Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson Flashed Franchise Potential in Limited Playing Time
Episode Date: January 24, 2024Indianapolis Colts rookie QB Anthony Richardson may have had his rookie season cut short, but fans should be optimistic about his future. If this young phenom can stay healthy, he has all the tools to... be the savior of this Colts' team.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks. The easiest and most exciting way to play Daily Fantasy Sports. Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code all lowercase lockedononfl for a first deposit match up to $100Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED when you place a FIVE DOLLAR BET. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Quarterback Anthony Richardson showed just enough in limited playing time to give Colts fans hope for the future. Let's get to it.
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locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. Hello everyone, I'm Zach Hicks, your favorite
co-host here on the Locked On Colts podcast and your film nerd over at horseyouhuddle.com. Today
I'm here to bring you the in-depth breakdown of quarterback
Anthony Richardson. We're going to talk about the good from his rookie season, the bad from his
rookie season, or maybe to keep it lighter, you know, not say bad, but the areas that he needs
to improve upon, and then an overview on Anthony Richardson and where he needs to go from here,
and where this Colts team can go with him at quarterback. So let's kick it off with the positivity. Let's talk
about what Anthony Richardson did well in his limited playing time as a rookie. Now, he did
not have too many snaps overall, just 173 offensive snaps. That includes basically a full game against
the Jacksonville Jaguars in week one, the entire game against the Los Angeles Rams in week four,
and then partial games against the Houston Texans in week two and the Tennessee Titans in week five. So, you know, injury plague season
didn't play the entire year, but in those 173 snaps, we saw just a glimpse of what Anthony
Richardson could be for this Colts team. And that glimpse I thought was really good. Like,
yes, there were some moments where he looked like a rookie quarterback. There were some,
some halves where, you know, the accuracy wasn't there and some of the decision-making wasn't there.
But overall, I thought it was a really, really strong opening debut, a strong opening debut of games for the young quarterback.
I mean, the first thing that really stands out is just that mobility, that explosiveness, that ability to run with the ball and be a designated runner.
I mean, the Colts called 15 design rushes for him
this year, which he went, which he took for a hundred total yards and four touchdowns. He had
four explosive runs on those. So runs over 10 yards with those 15 carries. So that's what,
like a 26% explosive run rate. That's, that's pretty darn impressive for a quarterback carrying
the ball and still trying to learn on which reads to make and which times he can get away with using that speed to the outside. So to be explosive in the run game,
to get those four touchdowns, especially on that insane goal line play that the Colts styled up for
him, did some great things there. Overall, the entire Colts offense was very explosive under
Anthony Richardson. I mean, they were top 10 in the NFL in explosive pass rate
and explosive run rate with him in there.
That Los Angeles Rams game was the greatest example of it,
where the run game was clicking and had like three or four explosive runs
with him contributing two of those.
The passing game was really clicking.
I mean, he had explosive passes to Drew Ogletree.
I think he had two explosive passes to Drew Ogletree in that game,
one to Marley Cox, one to Josh Downs, and one to Alec Pierce. A very, very explosive offense against the Los Angeles
Rams and what almost led to that comeback victory for the Colts in that one. Going a little bit more
into Richardson as a thrower and with his mechanics and how his eyes are and stuff like that,
I thought he was way more developed than a lot of people gave him credit for
coming into this year.
There were a lot of talk.
There was a lot of talk, not a ton of talk,
but there was a good amount of talk
about maybe him being a project,
maybe him needing to sit for an entire year
and just get the mechanics
and get the accuracy under control
before he gets on the field.
But when we saw him out there,
like, yes, I know he only completed 59% of his passes
in those four games that he appeared in but it never looked like this super super project player
like like I thought he looked more developed mechanically and just with what he was doing
within the pocket with his reads and with his eyes than say even like a Josh Allen did and
Josh Allen's rookie season a couple years ago so I thought he looked much more developed than a lot of people would give him credit for coming into the year.
Upper body mechanics were outstanding.
Lower body, I mean, I think there were some things you can improve upon.
But overall, I like that his body was typically connected
when he was throwing.
The upper arm torque and mobility with it was great.
And he just has unreal arm talent.
I mean, we could see that on many of these throws.
