Will Anthony Richardson Be Ready?
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When the Indianapolis Colts drafted Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, they got a quarterback with unbelievable-physical upside. They also got an inexperienced player who had mixed results his only season as a starter in college.
New head coach Shane Steichen was hired in part because of his ability to get the most out of his quarterbacks despite their skillset. After spending way too long on the quarterback merry-go-round, the Colts bet big on Steichen and Richardson.
Dan Graziano on ESPN+ put together a list of the biggest questions facing every NFL team, and the question facing the Colts is "Will Anthony Richardson be Ready?"
The accepted pre-draft maxim was that Richardson was a project player who would need time to develop before you could use him in NFL games. The Colts aren't so sure. They believe he has already made significant improvements to his lower-body mechanics due to the work he has done this offseason with private quarterback coach Will Hewlett.
They believe they could use him in the run game now if they needed to. They're 100% confident in his character and intuitive ability to weather growing pains. They aren't going to rush him into the starting role if they think doing so would hurt him or set him back, but they also aren't going to hold him out of the role just for the sake of doing so.
Don't be surprised if Richardson plays early in the season, maybe even opening as the Week 1 starter at QB. -- Dan Graziano, ESPN+
This is at least the second report coming out of Indianapolis that the Colts are borderline giddy on what they've seen from Richardson at rookie mini camp.
Expectations were supposed to be tempered when Richardson was drafted. Patience needed, said the Colts.
As these reports keep piling up in the offseason, it's going to be harder and harder to temper those expectation when September rolls around.
Face it, an athlete like Lamar Jackson with the size of Cam Newton playing the Jalen Hurts role in a Shane Steichen offense is exciting... really exciting.
But the question remains to be answered, will Richardson be ready?
Richardson, Steichen and his staff are going to do everything in their power to turn that answer into a "yes", and the early returns are promising.
