Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson Named Starting QB

Starting point is 00:00:00 The future is now as Anthony Richardson has officially been named the Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback for 2023. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Jake Arthur of HorseshoeHuddle.com.

Starting point is 00:00:51 Riding solo today, but a big show. A lot of good things to focus on today. We're going to tackle Anthony Richardson officially being announced as the Colts QB1 for 2023. Head coach Shane Steichen announced that today. I'll also go over my notes from day 11 of Colts training camp because, oh yeah, there was a practice today. And then last, we'll just open up the floor to you guys for questions like we normally do following any practice day. So of course, let's discuss this Anthony Richardson thing. I think everyone is mostly positive on this. There's a silent sect of Twitter and things that might be pretty pro-Gardner Minshew.

Starting point is 00:01:34 But not to toot my own horn, but as someone who has watched every single snap he's taken in training camp so far in the preseason, I think it was time. I think this was only inevitable at this point. He's just – it felt like a waste of time to keep giving Gardner Minshew the first-team reps when there wasn't some big difference in production from them. In fact, Anthony Richardson has moved the offense a bit better from what I would say.

Starting point is 00:02:05 It broadens the playbook quite a bit from what Shane Steichen can do. You've been hearing us, especially Zach, chirp for months about maximizing Shane Steichen's playbook. You've got to have that mobile quarterback. You've got to have a guy with the arm that can make all the throws. And Anthony has really shown himself to do that. Something I've been particularly impressed with, you can look at a few practices now in the preseason game where things weren't

Starting point is 00:02:31 really scripted. Plays were being called per play, you know, at the line of scrimmage during 11 on 11s and 7 on 7s. To me, that's when Anthony has honestly looked his best. You know, we saw in the preseason game he had that ugly interception which pretty much there's there's fault to be shared between Anthony Isaiah McKenzie and Alec Pierce luckily everyone involved including Shane Steichen kind of took credit for that interception it wasn't really a bad throw it's more of a poor decision and a lack of execution on everyone's part. Stuff like that is correctable. And we saw Anthony get better throughout that game.

Starting point is 00:03:16 If not for some miscues around him, not that he was perfect throughout, but if not for some miscues around him and his three drives, the Colts really should have scored about 10 points. You know, they had a hundred points or had 100 yards of offense in that first quarter. Things just looked really, really good with Anthony. And for the most part, that's really how it's been throughout training camp. You know, with Gardner Minshew, you're really looking at a veteran quarterback that takes what the defense gives him, and most of that is within 5 to 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. It's a lot of dinking and dunking, not a lot of progressing down the field.

Starting point is 00:03:48 Like everyone's seen kind of boring offenses run by game managing quarterbacks. And that's perfectly fine to get you by for a few games when your starters hurt. But we were never going to see the full offense under Shane Steichen without Richardson being the guy. And we finally know that that's the case now. And Steichen essentially said that they've seen enough in their evaluation, especially after the game against Buffalo. The moment is not too big for him. There's a lot of different things they can throw at him. And even if he messes it up, he will correct it or he's obsessed with getting better and getting everything down. So you've, you've got a guy with all the physical

Starting point is 00:04:30 talent in the world, but also an obsessive attitude about being better too. And like guys like that, you just have to get them on the field. And they've been saying from day one, literally since the night they drafted him,, 13 starts in college, but the only way to get those guys up to speed and develop them is to play them. So we know that's not really going to be an issue anymore. I also like the timing of this. You know, we're obviously a few weeks out from week one of the regular season. They've pretty much installed the vast majority of the base offense, right? But now knowing who their starting quarterback is going to be,

Starting point is 00:05:12 they can completely tailor it to Richardson. They don't have to get it ready for Gardner Minshew and then, oh yeah, we'll throw in these wrinkles as Anthony becomes the starter. No, they can fully implement the offense now. With that said, they're not going to throw everything in anthony right away like they're they're still going to simplify things and then as he masters those things then they'll add more to his plate uh that's been the plan all along which is a really good plan and yes there's going to be growing pains there's going to be bumps in the road but i can i can almost promise you from what I've seen you know the the means justify the end like the the potential for this offense to be really really good this has to