So even with the mechanics not being absolutely perfect all the time, when you have that torque in the way that you throw it,
when you have that power in your upper body, it doesn't really matter sometimes. So yes,
it can get better. And we're going to talk about that in segment two, like just how we can clean
some things up with his mechanics. But overall, I thought he looked much better than anticipated
coming into the year. In terms of his eyes, I think a lot of the half-field read stuff the Colts did
and a lot of the, you know, I don't want to say more generic stuff,
but a lot more of the simplistic type reads where it's like, you know,
hey, you have a bang eight behind a flat route here.
So you're really reading the one or two conflict defenders.
If this linebacker steps up to the flat,
you're going to throw the bang eight to the receiver.
If that linebacker sits back on that bang eight,
you're going to hit the flat.
I think he did a good job of reading those things really well and getting the ball out
quick and effectively. And we saw him hit on a couple of bang eights to Drew Ogletree against
the Tennessee Titans. We saw when the Colts are running a lot of four verts type stuff against
the Los Angeles Rams, he did a good job of reading the linebacker depth and attacking
the middle of the field to Drew Ogletree on a lot of those plays. So I think the eyes were good. I think the anticipation was good on some reps as well,
where he hit an outbreaking route to Michael Pittman Jr. in week one against the Jacksonville
Jaguars, which I thought the anticipation was great. There were a couple other throws where
the accuracy was maybe a little off, but where he was going with the ball and what he intended to do
with the ball was great. So I really liked a lot of the development we saw of him as a passer.
I thought even if you looked at him from the first preseason game this past offseason all the way to his last game he played in the regular season,
we saw a marketable improvement in the way that he was playing in terms of just anticipation, mechanics,
knowing where to get the ball and just control in the offense. And it really is a bummer that we didn't get to see him play for an entire season, because
imagine where that development would have been by the end of the season if he continued that
pace that he was on. But overall, I mean, if we're just looking at what we have in front of us in the
games that we could see, there was an improvement each and every week in terms of being a passer.
I mean, the way that he finished those last two games, I mean, the Rams game in the second half was some outstanding football.
I mean, that was legit top tier quarterback play in that second half of that Rams game that brought
the Colts back. And then you look at the beginning of that Titans game, he had 73 yards passing in
the first quarter, was playing some really great ball, had a really nice throw to Josh Downs down
the field on third and long. He was playing some really, really good quarterback play there in those last two games
before his unfortunate injury that knocked him out for the rest of the season.
Another thing that I want to add on top of this before we move to our second segment
is he kept the turnovers down and he kept the touchdowns high, which if you can do that as
a quarterback, that's great. I mean, I know interceptions are a little bit skewed and
I don't want to say they're not as important as what people say, but look, I'd rather have a
quarterback be aggressive and turn the ball over at times than have a quarterback who just doesn't
take chances and keeps those interception numbers down. But with Anthony Richardson, we saw a
quarterback who was pushing the ball down the field, who was getting touchdowns and was keeping
those turnovers down. And he threw a pick in the first game and he fumbled against the Rams.
But outside of that, those were his only two turnovers,
where inversely he had seven touchdowns.
Seven touchdowns in 173 snaps is just insane.
That touchdown rate obviously will drop a little bit if he plays an entire season.
But seven touchdowns in 173 snaps is some great football from a young quarterback.
So overall, I mean, if we're looking at the good for Richardson,
the mobility was as good as advertised when he was out there.
The passing I thought was much more developed than what we should,
what we could have expected.
I think he did a lot of good things with his eyes and mechanics down the
field. And again,
he kept the turnovers down and he kept the touchdowns high.
It's hard to complain about that. I mean, look, it was only what,
10 and a half quarters, 11 ish quarters that we saw of Anthony Richardson in year one. But in those 11-ish
quarters that it is, he played some really good football. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't outstanding.
It wasn't otherworldly. But you saw some really, really good football and some really, really good
moments in that film. I mean, the beginning of the Houston game, the beginning of the Tennessee game and the second half of the Rams game, I think all you
need to do is watch those, those little bits of those games, or just watch, you know, what he was
doing in that, in those moments. And you can see how good of a quarterback he can be in the NFL.
So I think the future is great with him, but we're going to talk, you know, about some areas where
going forward, we need to see a little bit more improvement or just see him take that next step on the football field for him to be the legit future quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.
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All righty, guys, we are jumping into this Anthony Richardson conversation here.
In our next segment, we're going to talk about, again, I don't really want to say the areas
that he was bad or he struggled, but just areas that need to improve going forward.
Not necessarily all on him when he was on the field, but overall, just things that need to get better with more reps.
Again, 173 snaps as a rookie is not what we expected or wanted coming into this season when he was named the starter of the Indianapolis Colts.
