Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Talking Anthony Richardson with Brandon Olsen

Starting point is 00:00:00 All right, you guys have heard us talk plenty of quarterbacks in relation to the Colts recently. That's all we want to talk about. But today we're going to talk to someone who actually studied the Colts most likely draft pick on a daily basis for the last three years. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:43 All right, what's up, everybody? 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 course, joined today by Brandon Olson. He covers the Locked On Florida Gators podcast for us. And you guys, we obviously love all the Anthony Richardson talk that we can take. But, you know, Zach and I, we don't cover Florida all the time.

Starting point is 00:01:12 You know, we've done our research, you know, as he becomes a prospect and gets a hotter name. But Brandon here has covered Richardson's Florida career since 2020. So we figured it was time to get a different perspective, someone who's probably studied at a little more molecular level for a while. So Brandon, thanks for joining in, man. I will go anywhere that I'm allowed to talk, Anthony Richardson. That's good to hear because we like to talk about them. Our listeners like to talk about them as well. So first you know, first and foremost, the Colts have been very picky when it comes to quarterbacks. They're kind of getting a gift this

Starting point is 00:01:51 year. It's a great year to need one. Lots of talent with these top four guys, five as well, if you throw Hendon Hooker in there. But the best part about it is all of these guys have good heads on their shoulders. They all seem to be good guys, focused on their craft and this and that. That's one of the biggest things the Colts hone in on. How are they as leaders? What are their study and preparation habits, things like that. So can you speak to Richardson as a leader and how he prepares? What's people's perception of him there from a Gators perspective of how he is as a competitor basically I have never met somebody that said a negative thing about his character like you you can criticize his play all you want I have never spoken to somebody who will

Starting point is 00:02:36 criticize Anthony Richardson's character that just doesn't happen he is one of the hardest workers around like Billy Napier Florida Gators head coach he demands a lot from his quarterbacks we're in a quarterback battle right now and he's openly like you have to win over your team you are your teammates you have to win over the entire locker room you have to win over the coaching staff you have to win over all this to be our starting quarterback and anthony richardson did that with an immense amount of pressure on his shoulders like people don't usually consider it, but Anthony Richardson is a Gainesville kid.

Starting point is 00:03:08 Like he went to Eastside High School and he was a highly ranked quarterback recruit coming out and he chose to stay home and go to Florida. And also while he was in high school, he was working on the side in order to help provide for his family because he has to do that. So Anthony Richardson, I mean,

Starting point is 00:03:23 one of the hardest workers around. And yeah, I've never met anybody that will even consider saying a negative thing about his character. Yeah. He's obviously not got a huge sample size, you know, of, of starting experience there. Uh, but watching the tape, you know, and even people who have other people have studied him, they've noticed his, the progress that he made throughout the season. Can you speak to that? I mean, obviously he was a pretty raw, moldable player early on, but by season's end, what kind of player did you see from him? Yeah, you saw someone that grew and developed. And my favorite thing I think about Anthony Richardson was how he would publicly grow. He had multiple times in the season where he would have a bad game and he would come out here and in the press conferences and he'd say look I forget how fast these guys are sometimes

Starting point is 00:04:09 and that's why I've had these issues or he's been very public where he said I'm a Gainesville kid my first start against Utah wasn't great throwing the ball he made a ton of plays with his legs and he made some big plays but then he had Kentucky was one of the worst performances that you've seen from a quarterback. And he publicly was like, look, 90,000 people love me. Like they're, they're all cheering for me. They're all, I'm the hometown kid. There's a lot of pressure and I've screwed up at times, but you watched him grow and develop throughout the course of the season, whether things were good or bad, he was going through and he, and he shined when he had to, you look at the second half against Tennessee, he played great. You look at Utah. He played great. Even going back to 2021, when he was backing up Emery Jones, you look at

Starting point is 00:04:54 the second half of LSU, that game, I was certain that halftime was dead and Anthony Richardson led Florida. I mean, they still did lose, but he led them to a very close comeback. And he's someone that has constantly worked on his craft. You look at him from 2021, the small sample size there is of LSU, Georgia. And then you look at him in 2022, you see a cleaned up passer. He cleaned up his mechanics in that time. He's been working with Denny Thompson over at Six Points in Jacksonville. He's trying to improve here.

Starting point is 00:05:24 And you can see that throughout the year. That actually brings me to one of my next topics I wanted to tackle with you. So, you know, he's obviously incredibly athletic, blew the roof off the combine with his scores, one of the most athletic quarterbacks we've seen pre-draft. But obviously, you know, relying on your mobility and everything isn't sustainable throughout your whole career. What gives you confidence that he's going to develop into a consistent, effective passer in the NFL? I think it's mostly that he wants to become an actual passer, an actual dual threat quarterback

Starting point is 00:05:59 where he wanted to maybe get unleashed a little bit in 2022 with the Florida Gators, but head coach Billy Napier has frequently publicly said, we wanted to let Anthony Richardson run free. We wanted to let him run the ball as he wanted to. We wanted to let him do everything he wanted to, but our quarterback situation depth wise was really bad. So we had to do everything we can to kind of protect him and limit him. So when you're looking at an offense that was also very boom or bust, he kept things right near the line of scrimmage, or he was throwing it deep downfield. There wasn't a ton in the intermediate range. So there's things like that, where I think if he's given that room to grow that he didn't have,