Starting point is 00:05:53 happen at this time um it was just going to be wasted time otherwise it was going to be Anthony not getting reps that he needed um because mixing him in with the first and second team, yeah, he would get reps with like Michael Pittman and Alec Pearson, guys like that every other day. But if he was going to be the starter eventually full-time, you need to get him as many reps with those guys as possible, especially with that offensive line as well because these guys really need to learn how to block on the move and block for a guy that can get outside and buy time.

Starting point is 00:06:26 That's really important. That was mentioned on the broadcast. We saw that against the Bills, you know, some holding penalties and guys just not in the right spots as blockers because they're really not accustomed to blocking for a quarterback like that. So the blockers have to learn Anthony's tendencies all the same as well. So a couple more things to look at with this. How much playing time does Anthony get in these final two preseason games? The biggest X factor in all that is Wednesday and Thursday, the Colts have joint practices against the Chicago Bears,

Starting point is 00:07:13 and then the two teams will have their preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday. So how much playing time does he get? As from a Colts perspective and really any NFL team, they really, really value these joint practices because it allows them to get a little more exotic. Everything offensively and defensively in preseason games as we know is very vanilla not a lot of game planning and wrinkling going into it but that is not necessarily the case in these joint practices uh coaches from both sides discuss what they would like to get out of it ahead of time uh so that's going to be really good especially for anthony's development uh so with that said with two joint practices and back-to-back days, I don't know how much Anthony will play on Saturday in the game. I'm going to imagine at least a drive or two. I don't know that it'll be a whole quarter like it was last week against the Bills, but I think you definitely want to get him at least a drive in each of these

Starting point is 00:08:03 three games. So a drive or two, just get him back in there, get him hit again. Not hard, of course, but that's how especially runners really get in the groove. And it gets quarterbacks used to throwing in the pocket and standing tall in the pocket and delivering strikes with pressure bearing down. So obviously something really strong to take into consideration. And then when you look at the Colts early season schedule, there's some exciting matchups here. You have the Jaguars at home in week one.

Starting point is 00:08:31 Obviously that's always, it's at home against the Jags, so you know it's winnable, but the Jaguars are actually good again, you know, reigning AFC South champions. The Texans in week two looks pretty likely that that could be Anthony Richardson versus CJ Stroud, which could be a really exciting matchup, a sign of the future. That's two rookies who could be battling it out in this division for 10-plus years.

Starting point is 00:08:56 And then at the Ravens in week three, so you have Anthony Richardson and Lamar Jackson on the field at either time all throughout the game. That could be really, really exciting. I think that one is going to be must watch TV because you have Lamar Jackson, who everyone knows is basically the closest thing to Michael Vick that we've seen since Vick. And then you've got Anthony Richardson, who is perhaps the closest thing to Cam Newton that we've seen since then. So that could be really, really entertaining. But next up, I will catch you guys up on what I saw out there on the field

Starting point is 00:09:31 for day 11 of training camp. But first, we're going to talk to you about our friends over at eBay Motors. Our partners at eBay Motors have teamed up with Locked On Fantasy Football host Vinny Iyer to bring you guys some of the best fantasy picks each week, all season long. You know, right now, let's see, we're a few weeks out from this season, so things are really going to start to heat up. Whether you're just now prepping for your draft, scouting the waiver wire, every week they're going to be bringing you players that are guaranteed to fit onto your roster.