Obviously, you want a full season of play just to see where he's at by the end of the season. And it's hard to really gauge exactly what kind of quarterback he's going
to be after 173 snaps. We can look at the flashes and be like, okay, cool. The future is bright,
but that's all you can really do with that low amount of snaps. But number one, I think the
accuracy is still, again, better than what it could have been, but it's still a little bit of
a work in progress. We saw some, you know, passes floated high in that week one game against the Jacksonville
Jaguars. We saw spurts in that Rams game where passes were just missing the mark, not getting
to their target, not really where they exactly needed to be. Again, this is stuff that just
takes more time with mechanical work and with timing and just overall feel for the game, but
it is something
that needs to get better. I mean, look, with his athleticism, you can get by with him being a 60%
passer. But if he were to get that up to a 62, 63, 64, 65% passer, I mean, you're talking,
you know, one of the better quarterbacks in football. Look what Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson
were able to do when they were able to develop their game past being a 58% passer to being more in the mid 60s. They became MVP candidates or, you know, in Lamar
Jackson's case, a two-time MVP or a future two-time MVP once the voting comes out this year. So
Richardson can just keep getting better with the completion percentage and his overall accuracy.
I think that the sky's the limit for him as a player. I think his overall feel for the
pocket and just reading progressions needs a little bit more time and more reps on the field.
I think he's great at moving within the pocket and escaping pressure, but there is this thing
in the back of his mind that he just doesn't have yet, where it's when to kill a play, when to
escape from the pocket and run with the ball, when to escape from the pocket and keep your eyes down the field, when to feel for the rushers behind you. I think he's
better than some quarterbacks because again, we watched some Gardner Minshew this year and
sometimes that internal clock was more of a mess with Minshew than it was with Richardson.
But I do think there is that overall just innate ability to understand those situations and
understand, you know, the flow of the NFL game a little bit better when it comes to
pocket management and progression management. To go again with the progressions, I'm not going to
say the stereotypical thing that people say about young raw quarterbacks and say like,
oh, he's a first read guy or he's a two read guy because he's not. We saw a lot of really good
moments where his eyes were working on mesh concepts mesh concepts for instance he was working one two three four real quick getting to the three or the
four read and getting that ball out and and creating space for his receiver but I do think
there are some moments where he was so focused on going through those progressions where it's like
okay I need to go one two three one two three one two three I need to read my progressions here
where he was coming off one too early or he was
coming off two too early or he didn't work back to one or work back to two.
And he missed some opportunities down the field.
And, you know, I keep coming back to a lot of these Yankee concepts that the Colts are
running early in the season with Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr., where it's like
Richardson was kind of going through the motion of, OK, I look deep and then I come back to
Pittman the two.
And then once Pittman's not open, I come back to the flat as my three. That's not how that read
should go there on Yankee. The Yankee read is, let me read my, the safety back there. If that
safety is not running forward or he's, or if that safety is running forward or he's staying still,
that's when I'm taking that number one, that safety is coming up. If the safety is sitting
back, then I'm going to number two to Pittman. And then if they're playing like a deep off coverage, then I come to three.
So it shouldn't be one, two, three. It should be one, two, three. Like it should be a little
bit slower. You got to let the progression breathe a little bit. And I think that was
more of the issue with Anthony Richardson, where it was like the brain was saying,
okay, here's my progressions. One, two, three, I need to go. One, two, three.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
Let me get back to that flat because the speed is so much different in the NFL, where when you have more time and feel for the game and the speed of the NFL game,
then your brain can go again.
One, two, three.
I know you don't always have time like that,
but I just think this is a minor thing that can be cleaned up with more reps on the field.
There are some situations where you have to have that better feel for, okay,
we're taking a deeper shot here. I need to, I need to let that deeper shot breathe a little bit,
and then I can work back to two, three, four, you know, in my progression. So
that was another minor thing I had on his film there. Another one, and this is, maybe this is
just my PTSD with Carson Wentz, but chill out a
little bit on the throwing out of pressure. There were a couple moments this year where Richardson,
notoriously, I think it was the Texans game where he was getting hit by a Texans pass rusher.