Starting point is 00:06:39 and given that leash, we'll say that he didn't have in Gainesville that you'll actually see him grow and develop as it goes on. That's good. You obviously really like to hear that. And again, the potential there is immense, obviously because of the mobility, but he really has shown some nice things as a passer. There's probably a little more nuance to his game than people think there. But obviously there are some knocks on him as well. Obviously the lack of experience, just 13 starts. But a couple of the big things you also see, a lot of these coaches, a lot of these NFL head coaches like guys that win, obviously. Just a six and seven record as a starter. The completion percentage is also pretty misleading as well. Career 54.7%. A lot of drops though for Florida. When you take into account Florida's record at six and seven, you know, sub 500 and that

Starting point is 00:07:33 completion percentage, you know, surely some of it is on him, but how, you know, are those numbers misleading in any way? Yeah, a little bit there. Like you mentioned, there were a lot of drops with Florida. It's just, it's how it was. And I think one thing that he won't get enough credit for is how he evaded pressure as a quarterback that he did something that I think in the draft class, he's second to only Bryce Young in terms of extending plays with your legs and actually creating room for you to throw the ball. But yeah, there were a lot of drops and he would try to answer the bell. But you have to understand this is a Florida team that under the previous regime, they did not care that much about recruiting. I've always said if you want athletes in college, you go to the state of Florida and you go

Starting point is 00:08:18 to some athletes. Dan Mullen didn't do that. That's why they don't have great athletes. Both of Florida's safeties ran the four sevens at the combine. There wasn't a ton of talent on that team. Let's just put that. So, yeah, I mean, the numbers are misleading. The win-loss, the offense was statistically pretty good.

Starting point is 00:08:38 It was probably the worst Florida Gators defense that I've ever seen, though, in 2022. It's really hard to win games when your team is just bad on defense when you have bad pass catchers and the only thing you really have going is an incredibly raw and talented quarterback good o-line couple good defensive pieces and two good running backs where that's not how you win football games in 2022 or 2023 yeah it sounds like he probably could use, you know, a fresh start somewhere with a little stability offensively. I can't say that's the Colts quite yet, but, you know, new head coach Shane Steichen, Jonathan Taylor, that's still a nice gem.

Starting point is 00:09:17 Okay, so this is your quarterback. You've seen at least for the last few months now, since draft season has really started ramping up, people are picking apart each of these guys so I'll put you on the spot a little bit is there is there something you would want people to know about Richardson that like is just completely missing the boat or like there's just something you want people to know that they that's not being mentioned basically I think the biggest thing and you kind of talked about it before

Starting point is 00:09:47 where people are assuming things about him that you're not that just aren't true like the nuance to his game looking off safeties with his eyes as a guy who florida gators fans have commonly been like he can't throw the ball just just move him to tight end. I understand that he is a freak athlete. There's a reason when you look at mock draftable, his second highest percentage comp from any position is Khalil Mack. I understand he's a physical freak. Like he doesn't, people like him don't exist. That's the thing I think there, you can talk about these raw quarterbacks that are big, big arm, strong, fast. They can do all these things.

Starting point is 00:10:26 People like Anthony Richardson don't exist. And that's what I think is kind of being often overlooked by fans where you could say his completion percentage, his win loss, his turnovers early in the season, whatever it is, people, his size don't move like he does. Cause if they do, they play edge rusher like kill O'Mac and they can't throw the ball 70 yards in the air. Yeah. Sometimes couldn't hit the side of a barn if he was throwing the side of a barn, but if you can get Anthony Richardson, right. And you can get that consistency down. You're getting someone that doesn't exist anywhere else. That's why I've been critical of AR since he was a backup, but from an NFL perspective, if you can add the potential like that to your quarterback room, you do it, especially when you have someone who has such a good head on his shoulders that, yeah, you don't see that on film.

Starting point is 00:11:11 But NFL teams are going to figure this out. I mean, the Colts jet was in Gainesville earlier today, so I'm assuming that was his visit. But yeah, he's got a great head on his shoulders, and I think that's something that you won't see on film. But NFL teams will fall in love with him for it. Yeah, that's one thing that makes him such an intriguing prospect is his his athleticism is really rare. But we always we always see some players that have crazy athleticism. But he's got it seems like he's got the rest of it to him. You know, the the mental makeup and everything, the right attitude.

Starting point is 00:11:46 And a lot of Colts fans, I think, have kind of geared up and gotten more on board because they're in an AFC that is just really heavy at quarterback. And it's said you kind of need an alien now to win if you're going to get anywhere in the playoffs. And it seems like Richardson is pretty much that type of player. But, yeah, thank you so much for your time, Brandon. Everybody, if you're not already following Locked On Gators, also follow him on Twitter. He's at WNS underscore Brandon. Thanks so much for your time, man. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:12:18 Yeah. All right, everyone. all right everyone so uh we're gonna reflect a little bit on what brandon had to say there here shortly uh but first let's go ahead and tell you about our friends over at fanduel the nba playoffs are finally almost here will the pacers be in it no they will not but they have a bright future anyways just like we're kind of looking forward to with the Colts. But yeah, it's the perfect time now to download FanDuel, which is America's number one sportsbook. For new customers, you guys get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your first bet doesn't win. All you got to do is just download the FanDuel sportsbook app. It is safe, secure, and it is super easy to use.

Starting point is 00:13:06 Then you can bet on everything from money lines to point scores and even threes drained. Plus, FanDuel even lets you combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payout with a same game parlay. So do not miss your chance to get your no sweat first bet up to $1,000 in bonus bets when you go to FanDuel.com slash locked on. That's FanDuel.com slash locked on to learn more. Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Okay, everybody. So at this point of the draft, unless something crazy happens and the Colts trade up to number one or two or something, which I don't think any of us are really under the impression they'll be doing. It's just too rich. And if they were going to do it, they probably would have done it already. But Chris Ballard has already said, you know, basically what Carolina did was,

Starting point is 00:13:54 was going to be too much out of their price range. So going up to three seems a little more likely, even if they stay at four, it really seems like it's down to Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. And we will go into Will Levis a little more, you know, here in these, these next few weeks, um, Zach and John Hagler did an episode here, uh, recently as well. Uh, but there's at this point, there's really not much about Anthony Richardson that I'm not ready to take on if I'm the Colts. You know, you've got just the sky high ceiling athletically. And yes, he needs to come along a little bit of as a passer. And again, he's only had the 13 starts as in college as a starter. But something we've discussed

Starting point is 00:14:42 before is he's so good athleticallyically and he's such a dangerous runner that that is something that can get him on the field right away. You know, you can get by with him as a runner and then getting the occasional passes in and everything and kind of rely on him more as a weapon as the passing comes along. But he's not really the type of prospect who it's like, he's a huge project. He has to wait two years, whatever. He seems like the kind of player who just needs the experience. He's had the 13 games at Florida, but now you just got to get him playing time.

Starting point is 00:15:14 Um, I really trust Colts head coach, Shane Steichen's past with what he's been able to do with quarterbacks. He's worked with every different kind of quarterback in his most recent experience with Jalen Hurts. That's someone who's kind of comparable with Anthony Richardson. Richardson is just even more athletic. Jalen Hurts was by no means a finished product when he hit the field two years ago. And now look, a year later, he was second in MVP voting. Is that in Richardson's future? I'm not sure. But someone with those physical traits is already worth investing in and taking a chance on. But then you mix in the fact that he kind of checks off the Colts boxes with his attitude and mentally

Starting point is 00:15:57 and his work ethic and everything. They've done a lot of work on him going back from the start of Florida season to now. Like you heard Brandon mentioned, the Colts are there in Gainesville working out Richardson today. So work ethic, you know, that's something that's really critical to Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen. If there's one thing that gives me pause, it's that he's not the most consistently accurate quarterback right now. He has shown signs of being able to do it, but it's kind of scattershot right now. He just needs to be more consistent. You know, that's something Shane Steichen, I watched an interview with him just earlier. He was on Jason Kelsey and Travis Kelsey's podcast.

Starting point is 00:16:40 And they asked, you know, if you're making a quarterback, what's the most important thing? First thing he said was accuracy. And that is not his most consistent trait, of course, but Shane Steichen has said, he thinks that can be taught, that can be developed. And when you have a guy like Richardson, who is focused on perfecting his game and getting better, that's all you need. You need someone who has the physical traits and the want to work with. And, man, at this point, I would be all in with the Colts going up to three to make sure they secure him because we're pretty confident that C.J. Stratton and Bryce Young are going to be the first two players off the board.

Starting point is 00:17:18 So if the Colts are really as into Richardson as it looks like they might be, then go up to number three, get your guy. I don't think moving up one slot in the draft is going to be all that expensive and quarterback is worth it. If this is your guy for the next decade, dozen years, and you feel that way, then is there really a price that you can put on that? I don't think there is. So yeah, thank you again to Brandon for joining

Starting point is 00:17:46 us. Thank you guys for, for tuning in. We will be back with you guys tomorrow. Zach will be back in as well. I think him and had have some stuff cooked up as well. But we're going to keep cracking into draft stuff. Zach actually released his latest mock draft just today. If you guys want to go check that out on horseshoehuddle.com, I think you guys will really like it. It would looks like a really good haul for the Colts if they're actually to come away with it. But follow at locked on Colts at Jake Arthur,

Starting point is 00:18:14 NFL and at Zach Hicks too on Twitter. Also subscribe to locked on Colts on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts, we would be forever indebted to you for your ratings and reviews as well. Your positive ones, your four or five star ones, please, please. But yeah, thank you guys for making us your first listen every day. Now make your second listen, the new Locked On NFL Scouting with the Draft Dudes.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Talking Anthony Richardson with Brandon Olsen

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