Starting point is 00:10:02 So with draft prep underway for the upcoming season, let's see who Vinny has picked out for us on this week's eBay Guaranteed Fit Fantasy Picks of the Week. If you're looking for a safe quarterback to take as a starter late after you wait on the position, then you can ride with the Seahawks' Geno Smith, who was the biggest surprise fantasy quarterback last season as he took over for Russell Wilson. Smith took advantage of a great system under Shane Waldron and was a perfect fit alongside guys like DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Starting point is 00:10:34 Now he's back with Waldron. He's back with Metcalf. And he's got Jackson Smith and Jigba with him now, too. And he's an established option now. So really no wrong way to go about that. When you're looking at late round quarterbacks, Vinny from locked on fantasy football is going to give you guys help to win your fantasy championships. And eBay motors knows that a championship team is about each player being a perfect fit, which is the same for your vehicle

Starting point is 00:11:00 with eBay guaranteed fit and over 122 million parts and accessories for your vehicle. With eBay Guaranteed Fit and over 122 million parts and accessories for your vehicle right at your fingertips, you can make sure that your ride stays running smoothly. Air filters, brakes, batteries, taillights, alternators, shocks, struts, you name it, eBay Motors has got it. And they'll make sure that it's the right fit for your car because eBay Guaranteed Fit helps you understand exactly what part you need for your vehicle the first time. So go forth, switch gears, crank the AC, and say goodbye to sweating if your ride needs a little fixing up because now you know that you'll always be set up for success from the get-go. With eBay Guaranteed Fit, everything your vehicle is calling for is just a click away. For the parts and accessories that fit your vehicle just look for the green check get the right parts the right fit and the right prices at ebaymotors.com let's ride ebay guaranteed

Starting point is 00:11:51 fit only available to u.s customers eligible items only exclusions apply pardon me for a quick coffee break okay so every day is obviously you know, we've been tackling training camp post every practice. Training camp is almost up. Wednesday and Thursday, they have two night practices. That's the joint practices against the Chicago Bears. And then on Saturday, of course, the Bears will be at Lucas Oil Stadium for week two of the preseason. We'll have all that for you. Also, I'll kind of give you guys a special announcement here at the end of the show as well, pertaining to a pregame show. So moving on to today, day 11 of training camp. I kind of figured it would be kind of a low-impact practice today. You know, they just had their game on Saturday. This is the first practice since then. And then plus, you know, these next two days,

Starting point is 00:12:48 they have joint practices with the Bears. They were out of pads, but honestly, the offense was pretty up-tempo. There were some guys out with injuries. You know, in this instance, they're probably going to hold out more guys than normal, just because you want them ready for the joint practices. You want them ready for the preseason game. But some of the biggies, DeForest Buckner remained out. Braden Smith remained out.

Starting point is 00:13:08 He's got a knee thing. He's been out since before the preseason game. Most of the tight ends were out. Mo Alleycox and Drew Ogletree and Jelani Woods are all still out. Will Mallory returned. Kylan Granson was still out there. They did get some pretty decent names back. The secondary got a huge jump.

Starting point is 00:13:30 Julian Blackman was back. Rodney Thomas was back. Kenny Moore was back. So your two starting safeties in your nickel all returning. That's pretty big news. So we'll start with the offensive side of the ball. As I mentioned, the tempo was really good today with Richardson. This was basically day one at the office of him officially being the quarterback,

Starting point is 00:13:50 the starting quarterback. There's a lot of weight that kind of gets taken off your shoulders there because you know you don't have to win the competition. Like it's now yours. You can just kind of focus on the task at hand each day. So all the plays were unscripted. Shane Steichen, you know, was, was calling things in between plays, adjusting to what the defense was giving them. That obviously puts you in a more realistic game situation like, like Richardson will be in. You guys have probably seen on Twitter already that Anthony Richardson and Alec Pierce had a nice touchdown connection. The Colts tweeted that out earlier from their account. It was about a 20-yard post-route during 11-on-11s. I think it's kind of a sign of things to come. Richardson has been looking Pierce's way a lot downfield lately, and I just think they're getting some real growing chemistry. We've talked

Starting point is 00:14:44 about on here, Michael Pittman is probably still going to lead the team in receptions. And that's been evident because Richardson looks his way around the sticks and those intermediate shots a lot. But I really wouldn't be surprised if Pierce leads in receiving yards and touchdowns. Richardson is just a lot more aggressive going downfield. And it seems like he looks Pierce's way downfield like for touchdown shots at least once each practice. And it's lightning has struck a few times so far.