I think it was actually on a Yankee concept that he passed up down the field, and he threw the
ball out of bounds with his left hand. Now, the went out of bounds, but please let's not make a habit of that. Like don't throw the ball away with your
left hand while you're being hit because it just takes one, you know, slip of the hand or anything
like that to be a fumble or an interception. There was another one against the Tennessee Titans in
that game week five where he was getting hit and he tried to throw I think he tried to throw it out of
bounds or throw a screen or something and he threw it backwards so it ended up being like a 22 yard
loss sack or something uh just moments like that where it's like look he obviously knows that sack
avoidance is a major thing for a quarterback which I love because it is I mean a sack is basically
like a turnover so you want to avoid those sacks as much as possible, but you can't do that as like, you can't, you can't be so focused on avoiding sacks that you're making
massive game changing mistakes, like potential turnovers, like just being erratic with the ball.
So there has to be that, that perfect marriage between the two things there. So I think he can
get a little better at that. I was a little scared at times when he was throwing out of sacks,
overall chemistry with the receivers on landmarks and timing, again, that comes with just more reps
on the field. There were times where it looked like Richardson was throwing an inaccurate pass,
but he was throwing it to a spot where he thought his receiver was going to be, and the receiver
took a different option or went under a defender instead of going over a defender when Richardson
went through it over the defender and something like that. Other times where the ball had a little bit too much pace on it and receivers dropped it
because they weren't anticipating that kind of pace. Those things get ironed out with time and
with more reps. I mean, we saw with CJ Stroud this year, for instance, with the Houston Texans where,
don't get me wrong, Stroud was on fire early in the season, but he took that next step after the
first like three or four weeks
when the receivers and him really got on the same page and got the right timing down
and became really comfortable with each other. So that's just another thing where again,
more reps, more reps, more reps with all these guys. We'll see a much better Anthony Richardson
in that sense there. And then the final one, man, it's just stay healthy. It's just stay healthy.
I mean, look, we can't really look at Anthony Richardson and say like, oh, the solution is never run him again because that'll
protect him where we're talking about the season in the NFL where every single quarterback got
hurt. I mean, it didn't matter if you were a pocket passer or a runner. I mean, Anthony
got hurt on two designed runs, but then you look at Aaron Rodgers got hurt in the pocket.
CJ Stroud got a concussion in the pocket.
Jimmy Garoppolo got hurt.
You know, all these guys getting hurt in the pocket.
So just keeping him in the pocket is not going to be a way to fix him from ever being hurt.
But one way that you can mitigate these injuries is looking at what like Lamar Jackson did
this year.
When Lamar Jackson got out in space on the run and on design runs, you know, the Ravens were stable,
still able to do this because Jackson did a great job of knowing when to
use his full speed.
But then when defenders were closing in,
throttle down brace,
brace for impact and get down on the ground.
That way you're not taking these massive hits.
I mean,
when you look at Richardson's two injuries,
both of them came on plays where he didn't protect himself.
I mean,
the first one he
slowed up before he got in the end zone and and fell back and hit his head the second one he tried
to fight for more yardage when he could have slid down for a two-yard gain instead of a four-yard
gain and it resulted in busting his shoulder so I think Richardson's going to do a lot of that
studying this offseason that'll be one of his most important tasks is just seeing what guys like
you know Lamar
Jackson what guys like Jalen Hurts are doing and how they throttle down before they're getting hit
to save their bodies from those massive hits down the field but that's another big thing is just
stay healthy man like all this point all these points I'm making are completely moot if he's not
on the field so he needs to stay healthy and really show that he can be the Colts quarterback
of the future here in 2024.
But coming up, we're going to continue this conversation by Anthony Rich. And we're going to talk about the future with him as the Colts QB1.
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All righty, guys, we're continuing this conversation about Indianapolis Colts quarterback of the future or hopeful quarterback of the future.
Anthony Richardson, again, coming off a really positive debut here in 2023, just needs to stay healthy and needs to improve on a couple of things. But overall, very, very promising start for the young quarterback.
But what are we expecting here for
the Indianapolis Colts going forward with him? Well, I think when you look at what he was doing
earlier in the year and what Shane Steichen had planned for him early in the season,
you could tell that the offense, for the most part, kind of had a muzzle on it, kind of had
a silencer on it or whatever, you know, whatever reference works for you guys there. The offense
was taking it slow those first couple of weeks to really acclimate him to
what they want to do.
You know, they were relying a little bit more heavy on the quarterback run game, a lot more
on one, two progressions, a lot more on RPO type reads and stuff.
And then as the games got more intense, as the game started going down the line a little
bit for him, then we saw the the
passing game plan especially really open up for Anthony Richardson again the Los Angeles Rams
game that second half a lot of uh just four verts against the Rams quarters defense a lot of uh
option routes that we were seeing run in that game a lot of full field progressions that he was doing
a really good job with and then you go to that Tennessee Titans game the week after and you saw
a lot more of the same stuff,
a lot more stuff where he's having to do a lot more at the line.
