After one preseason contest, the Colts have seen enough to hand over the reins of their offense to Anthony Richardson. The first-round rookie has officially been named the team’s Week 1 starting quarterback.
Richardson was the main X-factor in the 2023 draft class, having only spent one full season as a starter at the college level. He demonstrated a tantalizing combination of size and athleticism at Florida, but also struggled with accuracy and consistency in the passing game. Still, he was widely viewed as one of the top signal-callers available, and the Colts made it clear in the build-up to the draft that they were intent on securing a franchise quarterback.
That task has proven to be challenging since Andrew Luck‘s retirement, with a number of short-term veteran acquisitions not panning out as hoped. Indianapolis is going young now, though, and their decision to use the No. 4 pick on Richardson led to immediate speculation that he would see the field early and often. Owner Jim Irsay publicly opened the door to today’s decision last month when speaking about Richardson’s need for live game action to acclimate to the NFL level.
Veteran Gardner Minshew signed a one-year deal with a base value of $3.5MM in free agency. That gave the Colts a veteran insurance option and reunited Minshew with Shane Steichen, the Eagles’ former offensive coordinator. The latter is now the head coach of the Colts, and his hiring was based in part on his track record with developing young quarterbacks. Steichen will aim to guide Richardson to a career ascent similar to the one Jalen Hurts has enjoyed early in his career.
Richardson and Minshew split first-team reps at the onset of training camp, but it was the 21-year-old who started the preseason opener against the Bills. Richardson completed seven of 12 pass attempts in limited action, throwing one interception while flashing the potential he possess as a deep-ball thrower. He added seven yards on a pair of rushing attempts, likely a sign of things to come as he demonstrated an ability to produce sizable gains on the ground during his time in college.
Especially if the Jonathan Taylor situation does not reach a resolution ahead of the regular season, Richardson could find himself as a focal point of the Colts’ rushing attack in the beginning of his pro career. In any event, the latter is set to join fellow top-five draftees Bryce Young (Panthers) and C.J. Stroud (Texans) as rookies who will immediately be called into action in September.
The two biggest faults against him were footwork and accuracy. Thus the Colts drafted him 4th overall! Another long season for their fans.
I didn’t think much of him in college, other than being athletic and a work in progress. Hard to see him pushing this team ahead anytime soon
I thought they’d make Minshew the guy for at least 6-8 weeks but this makes sense. They have realistic expectations of him. He’s going to develop first year by fire and maybe become a Hurts like product by year 2
That, and if they won games under Minshew it’s be a tough sell to switch to Richardson.
Should have had a redshirt season. This is another case of a meddlesome owner who thinks he knows Xs and Os better than the actual football people.
I hope this doesn’t ruin him like it has so many young QBs.
“…make Minshew the guy for at least 6-8 weeks”. So did Steichen.
Yeah lmao
So teams have about 20 assistant coaches on the offensive side of the ball and nobody is capable of correcting a QBs footwork and accuracy problems? Hey, lets hire another 20 assistants!
Watched him in action vs a Bills team with a sprinkling of starters and he doesn’t look close to ready. Also still questioning their HC hire. Looks to me like the next 3 seasons will not be fun with these 2
Shocked.
Too early to tell if Richardson will become a good QB, but what do the Colts have to lose? They are going to stink this year anyway. Don’t forget that Josh Allen was seen as not ready to be a starter when he came out of college, but they managed to make something out of his raw athletic talent.
Josh “Fast Blake Bortles” Allen is not a good comp in this case.
Allen had good decision making and questionable accuracy.
Richardson has bad decision making and bad accuracy.
Allen was also not named the starter in his first preseason after a miserable outing. He only got the gig when the #1 took a #2 on the field…
Prepare to be sherminated. You win best name!
I agree it’s too early to make any type of call on if Richardson will be good or not. He has the physical tools to be good. The Colts aren’t doing him any favors though by starting him day one. It could be argued they did him no favors by drafting him instead of letting him go somewhere with a clue.
I believe Minshew would give them a better chance to win right now. Richardson should sit and learn for a year. He (Richardson) couldn’t hit his receivers in college when they were open, threw into coverage way to often, and didn’t check more than his primary receiver. Now he’s a pro and the game is going at triple speed, not a good combo.
Not that he’s not a great athlete, but he didn’t stay in college long enough to learn much. He’s great at playground football, but I don’t think “Hey Johnny, go down to the third tree and cut across,” is going to flying the NFL. He’s going to pull the football down and run or hold it to long and get sacked, no in-between.He’s liable to lead the league in rushing yards for a QB, interceptions, and getting sacked, because he is indecisive. Colts fans buckle up cause it’s going to be a rollercoaster for you this year.
I agree with you mostly. I will say this, though: Richardson’s only chance to get better is with experience. He is not advanced enough technically or in veterancy to be able to learn on a sideline and apply theoretical and practice learned lessons to real game action, because he needs a better body to compare it to, and more of his own experiences to compare to. Staying another year at Florida to refine his passing skills (ala Dak Prescott) would have benefitted his skillset immensely, even if it likely wouldn’t have propelled any higher in the draft.
That said, there’s no guarantee either way that two or three years of starting will impart those lessons to Richardson and make him a great quarterback. It’s still a risk. But with all of that said, Minshew is relatively young and has played well in the past. That Eagles trade blocked his route to starting after Jacksonville, and Indy made it appear as if he could have a chance to start. Obviously that didn’t happen.
This news is not unexpected, but the thing I wonder about actually is not Richardson’s future, but Minshew’s. Are we ever going to see him get a legitimate chance to build on that Jacksonville campaign as a starter? It just seems rather anti-climactic to relegate him to just “backup quarterback” when he has shown that he has potential to be more. That’s not to say that Minshew is great or won’t have his struggles in this hypothetical scenario, but I do wonder if we’ll ever see him get a chance to try and be a starter somewhere.
From watching Minshew in Jacksonville I think he’s a very good, not quite great QB. That said, if he had a really good team around him he would definitely be a year after year playoff QB. It’s really sad he didn’t get a real chance at the Indianapolis job because he’s better than at least half the starters in the NFL. Not hoping, but maybe a starter goes down and they trade for Minshew and his porn star mustache. Minshewmania all the way.
“… if he had a really good team around him he would definitely be a year after year playoff QB” applies to pretty much every qb in the NFL
Not really. Have you watched much football or just your favorite team? At least half of them would still suck. Kyler Murray, Mac Jones, Whoever ends up in Tampa, come to mind
I think Minshew’s best hope to be a starter is in Tampa Bay. He has a better passer rating than Mayfield who can’t be kept as a starter if his record in afternoon games (2-13) doesn’t improve.
I’d be fine holding the clip board for +$3.5m every year until I was 35-38 years old!
Josh Allen had accuracy issues coming out of college
Lamar Jackson had accuracy issues coming out of college
Time will tell what Anthony Richardson becomes. But if we’ve learned anything from qbs it’s young qbs need time and consistency. I’d give him 3 maybe 4 full seasons with this HC. If he isn’t showing steady improvement might be time to cut bait.
Lamar Jackson STILL has accuracy issues.
In college he completed 54 56 59 percent of his passes
In the pros against harder faster more difficult competition he’s completed 58 66 64 64 62.
He’s actually improved compared to his college days by a significant amount. Dude may never be a Brady Rodgers Brees up near the 70s. But if you’re completing 63-65% of your passes in the NFL that’s actually good.
Rookie QBs seldom perform well out of the gates regardless of style of play. While Minshew probably gives them a better chance this season to slide in to the postseason as a WC, what is the point if not a real contender. Let him play, coach him up, and see if he can be the future when you are really ready to contend. He will throw ints, will be quick to tuck, and make the wrong reads. So did Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. If he can learn from those mistakes the Colts could be ready to compete in three years.
How many great college QB’s were ruined by being thrown into the fire to early? Once they get sacked 70 times in a year, or get their bell rung a few times (Tua), will they ever be the same? He’s already skittish in the pocket, and he’s only played against back ups so far. I watched him at Florida (My son is an Alumni and avid Gator fan) and he (Richardson) was barely ready for college football. He should stayed at least another year, but money talks. Just my opinion, but he’s in over his head in the NFL.
If 7 yards on 2 rushes is “a sign of things to come,” then watch out league!!
Assessment after 1 quarter of his 1st ever preseason game is total ignorance
Then why didn’t they name him starter the week prior? Seems like the team was hoping he’d prove them worthy and then after that “deer in the headlights” appearance, either the coaches or owner decided he needed to be the guy anyway. Indy being Indy…
Surprising, needs to clean up his inconsistent throws. A couple balls sailed on him while others were good hard low passes.
I think that’s generally expected with rookies and what are those assistant coaches being paid for if not to help this guy get acclimated to the pro game? I enjoy artistry in the sport as much as the next fan but style points are irrelevant if you don’t win games.
What could possibly go wrong?
All 3 will bust
When you play for one of the worst franchises is sports this is what happens…
I’m not a Colts fan, but remember them winning more games than any team from 2000 to 2011. So, I would not say they are one of the worst franchises.
I couldn’t read past the Hurts pipe dream comment.
Hurts’ NCAA career & accomplishments are still hilariously overlooked today as much as they were during the Tua Media Hype Onslaught.
100% Accurate. Hurts has won everywhere he has gone and taken some bumps with remarkable stride and professionalism along the way.
I don’t see any sort of real comparison to draw here.
This has Coach Irsay written all over it….
Probably need a year to develop anyway but some playing experience wouldn’t hurt. They should have him sit against some teams though
This sounds like a Jim Irsay decision..
Playing Richardson in his first year in game 1 and beyond is a two way street…..sink or swim…..he might succeed or sink under the pressure of going from a very limited college experience to the NFL where everything is bigger, faster, and more difficult…..Is he Tom Brady or Jamarcus Russell?