Starting point is 00:15:14 So that's definitely one to keep an eye on. Josh Downs was with the first unit today as the slot receiver through pretty much every practice up to now. It's been Isaiah McKenzie has been like the primary slot receiver with the first unit today as the slot receiver through pretty much every practice up to now. It's been Isaiah McKenzie has been like the primary slot receiver with the first team. It was Josh Downs today. I thought he had a really good game on Saturday against the Bills, two catches, 29 yards, but he didn't just look like the typical chain moving slot receiver. He did have one little quick, quick shot, but the other one was, was a chunk play

Starting point is 00:15:45 downfield. So I think that's, you know, that's something good that they did. Now I asked Shane Steichen after practice, if, you know, Richardson being injected in the first team, Josh Downs being with the first team, if that was rewarding their performances for Saturday, or if it was just, you know, part of the rotation and And Richardson obviously already addressed he's the new starting quarterback, but Downs said it's just part of a rotation, which it really hasn't been a rotation that much to this point. So we'll see. I don't think it's too ironic that Josh Downs goes into the first unit

Starting point is 00:16:21 on the same day that Richardson begins as the team's starting quarterback. So we'll keep an eye on that. I've been ready for Downs to be the starting slot for a little bit now because it just looks different. It looks smoother and it looks more effective than when McKenzie's not in there. It's nothing against McKenzie. I just think Downs really, really looks the part. McKenzie is a great fourth or fifth option to have in the receiving game. So we'll keep an eye on that one as well.

Starting point is 00:16:48 On the defensive side of the ball, it's pretty evident Gus Bradley and Nate Olley are trying to figure out what they've got on the defensive line outside of your starting four. There was a lot of guys rotating in and out today. Jannard Avery was coming in a lot. Dario Odengbo and Tyquan Lewis were moved around a bit, put inside. With DeForest Buckner being out, it's really given them an opportunity to mess with things a little bit.

Starting point is 00:17:14 We've seen pretty much everybody line up alongside Grover Stewart. Taven Bryan has been a common fixture lately. McTelvin Aguim has been the best one. For my money, he should be the third defensive tackle. He's looked the best in camp.

Starting point is 00:17:32 Adetome Adebore has been out there as well. They're just kind of – they're getting everybody involved. Eric Johnson, there really was no – there really was no pattern to it today. Just guys were flying in and out. So they're still kind of trying to figure that out. No clue how many they're eventually going to keep. They're at least giving everybody a shot to run with the ones to see how it looks. And then in the secondary with Julian Blackman coming back, who's been out all of training camp with a hamstring injury and Rodney Thomas coming back after missing a few practices with a toe. They both appear to be on pitch counts today because Nick Cross continued to get some reps in there with Julian and then with Rodney,

Starting point is 00:18:16 but they all three weren't out there simultaneously. So do they want to keep getting Nick Cross involved even with everybody healthy? I definitely think so. As much as this seemed to be, you know, keeping those guys who have been banged up on a pitch count, I definitely think it could be something that's a sign of things to come. They've just got to get Cross involved. They've said the same thing about EJ Speed. You know, he's pretty much relegated to the Sam auto role now that Shaquille Leonard is back, but he's just a playmaker and they want to get him out there because they don't run a lot of three linebacker sets, which is the base defense.

Starting point is 00:18:54 They, of course, are not going to run a lot of three safety sets. There's things they can do to get exotic and what they want to do in passing situations and running situations, what have you. They'll figure it out. But yeah, moving on, I'm going to take some of your guys' questions. So if you've got some, go ahead and let those fly in and then we will wrap things up here in a few. Okay, so we'll go ahead and start here with kevin hester i said do you think the playbook will open up a bit more for this next preseason game against the bears uh so the quick answer is for the game no for the two joint practices yes uh because they're not going to want to show a bunch of stuff on you know on a television broadcast that everyone can see. That's why teams in general are very vanilla during the preseason.