He's having to do a lot more with his progression work
and a lot more down the field.
And we were seeing great success with that,
with Anthony Richardson in those situations.
So I think it's feasible to say that the offense
was going to keep growing around Anthony Richardson
while still having that dynamic rushing threat of him running the ball or having that explosive ability of him throwing the ball
down the field and stuff like that as well. So I think there's optimism when it comes to Shane
Steichen molding this offense around Anthony Richardson. We saw with Gardner Minshew this
past season, the offense was limited at times, but it was still kind of effective because Steichen
knew what to do and he had that proper feel on how to keep the offense going despite having a limited option at
quarterback. Now when you throw a guy like Richardson back in there who has the mobility,
who has the arm strength, who has just an overall feel for the game that might be even better than
Gardner Minshew's, then I think that you are just taking this offense to another level,
regardless of what they do this offseason with more weapons
and more guys in there as well.
So I think there has to be a lot of optimism there.
Again, I understand people being concerned about the health
and being a little concerned about if Richardson can make it through a full season
because we just haven't seen it yet.
But I do think this whole offseason is going to work on being able to throttle down to
avoid those hits.
I think he's going to work on his pocket movement and when to again,
get down and avoid those big hits in the pocket as well.
And I think hopefully, I mean, hopefully again,
the NFL is such a crazy sport where it just takes one hit and you're done
for the season or done for your career even.
So you never know,
but I do think he's going to do a much better job of protecting his body
this next season.
But look, I mean, at the end of the day, Anthony Richland has the top tier mobility has the elite arm.
Uh, and he really isn't that far away as a complete passer to be one of the next best
quarterbacks in football.
He just needs the time and the reps with the offense.
But again, the flashes were great.
I mean, everything we saw from him on the field was really good flashes.
I mean, again, it's not perfect.
I'm not saying that he was out there playing like, you know, like Pat Mahomes from day one.
But you could see even in that week one game against the Jacksonville Jaguars that the Colts had something here.
Like, I don't know how any Colts fan could watch what Richardson did in those first five weeks, those four games he played in and not be optimistic right now.
What we were seeing was some really good football from a young quarterback.
And and maybe it wasn't on C.J.
Stroud's level, you know, but it was different from that.
It was mobility.
It was explosion.
It was red zone prowess where he was getting in.
He was scoring touchdowns for the Colts when they got in the red zone.
He was doing all these things at a really high level, despite, you know, still not being
there fully as a passer, as a quarterback. So I really do think that there are a lot of good things to
be excited about with Anthony Rich. And I think he fits this offense super well.
I can't wait to see him have more just chemistry with these weapons. Maybe a whole off season,
off season, which Alani Woods would be great if he's, you know, a part of the future as well,
but just developing more chemistry with Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, more of the empty personnel type stuff will be great. Alec Pierce
getting more involved in the vertical passing game. And then if they add more weapons, I mean,
look, they talked about it in the end of season press conference, Chris Fowler did, about adding
more explosion element to the offense in terms of another pass catcher. I mean, he kind of alluded
to it. He didn't really say exactly,
but I do think there's a lot of elements that can be in play here to really take this offense
to the next level with Anthony Richardson as that guy.
The next thing really is just,
he needs to take that full step,
go from flashy player who did a lot of good stuff
in 173 snaps into legit franchise starting quarterback
in 2024. But I think for
Colts fans out there, there's a lot to be hopeful here. There is really a lot to be hopeful.
Anthony Richardson seems like a great kid who did a lot of good things around Indy,
really showcased his ability on the field and off the field. It really just comes down to health.
I really think if he played this whole season, again, this is
projecting. I'm not saying anything with full certainty here, but I think that if he played
the full season, we'd be talking about him right now the same way that Packers fans are talking
about Jordan Love. Or, I mean, even to a more extent, maybe close to the same way that the
league is talking about C.J. Stroud with the Houston Texans. The starts were that good for Richardson. He played some great football, and I'm excited to see him back here
in 2024 because I really do think those couple snaps we saw this year, he was just scratching
the surface, and he can take this Colts offense and this Colts team in general to higher, higher
levels as long as he stays in the field. As long as he learns to throttle down and stay on the
field, I really do think that he can take this Colts offense
and Colts team to the next level.
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