Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Breaking Down Anthony Richardson's Game Against the Cincinnati Bengals

Episode Date: August 24, 2024

Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Anthony Richardson had a roller coaster outing against the Cincinnati Bengals in preseason game three. Ben Borus (@ColtsFilmRoom) joins the show to break it all down. Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Now through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON to get started.  For your next listen, check out the Locked On Fantasy Football podcast. Get daily insight to the best Fantasy draft strategies so you can win your league this season. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.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.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.FanDuelNow through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE-WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON to get started. 

The Indianapolis Colts preseason is in the books, and we have to talk about Anthony Richardson's preseason play. Yes, let's get freaky today and talk about some preseason quarterback play, guys. 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. 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 FanDuel. Now through September 22nd, all FanDuel customers can get $5 and get a third and can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started. Hello, everyone. I'm Zach Hicks, your favorite film nerd over at HorseshoeHuddle.com.

And today I'm not joined by Jake Arthur because I did not want to make him talk about preseason quarterback play. So you're welcome, Jake. But don't worry, I brought another degenerate nerd on here that's just like me, my guy Ben Boris at Colts Film Room on Twitter. You guys know him. You love him. Big fast riser in the industry. You can find his writing work over at the Blue Stable for now.

I mean, Blue Stable's great. I'm not saying anything bad about Blue Stable. But look, this guy is going places. He's doing some great work over at Blue Stable. And we'll see if he starts taking my job in the future here. That's what's going to happen eventually here, Ben. But here we are talking Anthony Richardson preseason football. Look, there's no better group of nerds to talk about this

because it's preseason football. It's not that big of a deal. But it's what everyone's talking about right now. Anthony Richardson's preseason football. It's not that big of a deal, but it's what everyone's talking about right now. Anthony Richardson's proof. People are saying that he's going to be a bust. People are saying it's not a big deal. We're going to break it all down here. We're going to talk about the good, the bad, and if this preseason showing against the Cincinnati Bengals changed anything about our expectations for the year, Ben. So let's start with the good, man. The Colts came out in this game firing. That first drive was awesome.

In my opinion, they should have taken it out the first drive. It felt good. I'm actually glad they kept them in past the first drive because more reps and we got to see it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows at that point with the offense. But first drive was great. The first shot to Alec Pierce on the crosser under center tight formation I believe but play action seven step drop like where was this Shane

where did this come from Shane Steichen like I thought it was a really great play to start and Alec Pierce getting that separation on the crosser too really really cool route right there yeah so basically what they had on was like almost this post corner from Pittman on the on the backside to clear out and then you had Pierce coming across and you just read that thing one to two. But I love starting off with a seven step drop under center, get some confidence going, you get that you hit that first play and then you just get on a roll. You didn't see a lot of under center from Shane Steichen's offense last year. You definitely didn't see it with Anthony Richardson too much. A lot of the reason you don't want Anthony

Richardson under center is the fact that it takes away the plus one in the quarterback run game. So that's why you'll see a lot of teams in the Kyle Shanahan system will get under center and do that kind of run stuff because they can run to whichever side of the formation they think is best or the open B gap. You can do that. And that's why you'll see the Colts run a lot of pistol because then you still get the threat of Anthony Richardson running the ball. This isn't Army or some of the, or Air Force or some of these teams that can get under center and still have the threat of a quarterback run. The league doesn't really work that way. So I love that call.

I thought the first drive, and fans at home can know this, a great sign of a good play caller is when you have long, sustaining drives. Like when you have seven plays, six, seven, eight, nine, not just the explosive plays, but just the series of plays just continuously moving the chains means your uh play callers locked in and i thought shane steichen was on that first drive yeah yeah for sure so that first play great job out out the box getting it out there but then this next play that we're going to talk about that third and long the little hot read to alec pierce i thought this was a great recognition by both uh anthony richardson and

alec pier Pierce on this that I love the the non-spoken communication between the two guys where it's like hey you're I think it was the nickel corner that was coming on the blitz like hey you're guys coming I'm gonna be hot get it to you it's on you though once you get that ball at four yards you gotta turn up field and get that first down for us and I love that unspoken communication Pierce does a good job of turning into a ball carrier when he catches it and getting the first. But I think Richardson was really good against the Blitz. There's two plays in particular, and this is one of them, where Richardson was under duress.