Starting point is 00:19:47 Plus, since it's more about evaluating players, they don't want to get super exotic with it. So they will probably get a little more funky with it during these practices, but not in the game. Let's see. Oh, I like this one. Any chance Amari Rogers makes the cut? This is a good one because, you know, wide receiver six seems to be pretty wide open. You've got McKenzie and Doolin who are, you know, kind of the bottom of what you might consider the locks. But then is it Mike Strong, Amari Rogers, Juwan Winfrey, Vincent smith rashad perriman amari rogers has come in and looked nothing but good

Starting point is 00:20:26 i'll be completely honest with you he's had a pretty good training camp in like the week and a half or two that he's been here uh he's caught pretty much everything that i've seen he's made at least two or three really skilled catches uh i think as long as you maybe keep him as a depth receiver and special teams guy and you're not relying on him as a return specialist, that's probably when he's safest. Cause the biggest issues he's had in the NFL are fumbles on the kick and punt teams. So if you keep him out of that role and just as a depth receiver and like

Starting point is 00:20:59 special teams coverage guy, I think that's probably a better way to go for him, but he's, he's looked good so far. He's earned it. And then Colton Shipley, why was Richardson named the starter now when Shane was noncommittal after the Bills? Just to kind of put it plainly, you can't ask coaches super specific things right after games because they have to always review the film and everything plus when there's like a big change like this where you're naming a starting quarterback you have to you have to you know inform all the parties involved so they had to tell anthony

Starting point is 00:21:35 uh tell gardner you know they they wanted to move forward the probably let the team know uh so they probably just were not prepared to make a decision yet. Also, you know, Anthony's had like three, including the game, he's had like three or four practices where he's been the first team quarterback. If you were to come out there Wednesday and been with the first team, the very first question we would have asked Shane after was, is Anthony your starting quarterback? After having seen so many first team reps consecutively, he would have had to answer that question again. So I think they were also just kind of getting that out of the way. Let's see. Techno Gamer, one of the everydayers. Thank you. Who do you think is going to benefit the most from the joint practices and which players on

Starting point is 00:22:21 the Bears or the Eagles would help the most with that. So just from the past few years, some of the biggest jumps I've noticed in joint practices are from the offensive and defensive linemen. It was very telling last year when the Lions came into town. Their defensive line just dominated the Colts offensive line up front. And you could see issues with the offensive line throughout camp leading up to that but it was kind of a let's wait till the preseason let's wait till the joint practices and they're going against a different team and then a different team came in and just whooped them I don't have those same concerns this year I think the Colts offensive line is going to be a bit steadier, not that they

Starting point is 00:23:05 won't have their leaks occasionally. But like everyone seems to say, I think it's going to look closer to 2021 than 2022. So the offensive and defensive lines is definitely what I'm going to be keeping an eye on there. We've also seen some depth defensive linemen that have really really stepped up especially in one-on-ones like um there was that there was a depth defensive tackle i i of course can't remember his name now but eric johnson really seemed to turn a corner last summer as well so i think we'll finally start to get some definition in the depth of the defensive line uh with these drills here uh let's see what else we got oh so i kind of touched on this already uh but is alec pierce the wide receiver one on this team

Starting point is 00:23:58 um so i'm gonna say that things are getting i'm'm not going to say Pierce is number one. I think it's still Pittman. I think he's the top target, but I think it's getting closer. Like the last couple of years, it's been Michael Pittman is the wide receiver one and everybody else way down here. I think we're getting a lot closer to being Pittman is the top target. And then Pierce is going to have a real heavy role, especially with the Titans being constantly banged up right now. It's limiting the amount of primary pass catchers that you've got out there.

