Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images
With the rookie passer sidelined for the year, what does that do for his development?
This is not the news that the Indianapolis Colts, and their fans, wanted to hear.
But it is the unfortunate reality of their situation.
The team announced on Wednesday that rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, who was already on Injured Reserve with a shoulder injury, will have surgery. That procedure will bring to a close his rookie campaign after only a handful of games. Richardson suffered the injury, which was first described as a “Grade 3 AC sprain,” in the Colts’ Week 5 win over the Tennessee Titans.
It was the third injury already suffered by the rookie quarterback in his young NFL career. Richardson left the team’s Week 1 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars with a knee injury, and suffered a concussion during their Week 2 game against the Houston Texans, which kept him sidelined for Week 3.
He returned to action for Week 4, an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams, but now his season is over after the injury suffered against the Titans.
Why is this an issue?
Because of time.
Coming out of Florida, while there were differing opinions on Richardson as a prospect, there was at least consensus on him regarding this point: He needed games. More reps, more starts, more game action to grow acclimated to playing in the NFL as a starting quarterback. Richardson started only 13 games for the Gators, a rather low number for a prospect.
When watching Richardson at Florida, you still saw moments where — in contrast to the prevailing notion that he was so raw he would need to sit for a year or more before playing — Richardson was doing the little things that NFL quarterbacks need to do to succeed. Take this play against USF, which spoke to his NFL potential:
Florida faces a 2nd and 20 in their own territory and aligns in a 2×2 formation. USF shows Richardson single-high coverage before the snap. The Gators run a smash concept to the right side, with the slot receiver running a deep corner route, and the boundary receiver running a hitch.
Right at the snap, however, the Bulls spin their safeties into Cover 2, with a pair of safeties deep. As this play unfolds, pay attention first to Richardson’s eyes, and then what happens to the cornerback to that side of the field, #3.
Richardson puts his eyes on the middle of the field right at the snap, to decipher the coverage. Once he confirms that South Florida is spinning into two-high, he gets his eyes on the hitch route. That puts the cornerback in a bind, and you can see how he is caught between covering the boundary receiver on the hitch route and getting depth underneath the corner route.
So what does Richardson do? Armed with the space to throw the deeper route — space he helped create with his eyes — the QB throws the corner route, putting it in a perfect spot for a 33-yard gain.
This is the kind of play that Richardson showed in flashes at Florida, but needed more time in the NFL over his rookie campaign to showcase how he could perform at this level on a consistent basis.
And, prior to the injury, Richardson was showing moments like this. Take this play against the Titans, as the Colts face a 3rd and long:
Indianapolis runs a deep scissors concept against Cover 3. Richardson sees the playside cornerback flatten just enough on the in-breaking route, giving the deep corner route from the outside receiver a chance to break open downfield. The rookie QB slides away from pressure just enough and uncorks a near-perfect throw, allowing the Colts to move the chains.
And he makes this throw with good anticipation, throwing it ahead of the break and at the perfect moment.
Or take this play against the Rams, on a verticals concept. Pay particular attention to his eyes here, as he moves the safety on the left before getting his eyes to the right side of hte field:
This, too, is a very good play from the rookie quarterback.
Every game, every snap, was an opportunity for Richardson to build on moments like these, to get the much-needed snaps to improve at every aspect of playing the position. The foundation is there for Richardson to become the quarterback the Colts — and their fans — are hoping he can be. He also landed in perhaps an ideal spot, playing for Shane Steichen who helped Jalen Hurts develop from an intriguing backup into a Super Bowl QB and, for a brief moment, the highest-paid player in NFL history.
The pieces were in place, Richardson just needed as much time under center as possible.
Time he will not get now.
For sure, there can be a silver lining to this. It may help him learn the importance of protecting himself, of getting better at avoiding contact as much as possible, and sometimes accepting that the best result on a given play as a QB is simply being able to play the next one.
It may also give him time to reset, refocus, and come back stronger for next season. After all, the NFL Draft process is the world’s longest, and strangest, job interview cycle. As a prospect you go straight from your last college game into Combine prep, then into the draft itself, and as soon as you walk off the stage after getting your hug from Commissioner Roger Goodell you are whisked away to rookie minicamp with a big new playbook to memorize.
It is a whirlwind. Now he has a chance to catch his breath a little.
Still, the biggest thing Richardson needed was more time under center.
He’ll have to wait to get that until next year.