He was blitzed and did a really good job of setting his feet quick, getting the ball out to his hot, and letting his player do the work. So, I mean, look, when you're looking at a raw year two passer, that's a little thing right there, but it's a really great thing to see is that that quick hot read there, it appears to get him going. Yeah, I really love that play. Just it was so like, I think I tweeted, I was like, this is aesthetically pleasing. Like when Richardson gave the hard count, whether that was called or whatever, he saw seven up or six up on the line of scrimmage with the two backers mugged. So he's like, I'm just going to give a hard count and see if I can get someone to either drop out. And now I know where this thing is going. He gives the hard count. The nickel totally gives away the pressure. Everyone in the stadium knows he's coming. Brian Kelly either switches it or it

was already on. So he slides the line away from the free rusher to away from Richardson's vision, because he's going to hit Pierce as the hot. And I mean, it looks really simple. It looks really easy, but like there's so many small coaching points that go into that. Like for example, on that hitch, like it's not just a hit, you can't drift on that route. Cause a lot of people will, will run that hitch, but then they'll kind of like drift upwards under the field.

And that's how you get the big hits, how you get, you know, make it hard for the quarterback to just, they call it, I call it turn two where you look like a shortstop that's, that's turning into a double play. So that's, I thought that was great. I mean, I think for all the things that the negatives and maybe the downside that people think about Anthony Richardson, he does have a high level IQ.

And I don't think that's ever really been an issue. He can process defenses. He knows where to go to the ball for them for the most part. And it's not like this is some guy that needs to, like, learn how cover three works. Like, he has a really good understanding of that. Yeah, for sure. And the other play I want to talk about kind of goes into that same,

same mindset here where they're facing a blitz in the red zone. Colts have one of their go-to calls mesh rail. They, they love this call so much. They Shane's like, and loves him some mesh variations, so many different mesh variations in this offense. And,

you know, right. Richardson, I think makes a correct read out the gate on this blitz on this red zone call where he's looking at the rail he's looking at the running back out of the backfield sees it's not there quickly adjust his feet which when we talk about some of the negatives that's some of the issues there with richardson it's about adjusting the feet and aligning to his target but quickly adjust his feet sets that hallway 280 mitchell on the drag route finds

him over the middle and mitchell's able to get in the end zone. Perfectly run mesh. Really great job against the Blitz. I love how he got from one to two really quick, didn't panic, got the ball to his guy, and it resulted in a touchdown. I mean, again, not the super flashy play, but, like, and changed the arm angle, too. Like, it's a good quarterback.

And that's how you score a touchdown. It was a jump throw. He threw that in there. So it was a jump throw he threw that in there so uh that was a really cool play call obviously they so they ran mesh rail versus zero they brought all out and the way they worked is they slide the line away from the rail which obviously you would do because that's your that's your hot read on the play typically the rail but usually those are pure progression concepts so you just go rail to the mesh to the last thing you would hit is the over the ball.

And what I thought was really cool is obviously he's hot off that middle linebacker that kind of loops around. So he's hot on the play. Doesn't panic sets, resets his feet, throws that ball in the air. Like he is not, he's throwing this, there's zero cleats in the ground. Like, zero. And it's a handoff. It's literally like, here you go, A.D. Mitchell.

It's tough to – obviously, when you're playing zero like that, it's tough for that DB to make a play on it regardless. So it was a great play call too. Like, that can totally be part of it. But, like, just – there's no panic from Anthony Richardson. And I think that there's some plays that maybe get a little over-dissected in the preseason where he's like, this is just a preseason rep. I'm just going to hand this off.

I'm not going to let myself, you know, make the big play. Let's just run some plays and get off the field. But even when he has pressure in his face, there's just zero panic. And you saw that from literally week one in Jacksonville. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And one more play we got to talk about really quick here is arguably his best throw of the day. And gosh, he is so good on these vertical concepts from this, like the seam shots and the vertical stuff. He loves those seam shots.

The throw to Kylan Grant in his last completion of the day. That is the upside you're getting with an Anthony Richardson. Not many quarterbacks can make that kind of throw where you're ripping up the seam in between coverage. You're layering it over that linebacker who's closing. Fantastic throw. I mean, that's a one-of-one type throw. That's a Josh Allen, Pat Mahomes type of throw. And he makes those look routine.

I mean, I saw people talking on Twitter being like oh that's what's so special about this throw it's like if you're saying that about this kind of throw it's because the quarterback is a special thrower that he can get that ball in there if you're not if you're not wowed by that throw it's because the quarterback can make those throws we saw it to you know throws like that to Josh Allen or to Josh Downs last year we saw him to Drew Ogletree in that Rams game he makes these throws with withity. And when he hits those seam shots, man, whew, gorgeous, gorgeous throw. And I really like when Shane Steichen calls that because, one, when you look at those vertical concepts, and the Colts have a lot of different variations where it looks like typical

four verticals in Madden, but there's rules against different coverages where they can cut it in, sit down, all those things. I really like when Anthony Richardson has these throws that he can just drive, drive on it. He's a powerful, explosive athlete. Like he's not like graceful the way that like maybe some of these other quarterbacks are in the pocket where it's like very almost like a ballerina. Like I know that sounds ridiculous, but like it's very smooth and he's powerful he's everything he does is just explosive and i love when he has these throws where he can just rip it like i think where he some of his misses come in and we'll get to this later but it's some of the

some of more of the touch throws where you just you want to take a pitching wedge instead of a driver um and i think that that's giving him all the throws where he can just literally rip it and just throw it as hard as he can in those tight windows. I mean, he can do that and he can do it better than as good as anyone in the league right now. Yeah, no, 100%. But don't worry, guys, this is not going to be the most positive episode. We're not only talking positives.

We're also going to get to some of the downsides from this past game and why, you know, again, there were some positive things, but it wasn't an overwhelmingly, like, great start. There were some things to work on with Anthony Richardson in this preseason game. But first, this show is sponsored by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? Maybe you have to make time for your hobbies like me. Like I always have to make time every day for my hobbies or I'll go insane. Or you have to make time for the gym. There are some people that just like to unwind at the gym. I could probably use that. I should make the gym my hobby, but you know, we all have our ways with that stuff. When your schedule is packed with kids' activities, big work projects, and more, it's easy to let your priorities slip. Even when we know what makes us happy, it's hard to make

time for it. But when you feel like you have no time for yourself, non-negotiables like therapy are more important than ever. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash locked on today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash locked on. And thank you guys for making Locked On Culture

your first listen today and every day. For your second listen, enjoy Locked On Fantasy Football Podcast. For all 25 leagues you're in, get those daily insights into the best fantasy draft strategy so you can win all of your leagues this season. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, guys, I'm joined by Ben Boris of Colts Film Room fame on Twitter, fast-rising star in this Colts industry here talking about Colts ball.

We're talking about Anthony Richardson. We're talking negatives now. So if you guys are the biggest Anthony Richardson fans in the world, turn off the show now. If you guys are the biggest haters, this is your time to log in. We're going to start hating on Anthony Richardson. But no, we're going to talk about some of the negatives because after that first drive, very, very erratic. Obviously, the offense was erratic as a whole. Richardson had

some issues, and it all started with that pick six. I don't know who was in the right, who was in the wrong here, and we can both have our theories about this, Ben, on what Kylan Granson should have done. I think ideally with that safety dropping down on inside leverage it does make sense to break outside but then the spacing kind of looks weird with the rb because i think there was an rb wheel happening next to it as well so it's a weird play it's just a really weird play where the where richardson and granson were not on the same page richardson through the-down route, Granson broke outside, and it resulted in a pick six.

Those things happen, unfortunately, and I do think those get mitigated a little bit when you have actual game planning for a defense. But what were your thoughts on that pick six? Yeah, so first and foremost, I think it's probably not an ideal look for that play at all. I'm not exactly – of all the things I love about Shane Steichen's play calling, I'm not a big particular fan of that play call just because they run something similar. So I think the most universal term and where people can go look at it in Madden

is they call it spot. So it's running back to the flat. The number one receiver runs this kind of like stick and then a corner from the from the three of the tight end um and basically what they ran is like an inverse so the halfback is still going to the flat i um pitman is running deep and then kyle and grahamson has like the stick uh they have rules to definitely i mean they ran that same play in baltimore uh they they have rules to run away versus different looks i think the and i think i watched chase daniel and jto sullivan talk about this i

think it's really good nuances like you can do all those things because the decision routes that the Josh downs does and like is in this offense that in theory on a whiteboard, they're unguardable because you're making the defense wrong no matter what. However, everyone has to be on the same page and it can go wrong really quickly. Like we saw when it's not. So for me, I think that's a good learning lesson for Anthony Richardson, Kylan Granson for sure, probably Shane Steichen too, because that's a look that it's just, it's also just a great, like there are plays where it's just, it's a great coverage. It's the perfect call defensively to handle that route concept. Those are going to happen.