Starting point is 00:24:29 Again, I think Pittman is probably going to be the leading receiver with his 90 or so catches, but I really wouldn't be surprised. I know Zach would say the exact same thing if Pierce winds up leading the team in receiving yards and touchdowns and or touchdowns. Pierce is just clearly the biggest part of the vertical passing game right now. And it's got a pretty decent hit rate through practice. I know he had that drop against the Bills, but they're going to keep going to him on that. They tried it again today with that same player, just kind of a poor throw by Richardson today in practice.

Starting point is 00:25:08 But they'll get that stuff down. They're going to keep trying. So I like that question because it's a good question compared to the last couple of years when Pittman was so far and away the top target. Let's see what else we got, guys. Keep your questions coming in. Ooh, okay. I've actually been asked about this one a little bit lately. Justin Draper, Arlington Hambright was one of the highest graded offensive linemen from the preseason game. Any chance they will look at him at guard? Okay. So the reason he's been,

Starting point is 00:25:40 he's been the second team left tackle throughout camp with the exception of like the first or second day he actually started out as the second team left guard uh initially and jake witt was the left tackle jake witt suffered a hip injury that landed him on ir and ever since hambright has been the second team left tackle um i think they'll continue to like the plan will be for him to come into the season as long as he makes it, which I think he will. I think he'll be the second team left tackle going into the season, but he'll be an option to play a guard if they need it. I still definitely think they're trying to figure things out there. They've cross-trained Danny Pinter and Wesley French at center and guard like almost every other day. But Hambright is someone that factors into that as well.

Starting point is 00:26:32 Those are three depth offensive linemen that I think probably have the best chance to make it so far. Obviously, Blake Freeland as well. That one seems like kind of a layup. But Hambright's a name that is not mentioned a lot, but I don't want to say he's a shoo-in for the roster, but I think he's got a really, really good shot at it. I've talked to people who I think know Ball pretty well as well, and they seem to think so too. So he's put out some good preseason tape. He's looked good in

Starting point is 00:27:01 camp. The Colts obviously have liked him enough to be the second team left tackle throughout. Because, I mean, if, God forbid, something happens to Bernard Ryman, is it Hambright that comes out there? It just might be. We'll see. So I think that is it for us today, everybody. Thank you very much for coming in and hearing me yak at you for a while. So every day, of course, remember joint practices, Wednesday and Thursday,

Starting point is 00:27:27 Zach and I will be with you even at nighttime, late at night, coming at you to tell you all about that and let you know how things went. I will be out there, you know, I'll put out some videos of coaches and players speaking after as well. And then there's the game on Saturday. That's an evening game. Something pretty exciting that's come up for this season. So before every home game there near Lucas Oil Stadium, if you guys have been to the bar, Nevermore at Union Station, I'm actually going to be hosting a pregame show there before every home game. It'll be usually two hours to one hour before the game. So I have the chance to wrap up and get to the stadium. And for all of you that will go to the games as well. But it's going to be a really fun thing. They've got you know,

Starting point is 00:28:15 if you go buy a ticket, it'll cover all you can eat buffet and open bar. They've got a ton of games there. They've got a really, really cool setup. Back when I was bar hopping, when I was in my younger twenties, I wish this place was open because I would have been going there all the time. If you haven't been to Nevermore yet, check it out, go there, but definitely go and hang out with me before every home game throughout the season that starts this Saturday. So I'll link all that stuff into the show notes and everything. So please definitely check that out. You won't regret it.

Starting point is 00:28:51 It's going to be an awesome time. I'm really looking forward to it. Other than that, if you guys don't already, follow at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 on Twitter. Also be sure to subscribe to LockedOnC Colts on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts. We love your ratings and reviews as well. Our latest one was not a nice

Starting point is 00:29:09 one, so if you guys want to go in there and flush it out with maximum star reviews and leave us nice comments, we would love that out. Love that because the goods always got outweigh the bad, right? But with that, we will see you guys after tomorrow's

Starting point is 00:29:25 joint practice with the Chicago Bears.

Your Ad Here

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson Named Starting QB

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.