Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson Taking Massive Strides Since Return From Benching

Starting point is 00:00:01 Anthony Richardson has taken major strides since his benching earlier this season, but is it enough to be the franchise quarterback? 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. Thank you all 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. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your favorite

Starting point is 00:00:45 film nerd over at horseshoehuddle.com. And I'm joined this Monday, as always, by my friend Ben Boris at Colts Film Room. You guys know him. You love him. Your second favorite nerd in the Colts community here. Ben is joining me today because we have a really fun show. We're going to talk all about what we need to see from Anthony Richardson this final month of the season. We're also going to talk about some areas that we still want to see some improvement. But as always, we like to talk with rose-colored glasses, with the fan goggles on to start off the show. So Ben and I are going to discuss where we've seen the biggest improvement

Starting point is 00:01:19 from Anthony Richardson since this benching. So Ben, before we really dive into the nitty gritty details of it, three weeks of Anthony Richardson since coming back from the benching, two game winning drives, two fourth quarter comebacks. For proper reference, I think he's tied with Pat Mahomes this season for game winning drives this year with three. I think the Miami game had a game winning drive in there. So three game winning drives this year, two fourth quarter comebacks in the past three weeks.

Starting point is 00:01:48 Regardless of the other things with Anthony Richardson, that clutch gene that is just so hard to measure, man. I think we can officially say he's got that because he really plays his best ball in the fourth quarter. Yeah, I think when you look at it, I think that's something he's actually had from the beginning, whether it's resulted in a necessarily a win or a loss. I think he's always had that. When you talk about the Jacksonville game, literally his first ever start. I mean, he was carrying the team on his back until he got taken out for Gardner Mitchell in the final two plays of that game. You talk about the Rams game, didn't necessarily result in a win. He brought them all the way back in that capacity.

Starting point is 00:02:29 Week one Houston game, if C.J. Stroud doesn't make some ridiculous throw on the sidelines to Nico Collins, that's probably a win for Indianapolis with the way that he played in the back half of those games. And then obviously the Jets and the Patriots. It's just something that we've seen. He plays his best ball when it matters the most. And that's ultimately what's the most important because when you get into beating Josh Allen,

Starting point is 00:02:53 beating Patrick Mahomes, beating Lamar Jackson, it all comes down to can you make these plays when it matters the most in the most critical points in the game because the chances are that you're going to catch those teams that are that good on an off day and blow them out it just isn't realistic um so it all comes down to when you make those plays when they matter the most and he's he's learned to do that yeah yeah and for sure and and i think we have seen some major improvements even the statistics have not been like major improvements overall, aside from the clutch gene. Again, the clutch gene has always kind of been there.

Starting point is 00:03:27 But aside from that, just talking about his play since the bench, since coming back from the benching, we've seen some decent improvements. Two areas I think have been really cool improvements are his pressure to sack rate has gone from 16%, which is really solid to 5.6% in these past three games, which is by far and away the best in the NFL. His time to throw is dropping. So from three seconds, but prior to the benching down to 2.8, ball's getting out a little bit quicker.

Starting point is 00:03:53 We like to see that with him. And it's led to better results on the field. Two interesting things I wanted to bring up to you though, Ben, here. And so we're going to talk stats here first, and then we'll talk about like just our vibes from watching film. But Richardson early in the season according to pro football focus was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league when it came to throwing the ball when kept clean in the pocket he had two touchdowns of five interceptions when kept clean in this three

Starting point is 00:04:19 game stretch we're seeing right now he is their top graded quarterback when kept clean. And then also on non-play action throws, non-play action throws earlier this season, he was one touchdown to four interceptions. On non-play action throws these last couple of weeks, he has three touchdowns to one interception. So we're seeing a quarterback who early in the year was struggling in the areas where other quarterbacks always succeed. I mean, quarterbacks are supposed to succeed when you have standard drop back throws and when you're kept clean in the pocket. But that's where Richardson was really struggling earlier this year. Now we're seeing a guy who, if you keep him clean, there's a chance he's going to shred your defense. He's getting the ball out quick. He's getting it out confidently. He's delivering big time throws, six big time

Starting point is 00:05:01 throws on non-play action the last three weeks. only had seven and his earlier starts this season uh so i think we're seeing growth in those two major areas where like early in the season he was kind of a play action merchant at times for lack of a better term he was feasting on play action but struggling on non-play action now it's kind of the inverse and honestly that's almost better you know for quarterback. If you can succeed in the natural dropbacks, that's great. I think that that's been the most noticeable improvement since the benching is actually how he performs on all the concepts that are like day one install stuff. The way that he can, whether it's concepts like mesh, I'm thinking to the one in AD Mitchell versus the Jets,