But I think that it doesn't, it really doesn't matter because I don't think I'll ever, I don't think I'll know for sure. A hundred percent. Who's right. Who's wrong. I would probably say that judging from Anthony Richardson's reaction, just kind of his body language. Doesn't sound like maybe Kylan was supposed to run out like that.

Cause I mean, his hands were up before. I mean, like he was, he was looking, as soon as that ball got picked, he's right at Colin Granson. So what that's, that's the kind of stuff where like I think you looked at some of these negatives,

and we'll talk about more of them. They're super coachable and correctable, but they're not ones you typically want to see because they are – they're things that like when you install this play, like those are the rules that you want to have in mind. So that's kind of where I'm at. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And there's one more – there's another rules that you want to have in mind so yeah that's kind of where i'm at yeah yeah for sure and there's one more there's another one i really want to talk about here i know i'm going to go on a little bit of a spiel because i did a lot of research on quarterback mechanics uh years ago with carson wentz and i talked with dub maddox adam dado tom

house like tons of really big name guys in the industry so i want to go on a little spiel about this but the missed 80 Mitchell, not the one over the middle in between the weird cover to call. I can let you go into more detail on that one there. But the missed 80 Mitchell where he missed high on a wide open 80 Mitchell on third down one, that's one that just can't happen. You can't miss that route just because it's such a big play.

You hit it. But it does kind of give me proper context to talk about some mechanical issues with Anthony Richardson. Because like you mentioned in the first segment, I don't think there's any issues mentally with Richardson on the football field. I think he reads the field really well. I think he reads coverages really well. And I think for the most part, as long as he's being aggressive with what he wants to do, I think his eyes are really good. Like I think his eyes are really good. And I think the 80 Mitchell one is a perfect example of where he's still a little raw as a passer, where the eyes were perfect. He follows the 80 Mitchell.

He knows, Hey, Mitchell is going to do this stair step technique on this corner who has bad leverage at the, at the crest of the route there. He's going to break open to the sideline. And I need to hit him on that because he's going to be open. And he read that well. He sat on it well, and he anticipated it well, and he got the ball out to him. The issue, I think, with Richardson is his eyes and his mind are moving with where they need to go, but his lower half is not.

And that's what happens quite a bit with him. And because he's such a talented passer like his upper half is so talented and we even saw this on the way with it he gets away with it yeah we saw some of the pierce throw to start the game too where pierce is breaking across the field he keeps his feet set it's to pierce but like that's not ideal technique or ideal mechanics there uh and it came back to bite him with ad mitchell when he has to throw left when it's against the grain of his body where the feet stay to the middle of the field the eyes are where they need to go he's not moving the feet where they need to go though and he's throwing across the grain of his body he's not stepping into the

throw the ball goes high and it goes over ad mitchell's head those are going to happen just because he's still kind of raw as a passer in terms of moving those feet with his mind. Eyes were good. Head was good. Idea was good. It's really just the lower half moving with the upper half, especially on those cross field routes. I think those are where the issues come in. Very fixable, like you said, but something that you don't want to see still. But something we're going to live with obviously this year. But I want to go on a little rant mechanically there because setting the hallway is probably the most important thing you can do mechanically because it aligns

your upper and lower halves. It aligns your body with your eyes and it makes it so you're not throwing against the grain of your body and losing that traction that your body is gaining from throwing. So I think when you're looking at the A.D. Mitchell miss, that A.D. Mitchell miss, and I'll let you talk about the other one here in a second, it really was just not moving his feet with his eyes when his eyes read the plate perfectly. His feet just didn't move with them at all. Yeah. I mean, obviously that's, that's spot on. I think one of the questions or things that maybe I don't know is that, is this something that, because the mechanical issues just flat out exist like

there's no arguing that right like I think Richardson would probably tell you that he's still a work in progress in that regard I mean Andrew Luck was still working on that even years into the league so it's something that you're always fine-tuning I think with Anthony Richardson a he's so young b it's really hard to I I would guess, I would assume, it's really hard to train some of those stuff where you're sinking your eyes with your lower half when you're rehabbing from a shoulder injury. So like there's more mechanical things that you have to focus on than maybe some of the more, something like that. Like you have to focus on getting your arm slot right. Just the general throwing motion when you're working your way back from injury. I don't think that he's unhealthy, but I think he's perfectly a hundred percent healthy.

I just think that some of those things probably take a little bit and it's something that he's still 22. There's some of those things that are just going to grow with this game. That's not his, his game is being a dynamic explosive athlete, not necessarily mastering the nuances of some of those stuff. So that stuff, it'll come along as he gets more years in the league. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think the real big thing that they had set the focus on when they work with his mechanics, like you're not going to do it in season.

So you're just going to live with some of the highs and lows this year. But like next offseason is just changing that platform as much as possible. When his eyes move to a new target, even if it's to do like a little jump step to get to that new platform, whatever it has to be to get to the right platform to set up and and get your you know get your whole body into the throw i think that by fine we'll actually see his arm strength get better if he does something like that which is crazy to think um we're gonna move to our final segment but i will let you talk in the final segment ben about the other miss deity mitchell because there's something to talk about one thing i didn't want to talk about though the fumble really bad yeah that's

that's yeah that that's that's where i was like and people killed me on twitter for it that's fun i said it was a little embarrassing because that's something you've been coached for your entire life like you can't you can't have that yeah i did want to touch on that real quick because that was actually like the only play where it's like we don't even have a minor coaching point for that like a like richardson don't do that please yeah please don't do that one the other ones are like the other ones we can talk about that one got to cover the ball up two hands on the ball but uh well i'll let you talk about the other mr ad in the final segment and then we'll talk about what this means for anthony richardson's rookie season are we out on richardson because of some shaky preseason play we'll talk about that here in just a second.

But first, when you're hiring for your small business and you want to find quality professionals who are right for the role, that's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs, which has the tools to help you find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just a job board either. They help you hire professionals who you can't find anywhere else, even those who aren't actively searching for a new job, but might be open to that perfect role. And to give a month over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites. So if you're not looking on LinkedIn, you're looking in the wrong place. On LinkedIn, 86% of small businesses get qualified candidate within 24 hours. They're constantly finding ways to make process easier.

Even recently launching a feature that helps you write job descriptions, making the process even easier and quicker. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. All right, Ben. Ben Boris at Colts Film Room on Twitter. We are here talking Anthony Richardson's preseason game. We are going to talk about the overall expectation and how Shane Syken kind of tuned this offense to Richardson in year one. But I know that you were talking specifically about that other missed AD Mitchell against that. I think you called it

cover too wild, like a really interesting zone concept by the Bengals. Yeah. What happened on that play? Yeah. So a lot, I know that the whole narrative is like, oh, like they were playing the twos, the Bengals were. Lou Anarumo was not calling plays for the twos. I'll say that.

Like there was some like actual regular season exotic looks. And that's one that even Shane Steig, like I saw that one and I didn't really know what to think of it on the broadcast because it looked like yet again, another miscommunication, which it might have been. But then I wanted to, I became very interested in it when Shane Steichen was like, yeah, they played a look there that was more of this match carry cloud concept. And, you know, when you go look at it, it plays out like two-man, like just typical Madden two-man, two high safeties man across the board. It's a little bit different because they're trying to cloud. It's three by one, so they're trying to cloud the two number one receivers and then match everything underneath.

And, yes, I think that A.D. Mitchell needs needs to keep going i also think that that's a tough concept because they're i don't think ad mitchell expects to be matched like i think he's seeing potentially that this is going to roll the cover too because they've been doing that literally in the first two series probably did it all during joint practice that's just what luana rumo does he'll come out and he'll just he'll rotate into cover two or tampa two and uh i don't think he maybe he doesn't expect to get matched because normally you would just get rerouted the line of scrimmage and you saw him kind of like throw up uh a rip or whatever just get that press away from me uh because he expects to be rerouted and then he he doesn't expect that he's going to get actually

carried um i think again that's just like a great, I think I rewatched this before doing this podcast for like the third time. And I was like, I'm actually really glad that they played Cincinnati because these are actual looks that they will see like actual Sunday looks. Yeah. One of the top defensive coordinators in football, like outside of going against like spags in the preseason, like you can't go against a better preseason, like coordinator.

Like again, it was the twos. I get it. But, but coach Lou is like one of those, those plays were not for the twos. Those plays, they are not play when people say,

Oh, the preseason just vanilla. That was not vanilla at all. I'll tell you that. Yeah. Like maybe, maybe in Denver it was, but that's not,

that's yeah. I mean, and even I actually throw the vanilla coverages out for a little bit because the Colts have not played – like Jonathan Gannon was rolling with three safeties for like part of that preseason. The Colts saw some things this preseason that isn't just here's quarters. You know?

Yeah, it was actually interesting to watch. But moving from that and talking about our expectations for Anthony Richardson I think you and I are both agreement this doesn't change anything for what we expect this year from Richardson for me I still think he's going to be somewhere in that what 2019 Josh Allen range you know where it's like high 50 percent passer like 3,000 yards like you know like kind of like if he has a passer adds a lot of rushing production on top of it and you'll see a lot of highs and lows and variants and stuff like that but i think if i'm going to take away anything

from these preseason games with richardson i think the things that i'm really interested in are obviously the rpo looks because when he's had RPO looks this this preseason that ball comes and they haven't even they haven't even scratched the surface that I yeah yeah but that ball comes out so quick he's so decisive he's accurate the arm angles and the arm slots are so good on those RPO looks like they could just run 90% RPOs this year and they might be a top 10 offense in football with like 90% RPOs. That's so crazy. That's so crazy.

You know, like, it's just so fascinating how good he is on those RPOs. And then I think just his, again, I still think the eyes are in a good place right now. It's just where will the feet take him? And not in terms of running the ball, but his feet in terms of his mechanics. If he can really start to adjust those feet with his eyes and track those crossing routes on intermediates with his feet better, I think he can be a really high-level passer. But I do think there will be some highs and lows. I mean, look, you obviously know the Packers really well. And Jordan Love was like this last year. With the first half of the year, people are kind of out on Jordan Love. Like the high flashes, but really low variances.

And then the second half of the year, when he really the high flashes, but really low variances. And then the second half of the year, when he really put it together, it's like, oh, here we go. I'm not saying Richardson's going to be Jordan Love, but like if he had a season like that, in terms of first half of the year, people are out on him. Second half of the year, everyone's calling him the best thing, you know, in football. I think that that could be realistic for Richardson

because the things that he can do, and I know we've been saying this for years about him, but you see it on the throw to Granson. The things that he can do are one-of-one. They are one-of-one football plays. And if he can just hone those in a little bit, keep the turnovers to a low, that's going to be the big thing right there. I think this can be a really strong season for him. Maybe not perfect, but I think it can be a really strong season.

But I really do think they're going to lean on the RPOs, the meshes, the screen game, and then they're going to take some of those home run shots as well. But I think it's going to be a lot of the RPOs, the meshes, the screen games, and stuff like that for this offense. Yeah, I think I have a couple thoughts. I think my first one is like Anthony Richardson is just a delicate subject right now just for a lot of people.

So choose where you choose to get your analysis. That's why you should be listening to the Locked On Colts podcast. That's how you earn a third. That's how you earn a third invite to the show. But yeah, I don't think this changes anything. I don't think anything has to be a take or a projection or the people saying, oh, I've seen enough. like he's terrible or oh i've seen enough like he's he's gonna be the next but there's yeah so much more to come with anthony richardson i think the one thing i feel really

confident about which is really good is that he knows how to play the position well like more that he's not just like a running back running out there. Like he's, he knows how to play quarterback. Like I don't, it's going to happen. It happens to every quarterback around the league everywhere, but I just don't see consistently the Colts being in bad looks, not getting like not identifying pressure,

like making apps. Like, I don't think I've seen, and there's, it's a small sample size. Totally. But I don't think I've seen like total boneheaded decisions from Anthony Richardson. I really haven't. Like he's actually pretty good about getting to the check down, taking what's there when it's, when it's not there,

trying to extend with his legs. If it is, then the problems come down to potentially being inaccurate on some layups, potentially – am I still on this thing? Yeah, you're good. You're good. My whole thing just – I hit my hand on the keyboard. Potentially, like, I think the fumbling thing, making sure just we're taking care of the football, but like,

this doesn't change any of my expectations whatsoever. I just think the more you look at the film and sometimes this happens, I think Chris Ballard will tell you this too, because he said it, where game day is an emotional experience, but when you go watch the film the next day, you learn a lot more than maybe when you can throw all the emotion out of it um and a lot of these mistakes are gonna happen you don't want them to happen but these aren't like end of the world errors at all yeah yeah my big takeaway is there's gonna be some plays where richard gets tricked by defense because there are some darn

