’s part of why teams didn’t hesitate to pick older quarterbacks in this year’s draft: experience is never a negative.
Inexperience is excusable (and even expected) when judging collegiate quarterback prospects. What’s less assuring is that Richardson’s inexperience combines with inefficiency. Richardson completed fewer than 55% of his pass attempts in his final year at Florida. For perspective, 101 college quarterbacks had a higher completion percentage than Richardson in 2022.
Indianapolis hoped to resolve some of these issues over time, but injuries disrupted their plans. Richardson suffered a concussion in week two and missed week three in recovery. He survived until week five before sustaining another, more worrisome injury. Richardson underwent surgery for a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder and missed the rest of the season. For a player in dire need of developmental reps early in his career, missing time with an injury to his throwing arm could be disastrous.
Bottom Line…
There’s no way around it: the Indianapolis Colts need Anthony Richardson to pan out if they want to be playoff contenders. The issue lies in the fact that nobody knows what to expect from Richardson at this point in his career. He’s barely played football since graduating high school, and his inexperience is scarily similar to the Trey Lance situation.
On the bright side, the Colts front office is doing everything to help Richardson succeed. Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor, two players Richardson depends on, agreed to multi-year contract extensions. And to ensure there’s no shortage of complimentary weapons, they’ve heavily invested in the wide receiver position. Indianapolis recently spent day two picks on Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, and Adonai Mitchell. Between a talented cast of skill position players and a proven offensive line, the Colts offense has all the tools to succeed. The question is this: does Anthony Richardson have what it takes to elevate his team? The 2024 season will go a long way in answering that question.
Main Photo: Clark Wade/IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK
