Since the Indianapolis Colts kicked off training camp last Thursday, all eyes have been on the daily performance of quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Whether individual drills, 7-on-7, or 11-on-11, every rep by Richardson has been carefully analyzed – and sometimes overanalyzed – by fans, pundits, and media alike.
And while it has not been perfect, Richardson is off to a fast start to camp. The second-year quarterback is 37-of-53 (70%) with three touchdowns and two interceptions (both by Julian Blackmon) in the 11-on-11 period. Richardson has also been sharp in 7-on-7, routinely finding the open receivers and throwing touchdowns.
“It has been good so far,” Richardson remarked about his camp performance. “Making plays with the offense, diving deeper into the offense and learning a lot more, and then just trying to take advantage of the defense. Now, we’ve got a great squad and they catch us on a few plays. So it’s just trying to get better day by day.”
One of the themes of training camp has been Richardson routinely testing the defense with his arm. The deep ball has been prevalent every practice as Richardson and the receivers stretch the field. It has been intentional by Richardson and head coach Shane Steichen to be aggressive and take numerous shots each day.
The reason for this aggression is because the Colts feel like with Richardson’s arm and the bevy of receivers they have, they have the potential to be a very explosive offense. The question is, how successful can they be in accomplishing it?
“Extremely successful,” Richardson said confidently. “We’ve got weapons to go down deep. We’ve got fast guys to take the top off, we’ve got a great play-caller in Shane (Steichen) and Coach Jim Bob (Cooter). So they are definitely going to scheme it up, set up the game plan for us the right way.”
The Colts have plenty of receivers who can win deep. Michael Pittman Jr. has proven throughout his career he can win at all three levels. Alec Pierce is known to be a deep-threat specialist who excels at jump balls. Rookie Adonai Mitchell showed off his deep-threat ability at Georgia and Texas, using his immense speed and route running to win reps against some of the toughest defenses in college football.
And then there is Josh Downs, who may be overlooked as a deep threat because of his size but has already proven he can take the top off the defense. Downs may be the receiver Richardson has the most chemistry with. Both Richardson and Downs have mentioned before that all they have to do is give each other a look to know what the other is thinking.
That unspoken chemistry can lead to great success on the football field. Quarterbacks and wide receivers need to know what the other is thinking if a play does not go exactly how it is designed. Richardson has communicated with Downs and his other receivers that as long as they get open, it is okay to go off-script.
“I just tried to tell (Downs) – ‘With the route I know we’ve got rules and steps to run it a certain way, but just get open. You’re going to get open. I’m going to get you the ball,’” Richardson commented. “I tell that to all the receivers. I know the coaches want us to take a certain amount of steps to get a certain route open, but I just tell them, ‘Get open and I’m going to try to find you the ball.’ So it’s just a matter of just working out chemistry and just knowing each other.”
Being able to go off-script when needed is something new for Richardson in this offense. Last year at this point, Richardson was focused on learning the offense and the timing with his receivers. It would have been much harder for the offense to add that wrinkle, but not anymore.
“I feel like I could have (gone off-script last year), but it probably would have been easier just to follow the rules of the coaches and just try to make it work,” Richardson admitted. “But now we’re adding a little bit of our own little twist to it, because the defense – they know if a certain guy runs a certain amount of steps, they know another route is coming. So we’re just trying to tweak that a little bit and just trying to find certain ways to get guys open.”
All of this can be accomplished because of Richardson’s maturation in the offense and the chemistry he has formed with his receiving core.
Although Richardson only played four games last season, he used his time while sidelined to continue learning the offense. He studied the concepts the Colts were implementing and worked with Steichen to understand the why behind it. Richardson’s understanding of NFL defenses increased through numerous hours of film study as well.
While he may not have been playing for the majority of last season, Richardson does not see it as a lost year at all. He continued to work on his craft mentally while rehabbing physically, and that is why he has shined early in camp and does not look like a player who last played football on Oct. 8, 2023.
“I’m a lot more comfortable, a lot more comfortable with the calls when Shane is calling them,” Richardson said. “Then just looking at a defense, I’m able to scan the defense a lot longer and just check out what I’m going to have on a certain play. So I’m definitely a lot more comfortable in the offense, and I want to plan on continuing to get more comfortable in it.”
That comfortability has allowed Steichen to open up the entire playbook. The training wheels are off for Richardson, and the Colts are ready to unleash the weapon they have at quarterback.
“They’re going to let me use my big arm – take advantage of the defense and just try to take shots down the field.”
If Richardson and Steichen have their way, the 2024 Colts’ offense will be able to be described in one word: Explosive.