Starting point is 00:05:44 like that's when he sails um a couple speed outs that he's hit uh just on both stick or or some sort of uh rpo or triple option type thing that they got going on so like it's these basic standard quick game drop back throws that he's making and that's what can help you Like I'm a big proponent of quick game. Now, I don't think your offense can be entirely quick game, obviously, but I think it's really nice to get you in a rhythm, set stuff up later in the game and almost be an extension of your run game with moving the chains and generating efficiency for your quarterback and giving them quick and easy throws. Andy Richardson was struggling with throws like that, so they had to call these vertical

Starting point is 00:06:27 shots down the field with guys like Alec Pierce who could make that all work. That's what's going to inevitably make things a lot better when you can start to work some of these quick game stuff with the run game with the Jonathan Taylor run game and we can do it all consistently that's when you start to really open things up yeah and then going aside from the stats like we those are the stats right there he's been better in those areas and I think it shows in the games but just talking about like just the film you know for guys like us film nerds things that we're watching I think mechanically he's been a lot better these past couple weeks not perfect still still a lot of ways to improve when it comes to his mechanics,

Starting point is 00:07:09 but I think his base has been a lot better and he's been better at getting that hip rotation on his throws and really just ripping these throws when they're there. Especially, again, when kept clean and when he's on that first read, he is just letting it rip and it's been a lot more accurate. We are seeing in recent weeks, there've been like a couple of balls that he sailed, but when you compare it to earlier this season, where it felt like one in every three passes was going over someone's head, we've seen maybe what five, six passes that he's like truly sailed in these past three weeks. That's a massive, massive improvement compared to where he was.

Starting point is 00:07:46 I think his ability as a runner has been much better in recent weeks. He had the one, you know, fumble scare against the Lions late in the game when he was doing too much. But besides that, he's been holding on to the ball. He's been effective in the red zone. The Colts third down offense, like third and short. I mean, guys, early in the season, the Colts third down offense with Anthony Richardson was by far and away the worst third down offense in the league. It was utterly atrocious. Now, every time they get under third and like third and five, I'm feeling pretty good. It's dangerous. We even saw in this past game, I mean, on the final drive, they converted three fourth downs, fourth and shorts to keep the drive going. They converted third on the final drive, they converted three fourth downs, fourth and shorts to keep the

Starting point is 00:08:25 drive going. They converted third downs on that drive. Prior to the final drive, any third down that was less than eight yards, they converted in that game. They were converting a lot of their gimme opportunities, which is great because they weren't doing that early in the season. So we are seeing a quarterback who's getting better on third downs. He's being more accurate in general, being more decisive, getting to that first read and getting the ball out of his hands. Again, the time to throw stuff is dropping. So I am seeing good positive steps in a lot of areas on film. Like, Hey, he's recognizing these concepts better. He is working better with his mechanics. He is setting a strong foundation and strong base when he is throwing compared to

Starting point is 00:09:04 some of the earlier season stuff when he was really sailing stuff so yes it's not a finished product product and we're going to talk about that in the next segment but i am seeing the strides i expected to see from week one of this season like this is what i thought we were going to see from richardson to start this season it took a little bit while to get here but we are seeing those strides that we kind of expected. Yeah, and the last thing I want to add, too, is because I agree with all that, is like right now we are seeing in these past three weeks or whatever it's been the most diverse quarterback run game in the league right now. Definitely right now, definitely right now, maybe you could probably compare it to like Greg Roman Lamar or like Cam Newton, where like we're at a point where we see, I mean, off the top of my head, zone read, zone read, escort, QB, pin and pull, power read, bash GT, quarterback G lead. Like you're seeing pretty much any run scheme you can think of. They've added it with Anthony Richardson as the running back.

Starting point is 00:10:09 And it's, it's really tough to stop and it's almost impossible to stop near the goal line. And I think that's where we're starting to see this really come into fruition. I'm really excited as I think you are too, is what Shane Steichen can potentially add some wrinkles now at getting a chance to self-scout at the bye week so that's one thing that I've been really impressed with a clear

Starting point is 00:10:29 now there's some things that they need to clean up in that area as well but like uh that's something that I've noticed has been a lot of difference in terms of just opening everything up for him to be dynamic as a runner yeah and they're really leaning into that too which is great they're providing that high floor offense where early in the season, they were just naturally getting to that high floor offense because of those traits, but now they're leaning into that high floor offense. So as long as the run game can take another step from where it was in this game and go from workable again to even better, then I think this Colts offense can really click in this final month of the season, but enough of the rose colored glasses, enough of the positivity.