good defensive coordinators right now happens to everyone he's going to be tricked at times he's going to have some miscues because of the feet issue which is going to be an ongoing thing and there are going to be some times where the miscommunications are there because that's just how football works and this offense has a lot of option routes it has a lot of option and read routes especially with when josh downs gets back and and stuff like that so there are going to be some miscues. Hopefully he mitigates some of the fumbles, but we saw last year, he did some things with fumbles and, and moving around the pocket, like the backwards throw against the Tennessee Titans, for instance, you know, we got to keep those to a low because those are controllable, but there will be some lows with Richardson this year. But I think when you look like at that Rams

game last year, the four verts ripping it down the field, coming back down 20, 23 points, I think is what it was in that game. Seeing what he could do with those special throws, seeing the flashes and other games, deep throw to downs against the Titans, seeing this throw to Granson that we saw the other day, and just seeing how his eyes know what he has to do. It really comes down to just the consistency with him because I've been trying to stress this since he was a do. It really comes down to just the consistency with him because I've been trying to stress this since he was a prospect in his head. He knows what he has to do. He can read a football field.

He can read a defense. He can read a play concept. He's a smart player on the football field. It really comes down to putting that brain together with his physical talent. And he can be another, like, I don't want to get too

hyperbolic here and say he's a josh allen because josh allen's one of like legitimately a superstar but that's a development track that everyone shoots for and right very few have actually gotten that right but he can be the next project quarterback who pans out because like i don't think it's like a i don't want to slander the guy here, but like a Justin Fields thing where fields, you really had to wonder if he could read a defense at times, you know, and, and if he, he was a little too timid back there and stuff like that. I don't think Richardson has this timidness or this inability to read what's happening or to attack coverage. He has all that. It's really just about syncing up his brain with his physical talent. And I think a guy like Shane Steichen is going to get that out of him. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. My last, my last point was like, and I feel like I've said this so many times. If you are betting on Anthony Richardson to pan out, you are betting on Shane Steichen period. End of story.

Hard stop. Like I think when you talk potentially about Justin Fields and this isn't a Justin Fields podcast, but that Shane Steichen does a really good job of giving Anthony Richardson easy answers on plays. Now, there's some plays that you're going to get tricked, obviously, like that one across A.D. Mitchell. That's football. That's life.

It's never going to work out perfectly like you drew it up in the game plan. But for the most part, you just really trust Anthony Richardson to kind of have some of the things that give him, he has all the tools to be successful. There will be some lows that people probably need to prepare themselves for, especially when you have a very tough opponent in 16 days coming to Lucas Oil Stadium.

And that's not going to be anything easy that is an absolute challenge and there might be some some lows there might be but i also expect there to be a lot of highs too and that might be game to game that might be week to week that might be season to season yeah yeah for sure and and i i fully believe and i think you're on the same that he can be this next young project quarterback who pans out. We've seen it. Jordan Love, Josh Allen. I don't think it's the same as a Pat Mahomes, but like a Pat Mahomes, like, you know, like I'm not saying he's on that tier with those guys. But I do think he can be this next project guy where once the brain syncs up with the physical tools, watch out.

And I don't know if it'll be this year. I don't know if it'll be, you know, the first half of this year, the second half, whatever it's going to be. But I do have full faith in this operation from everything we've seen from Anthony Richard at this point. That's all we have for today. I know we've taken up a little bit more of your time than usual guys, but that's how me and Ben are as people. So I do. We probably could have kept going for another half hour. Yeah, no, we had to cut down a lot of our breakdowns on some of these plays and maybe we'll do we'll do something else in the future. But don't worry, guys. Ben will be back for sure.

He complimented the show. He said that's how you get a third appearance. That's how you get a third one. That's how you get a third and a fourth. That's how you get all of them here. I'm going for the triple crown. Right. No, for sure.

For sure. But if you guys enjoyed Ben's analysis on here like I do, make sure you're following him on Twitter, at ColtsFilmRoom. Only like 3,000 followers, guys. We gotta do better than that. Come on. We gotta do much better than that. I'm at 19. Like, let's get ColtsFilmRoom up to 3,000.

But if you guys don't already, again, make sure you're following at ColtsFilmRoom, at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 on Twitter. We're also on TikTok and Instagram, but Jake runs those, so if you want to see that old man doing some TikTok dances, make sure you're checking that out. Also subscribe to us on YouTube, where we list your podcasts. We love you guys ratings, reviews, and we'll be back here with you guys again on Monday.