After a season where the Indianapolis Colts fell short of the playoffs, Chris Ballard held his annual end-of-season press conference. Ballard covered many topics and questions going into the 2024 offseason. The most important question being: Is Anthony Richardson going to be the long-term starter for the Colts?
No More Short-Term Replacements
Ballard acknowledged the fact this is going to be the first offseason since 2013 where the Colts won’t be paying a veteran QB over 10 million, when Andrew Luck was still on his rookie contract. After a disappointing season with a 37-year old Matt Ryan, the Colts finally decided to go in a different direction when it comes to finding a replacement under center in the 2023 offseason. Ryan was still under contract with the Colts and had a $12 million cap hit this past season. Not only will the extra cap space give Ballard more freedom to add more talent to this young roster this offseason, but it also allows him to help Richardson stay healthy.
Colts Drafting Richardson
Ballard and the Colts knew what quarterback they were selecting when they chose the Florida Gator at pick #4. Richardson was looked at as a quarterback with tons of upside given his athletic ability, size, and explosive arm. However, many scouts and analysts pointed out that he was an incredibly raw talent who came with many glaring weaknesses. Coming out of college, Richardson definitely needed work on his accuracy and route progressions as a passer. Unfortunately, he would go down in a week 5 matchup against the Titans with an AC joint sprain that would require season-ending surgery. Richardson would go on to finish his shortened rookie season with 4 starts, 577 passing yards, 8 total touchdowns, and 1 interception.
If the Colts Don’t Learn From the Past, They Are Doomed to Repeat it
After answering question from the media about Richardson, Ballard compared talks that has had with the rookie QB to conversation he had with Andrew Luck in 2018.
“…it was a little like this with Andrew. I mean instinctively when you get in a game you react to whatever your instincts take you to so to tell him, ‘Hey, look you got to get down or you got to get out of bounds.’ Andrew would always tell me like ‘Chris, my instincts and my competitive nature just takes over.’”
Richardson, like Luck, is a quarterback who’s biggest strength is his playmaking ability. Luck dealt with injuries throughout his professional career, which is something that the Colts obviously don’t want to see repeated with Richardson.
In 86 career games, Luck was sacked 174 times. He suffered from a shoulder labrum tear, concussion, an abdomen muscle tear, calf strain, and a high ankle strain. From 2014-2019, the Colts were a bottom-10 team in the league in cap spent on the offensive line. Since 2020, they have been top-5 of the league in cap space spent on the offensive line every season. Given the talent and the resources that have gone to improve the offensive line the last 4 seasons, it is clear that Ballard knows the importance of keeping the quarterback upright.
Given that he already took seven sacks and 10 QB hurries in his four starts in 2023, Richardson will have to learn to take better care of himself next season. Throwing the ball away and avoiding the big hits is something that many rookie quarterbacks struggle with. Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, and Derek Carr suffered the same critiques in their respective rookie seasons.
A Balancing Act
However, some of this will fall on head coach, Shane Steichen. An offensive-minded coach who is known for his QB-designed runs was a perfect fit with Richardson. Steichen had an incredibly successful season given the situation he was put in after week 5. But the play that Richardson ended his season on was a designed QB-run called by Steichen. This is the area where Steichen and Richardson will have to find the balance between aggressive and conservative.
Just like Luck, you want Richardson to use his legs to make plays. That is a big reason why Steichen was successful with the Eagles and Jalen Hurts in 2022. However, Steichen has to be thinking of his quarterback’s future and longevity. He should scale back the designed QB-runs and let Richardson develop more as a passer. This will not only help his health in the long run, but it will vastly improve his passing ability. The biggest critique that Richardson faced this season was his less-than-impressive 59.5% completion percentage.
Ballard will have the opportunity to load up the offensive-side of the ball with weapons when 2024 NFL Draft comes around. For more on the possible players that could grace the Colts’ draft board, check out Dalton Tinklenberg’s article here!