Starting point is 00:11:06 We're going to talk about where Anthony Richardson still needs to take some strides. There are still some concerns on his film. We're not going to be super nitpicky here, but we are going to talk about where this young quarterback can go next with his development in our upcoming segment. But first, Locked On Colts fans. If you're like me and your holiday shopping list is, let's just say far from complete,

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Starting point is 00:14:05 All right, Locked on. All right. Locked on Colts every day as we are back with Ben Boris at Colts Film where we're talking Anthony Richardson. And we got all the positives out of the way in the first segment there, Ben. We could have honestly kept going. We could have done a whole show on the positives, but we like to be realist here. We like to be objective in how we talk about Anthony Richardson.

Starting point is 00:14:23 And while I'm still impressed with a lot of the strides he's made this season, there are still some areas I'd like to see more improvement from this young quarterback. In particular, look guys, I love explosive offensive football. I love the vertical passing game more than anybody else. Like I am fine with 20% of your passes being a vertical passing game. Like I like to operate on that vertical plane but Anthony Richardson is still operating at like a 40% rate down the field he is still uh gonna break records for average depth of target for intended air yards per attempt I mean this is not sustainable quarterback play unless you have the greatest rushing attack in league history, which the Colts don't right now.

Starting point is 00:15:07 Like if you have some dominant running game that can supplant your short game, then all your passes can be vertical shot plays because you have such a great rushing attack. But if you don't have that, you have to have some semblance of a quick passing game. I think the Colts have been very good in recent weeks of giving him short passing concepts where the only thing he can do is throw it short, like the wide receiver screens we've seen in recent weeks, like more RPO coming back in the offense in recent weeks, like some of these mesh concepts. But Anthony Richardson, when in doubt, will look vertically down the field. And it's such an opposite thing that we see from other quarterbacks where it's like, when in doubt, let me get down to my check down, get to my running back, get to my tight end underneath,

Starting point is 00:15:52 and we'll get to tight ends, I'm sure, at some point today too. But it's such a weird thought process that like, when in doubt, let me get as vertical down the field and throw it down that way. I do think eventually he needs to work the check down into his offense because teams are just going to keep sitting 20 yards back on every passing concept. And he's got to eventually reconcile with the fact that the check down is a real option. These guys can run after the catch, Anthony. I promise some of them can.

Starting point is 00:16:20 Not all of them can. Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I think one particularly comes to mind. It was the pass interference on Michael Pittman. The Colts love to throw. One of the things I learned from watching this film is the Colts really love to throw into the sun. That's what they were doing a lot. The out and up to Kyle and Granson.

Starting point is 00:16:41 There were some – they really like to attack that son um uh that play in particular if you remember it uh they had to buy carrying michael pitman as the three vertical up the field which you like because uh for those at home so basically when you off play action the linebacker is going to turn around in what you would call robot, which means you're going to look to cut the crosser. Michael Pittman's coming across on a crossing concept, and the linebacker is basically running with his eyes turned to the quarterback so he can only cover the width of his shoulders as he's running towards that ball.

Starting point is 00:17:22 That being said, he was running pretty pretty fast uh and that window closed pretty quickly on michael pitman now they got bailed out by the defensive pass interference but on that play call mo alley cox is sitting with nobody 10 yards around him on second and six with 11 minutes in the second quarter i think or something it was and it wasn't like some sort of critical situation and i'm thinking to myself one two check down and i think a lot of the times with anthony richardson and this is a credit to shane steichen in a lot of ways that first read is often open and when that first read isn't open it turns into scramble drill and sometimes it doesn't necessarily have to uh and that's you know something that i think will come with time

Starting point is 00:18:05 obviously learning to play out some of these concepts Anthony Richardson has the arm where you can't really like he can out throw the coverage so a lot of the times he'll be late later on throws because he knows he has the arm to make up for it like where you would it the timing doesn't necessarily add up um but I agree that taking those kind of easy completions when they're there, just move the chains. It'll eventually open up, but you have to put the defender in some sort of conflict because right now you're seeing guys like quarters defenders like dang near 20 yards off.

