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When the Indianapolis Colts drafted Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. They made a commitment to the 6-foot-4, 244 lb. quarterback. Given what we know about QB salaries, after the draft ended, the Colts were again on the clock for four years. That's how long Richardson would be on his rookie deal.
We're about a year and a half removed from the 2023 NFL Draft, and one thing is for certain: Richardson doesn't appear to have made many strides toward being the franchise signal-caller they need him to be. Rather than taking the Carolina Panthers' approach to Bryce Young and benching Richardson, the Colts need to fire head coach Shane Steichen and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.
What's the alternative? Starting Joe Flacco? Just to clarify what we already know, Flacco is better today than Richardson, but the team doesn't want the better quarterback now; it wants the better quarterback for the future.
How many more perfectly good quarterbacks have to endure a half-decade toiling away on the bench and the “bust” draft label before we start holding coaching staffs accountable? They are just as guilty of playing for their immediate futures instead of setting up the team's long-term interests.
If Richardson isn't in the best position to succeed, find a coach who can make it work. Steichen is 13-11 as a head coach.
Every week, Steichen speaks some form of “needing to be better” as a play-caller to get the offense going. Yet the Colts' offense continues to suffer from the same inefficiencies.
Colts must protect Richardson's body and mind
Steichen, like many NFL coaches, is a victim of his own hubris. Instead of calling what's most obvious, he opts to be clever and go against tendency. With Jonathan Taylor back, do the Colts lean on the ground game to warm up Richardson into the game? Of course not. They draw pass plays on four of the first snaps on offense. The one run? A 12-yard gain for Taylor. The result of the first drive is an equalizing field goal, tying the score at 3-3.
On the following drive, after a false start sets them back to 1st and 15, Taylor rushes left for 18 yards. Richardson scrambles on the next play for 11 yards. Taylor gets stuffed for -3 yards, incomplete, incomplete and punt. Richardson is now 0-5 to start the game. However, none of these passes are in short or medium down and distance. They'll all been 10 or more yards to go.
The problem isn't so much that Richardson isn't executing. That is a problem, but the underlying issue is Steichen's inflexibility in adapting the game plan to Richardson's style.
Some of these coaches aren't personable, and it's clear. They have no idea how to manage the young egos they are entrusted to nurture. Not all of us are 22-year-olds built like Greek gods who can easily heave a football 70 yards; however, we've all been young and wanted to prove ourselves. So when Richardson comes out of the game voluntarily on third-and-goal from the 23-yard line, maybe call a timeout and talk to your guy.
Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly had a comment on Richardson's logic for taking himself out of the game, per Gregg Doyel of the Indy Star.
“(Richardson) knows it’s not the standard he needs to play up to, and the rest of the team holds him up to. I’ll leave the rest of (it) to that. I know he’ll take some criticism for that, and rightfully so. It’s a tough look, but he’s out there giving it all for his team. … If anybody ever questions how hard he plays, I don’t think that’s the case.”
Kelly also described it as a learning moment.
Colts, Steichen are asking too much, giving too little
With 23 seconds left in the first half, the Colts called a timing route when backed up near their own end zone. Richardson was late on it, and the throw wasn't spot on, which led to it being picked off.
Why on Earth is Indy throwing in that situation? That's what little brothers do when playing Madden. Run the ball, be happy with a tie ballgame on the road against your main divisional rival and regroup for halftime. Instead, the Colts dial up the exact opposite of what they should, again exercising their hubris to appear clever than simply playing what should be their tendencies.
And this is the coaching staff that is supposed to coach up Richardson? Or are they trying to coach him into making a fool of himself so they can pass the buck when he inevitably gets fired from this job?
The Colts need to be a tough, execution-minded, and defensively complex team. A power offense built around a running game cannot exist without a next-level defense that can get the ball back in the hands of a possession-focused offense that looks to wear down their opponents. From top to bottom, there's nothing constructed here the way it should be and that's on the entrenched management, not the show-stopping youngster hired fresh out of college last year.