Starting point is 00:18:40 And it's like eventually people are just going to beg you to take those easy throws. Yeah. Like, I don't want you to be like what Drake May was doing this past weekend, where it was only the check down, only short. Like, Anthony, be you, buddy. Like, we love it. We love it. Keep ripping the ball down the field. Look, for all these deep shots we complained about, there was like four that hit off receivers' hands that should have been big catches.

Starting point is 00:19:01 Like, keep doing it, man. But, like, let's not force everything. There are some times we can hit the check down and and get some things going so i think that's a big thing with him um something i really want to get your your thought process on is we hear the phrase a lot with young quarterbacks like the game is slowing down for them the game is slowed down for them they're at the point where they kind of they can kind of see everything that's happening before it happens. And while I think the game is getting a little bit slower for Anthony, I still don't think it's fully slowed down for him.

Starting point is 00:19:33 I still think, especially in the pocket, some of the spatial awareness is still not fully there. There are still times where he doesn't recognize how close defenders are, doesn't recognize the space with defenders close to receivers down the field and doesn't anticipate maybe as well as you'd like. Not to say that it's not getting there, but I do think the game has not slowed down for him. And I do think there are going to be some rough patches until the game does slow down. What do you think on that then? Yeah, I definitely agree. I actually really agree with you because I think about the first interception, and obviously the linebacker makes a really, really good play. I'm talking about the tip ball.

Starting point is 00:20:07 Yeah. But I think you can also watch that play and be like, yes, the linebacker makes a great play. That was an awful decision from Anthony Richardson, which I don't think he necessarily makes all the time in terms of bad decisions. But I'm looking at that as an empty concept, and the Patriots are playing cover three, which you don't typically see to empty because you want to have –

Starting point is 00:20:27 you want to be – as a defense, you want to have plus one. So three on two, four on three. Anthony Richardson is working the boundary side concept, which maybe – and I want to address that this is – the caveat is that I don't know what they're teaching in the room because I'm not there. But he's working the side that's three on two. And, yes, I think it's Tavai again. Makes a nice play, like, looking like he's going to match A.D. Mitchell

Starting point is 00:20:52 to the flat and then bails to the weak hook. But even then, it's three on two, and it was never really going to be there. So, like, even if he had gone to match, you still had that safety that had rotated down. So that's one you would love to work the three-on-three side. So I do think that we're at a point now where, like, just because he's made some significant, significant progress in some of the easy things of quarterbacking, this is still a dude who hasn't played a lot of football and has played –

Starting point is 00:21:24 he basically doubled his college total. I think today in the NFL is that what's happened? He had 13 starts. This might've been his 13th one in the NFL. So those are things that you clearly learn from. I think that the other thing for me is what you would think that isn't, isn't an issue that keeps popping up is some of these missed reads on zone reads and some of these option plays where I think one in particular,

Starting point is 00:21:50 it's a power read concept, and 33 is the conflict defender, and he's stepping down. And the rules typically, and I don't know what the Colts' rules are, but nine times out of ten the rule is if he can tackle the back, then you take it yourself. But if he can can tackle the back, then you take it yourself. But if he can't tackle the back, then you're handing it off to JT. There was one that he made a mess in the hole. And you would never know that it was a bad decision for Manthew Richardson.

Starting point is 00:22:16 But those plays will catch up when you get more. I mean, he put him in a blender because he's that athletic. But those are the type of things where I think the game will start to slow down as he starts to get more and more reps yeah i do think those those are great call outs there because those are two examples where i'm talking about where it's like once the game gets a little slower and like these split second decisions are made correctly for him i think we're going to see a more productive anthony richard some some other quick notes too i want to throw out before we get to our final segment though. You want to see a little bit better cleaner mechanics. I want to see him just reset his feet a little bit. I think when he eventually gets to the point

Starting point is 00:22:51 where he can acknowledge his own weaknesses too, and by that I mean he's a kind of a stiff explosive thrower. So rolling to his left and not resetting his feet, it's not something he can really do like an elastic thrower like Pat Mahomes. So the deep throw to Kylan Granson, either set your feet or don't attempt that throw. Is that the out and out? Yeah. It's like either reset your feet. And again, that comes with the spatial awareness to know that there's no rushes around you.

Starting point is 00:23:18 You can reset your feet and then throw it or just scramble. You know, like I just want to see either or like either accept the limitation or work around it i think as he gets older and as he starts to not be a 22 year old who thinks he can just overcome his limitations eventually once you start realizing okay this is something i struggle with let's you know work around that i think he'll be a better quarterback but totally overall again it's more so just reps more reps yeah and i think we can stop calling out and ups into the sun versus kyle and granson yeah didn't didn't do anything to i mean he was clamped the entire way if we're just being honest it

Starting point is 00:23:55 wasn't my favorite call uh but i agree with you that like he's not that's not necessarily his game like i think a lot of people like to um compare him to some of the more dynamic athletes like lamar for example but he's not the same athlete i got a question that like why doesn't he have the same explosive runs as lamar they're just different players and different athletes he's more explosive than lamar but lamar is a lot more slippery and elusive so uh and that's the kind of thing that you i think that we're just to put a bow on this segment, I think what we're saying is like Anthony Richardson has the capacity to bail you out of some really bad looks. I'm more thinking the touchdown to JT.

Starting point is 00:24:31 That's a free runner in the A-gap. That is not good. I know that they're going quick, but you do not want that. I would think there's probably two or three quarterbacks that could probably get out of that sack and make that throw. Anthony Richardson happens to be one of them. You don't want to live in that world. If you don't have to,

Starting point is 00:24:48 you want to be able to get into the right looks and make the correct reads and throws and process the play correctly so that when, Oh, you're going to have that inevitable. Oh no. Okay. Now I'm a freak athlete that can go make those plays instead of, Hey,

Starting point is 00:25:02 we're just going to play unsound football and live in those. Hey, we just have this freak athlete that can bail us out of anything. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And coming up, guys, we're going to transition to our final thoughts on Anthony Richardson right now in terms of just where he's at as a quarterback, where he can go as a quarterback and what these final four games mean for him and the Indianapolis Colts. But first, get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook, because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win.

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Starting point is 00:28:09 We are back with Ben Boris at Colts Film Room to talk about our, I don't want to say final thoughts on Anthony Richardson, because we still have another month to evaluate this young player. And honestly, Ben, every single game matters when it comes to Anthony Richardson, because it drastically shapes the way that we view him as a quarterback for this Colts

Starting point is 00:28:25 team. But I will say this, and I want to actually get your thoughts on this too. I feel like a picture is really starting to form on the type of quarterback that Anthony Richardson is. And kind of, you know, we can get to the point where it's like, okay, he's good at these things. And I think it's, we can kind of officially say he's good at these couple things. And these other things just need to come with time. And if they don't come with time, then he probably won't be the franchise quarterback. So where I'm at right now is you get the four elite traits.

Starting point is 00:28:58 This is the core four elite traits with Anthony Richardson. You get the rushing ability. The rushing ability is fantastic, especially in short yardage and goal line stuff. It is outstanding. You get the sack avoidance. The sack avoidance is arguably the best in football. It truly is on another level, his sack avoidance. You get the explosive play. I know the explosive plays haven't been there recently because guys sometimes forget to catch them, but the explosive plays, you get those with Anthony Richardson. And I think we can say he's got the clutch gene. Like I, I feel like we can say it right. Like I know that's the least analytical

Starting point is 00:29:29 of the four, but like he's got the clutch gene. So you have those four pillars to build off of. And I think you're going to like, that's the quarterback that Richardson is right now. It really comes down to if, and when the game will slow down for him. Will he find checkdowns? Will he improve a little bit when under duress and under pressure? I think we've seen good steps there too, but not perfect by any means these last couple weeks. So if he can take those other steps with experience and build on those four pillars, I think he can be a darn good quarterback.

Starting point is 00:30:00 It's just, can he build the other parts of his game? He's got those four pillars, and those four pillars are good enough for the colts to be at least bad teams right now with his play so here's the way that i i totally agree with you by the way because i think when you had gone into this season my whole argument with all the takes surrounding anthony richardson was like when he played like 187 snap maybe 100 snaps i don't even know what it was it wasn't enough to build some sort of like report on who anthony richardson is like we didn't know i think now that we've seen enough of anthony richardson there is a it's a wow it is a roller coaster um but i think there's i think we're at a point especially post benching where i think we can really start to say who this kind of who this

Starting point is 00:30:45 player is and i think uh for me is anthony richardson better than the quarterback that you saw yesterday the week before the week before the week before uh and i think yes i think when you look at this easy you see the improvement he has not came into the nfl the same player um and that's where i think is the most important thing when we talk about Anthony Richardson's outlook. He gives you some of the highest upside in the entire league. He's the quarterback that the rest of the league doesn't want to see work out, if we're being honest.

Starting point is 00:31:17 Because if it does, it's going to be an absolute issue. If he can reach that impossible ceiling that is higher than maybe we've ever seen it. There's a long, long way to get there, though. I think one thing that Anthony Richardson has shown you is that he's the type of guy you want to bet on. He's the type of guy that you want to continue to work with, that you want to continue to help develop and help grow. Because you know that, I mean, do like i don't think people understand

Starting point is 00:31:45 that and maybe they do that like there are so many other quarterbacks that would have crumbled versus the jets in that situation crumbled versus the patriots it's so easy to just lay there and lay an egg and fold when adversity hits and that's hasn't been anthony richards and he plays best football in some there was i think the best thing about the Pats game, and this is my overall take, is there were a lot of fourth in goals, fourth in seasons. Like the Colts don't win that game. Their season's in jeopardy. And they put it in Anthony Richardson's hand to go make a play.

Starting point is 00:32:14 And he did it every time that it mattered. And I think that's when you really boil down to it as we start to get into this final month where it's only going to get – the pressure's only going to get higher. Andy Richardson has shown that he can rise to that occasion. Yeah. And outside of a collapse in this final month of the season, which with the bye week coming, a chance to recalibrate as long as he doesn't revert to horrible habits that he had earlier

Starting point is 00:32:39 this season, I don't see that collapse coming from him. But barring that collapse, I think he's done enough these past three games to be the quarterback next year and to be a quarterback we are excited about next season I I think well yeah I totally agree I think that last point I think he probably could have been the worst quarterback in the league and still would have had a chance to to start next year just just from the fact of where they drafted him and what they said going forward now if he had came in post benchbenching and it still didn't look, and it looked even worse and it didn't look any better,

Starting point is 00:33:08 we might be having different conversations. But I think he definitely, it's definitely the type of thing where like, are they ready to pay him like Jordan Love, Dak Prescott money? No. Is there even a guarantee at this point that he's going to get a second contract with Indianapolis? No. There also doesn't have to be. So I think it's the type of thing where he'll be the quarterback next year for sure. It'll be a big year for him to prove that he can rise to the occasion and win this team football games. Now, there's a lot of things that

Starting point is 00:33:42 need to happen around him in the offseason totally different discussion but he this this will be big these these next coming months and i think it's the one thing playoffs no playoffs miss the playoffs that shouldn't be a reflection on anthony richardson considering some of the brutal losses that he didn't even play on the field for yeah and my closing thoughts on this episode are going to be, I'm impressed by the mental fortitude that a young player, a young man even has in general in this situation where, I mean, Joe Flacco said it after Richardson got benched, like I wouldn't have taken that very well at 22. And for Richardson to take that benching,

Starting point is 00:34:18 again, we could talk about all the off-field or on-field issues that led to that benching, but to take that benching, come right back out, and be in a situation where he had to lead two game-winning drives. I mean, one of the games down by two scores in the fourth quarter. He had to go down there and will this team to victory twice. Now, in the three games... Gaving a lot of people's butts, by the way, because they lose that game.

Starting point is 00:34:40 There's a lot of people whose jobs are on the line, I think. Players and coaches, probably. Yeah. So the mental fortitude to come back and do that. him there's a lot of people whose jobs are on the line i think players and coaches probably yeah so the mental fortitude to come back and do that i don't think there's many people who could be like that so i'm impressed i'm really impressed by what he's shown the last couple weeks there's still another step that he needs to take i think by the end of the season but i am impressed by what he's been doing recently and hopefully in in this final month, we can get another Jets-like performance. Maybe get a game where we beat a team by more than one score just to feel really good.

Starting point is 00:35:10 I mean, they play three teams out of these final four that are borderline giving up right now. So hopefully they can get a blowout win in one of these. But I'm excited about Anthony Richardson. I'm excited about what he's showing. And hopefully we can get even more promising things coming after the bye week. But we do want to thank you guys for making Locked on Colts your first listen today. Now for your second listen, go find the new Locked on NFL with two shows every day. First, the Madman Tyler Rowland kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso.

Starting point is 00:35:37 And then stop by the barbershop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk. If you guys don't already, make sure you're following at Lock on Colts at Jake Arthur, NFL at Zach Hicks too. And at Colts film room, all on Twitter. And also subscribe to us on YouTube, where we list your pockets. We love you guys. Ratings are for use.

Starting point is 00:35:51 And we'll catch you guys back here tomorrow. After noon.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson Taking Massive Strides Since Return From Benching

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