Doyel: Calm down, on the day Colts name rookie QB Anthony Richardson starter? You calm down.
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts have done the smart thing, the only thing, and named rookie Anthony Richardson the starter at quarterback. It’s another milestone on his way to Manning and Luck and whatever heights our city eventually reaches, riding the cape of No. 5.
This is what we want, and don’t bother telling me to calm down. This day, with Colts coach Shane Steichen anointing Richardson as the starter, isn’t the time to ratchet down the pressure. You think Richardson isn’t feeling it already? You think he hasn’t felt it since April 27, when the Colts drafted him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft? He knows what the franchise expects. He knows what the city expects.
Most of all, he knows what he expects.
“Great quarterbacks played here before I did,” Richardson told us April 28, his first day in town, mentioning Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck by name, “and I want to be a part of that list.”
And then he said:
“I will be a part of that list because I’m going to make sure I’m prepared, I’ll put that work in, and support my team and support the franchise.”
Doyel before draft: Stay calm, but signing Minshew MEANS ANTHONY RICHARDSON IS NEXT
Doyel on draft night: Anthony Richardson is the perfect lump of QB clay
Calm down? Me? Look, tell Gardner Minshew to calm down. He’s the veteran quarterback the Colts signed as a free agent before the draft, before they knew Richardson would fall to them with the fourth pick. Minshew came here to help lead whichever rookie quarterback the Colts drafted – could’ve been Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud, in those days – but also to compete for the job. He came here to play, if at all possible.
So what did Minshew say Tuesday, minutes after learning that, as it turns out, he’d come here to watch?
“This is his franchise,” Minshew told reporters at Colts camp at Grand Park in Westfield. “There’s a reason they picked (Richardson) where they did. He’s going to be special.”
Whoa, Gardner, slow down. That’s crazy talk.
Richardson good, almost great in NFL debut
It’s a good thing Colts receiver Alec Pierce dropped that touchdown Saturday, you know that?
Imagine if Pierce had caught the prettiest pass of Richardson’s NFL debut, a 34-yard lob to the front of the end zone, put softly in a place where only Pierce could catch it. Think of Richardson’s stat line after one quarter against the defending AFC East champion Buffalo Bills, on the road:
Try 8-for-12 for 101 yards, an interception and a touchdown. Something close to that, anyway.
We’d have done backflips around here. Do the Colts have tickets remaining for the 2023 NFL season? Not anymore, they wouldn’t, if Pierce had caught that pass and Richardson had ended his first quarter of NFL action with more than 100 yards passing. Do the math: Four quarters multiplied by 100 yards equals … well, it equals mass hysteria, the good kind, the kind we’ve not had around here since January 2015 when Luck was throwing to T.Y. Hilton and the Colts were marching to the 2015 AFC title game at New England and what could possibly derail this franchise from its rightful return to a Super Bowl?
Oh, everything. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and some deflated footballs. Two mismatched coaching staffs and one overmatched general manager. Fourth-and-dumb. Luck’s shoulder. Adam Vinatieri’s leg.
We’ve seen some things.
Calm down, today, the day we learn Anthony Richardson will lead the Colts offense onto the field Sept. 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars? You calm down. Me, I’m going to beg Shane Steichen to do something nobody does in the NFL, but to please do it Sept. 10 at Lucas Oil Stadium if the Colts win the pregame coin toss against Jacksonville:
Take the ball to start the game, Steichen. Don’t make us wait even one minute more than necessary.
It starts with Anthony Richardson, Shane Steichen
Richardson has learned some things in the last months. Outward humility, for one thing, and if you could see the way I’m writing this paragraph, picture me smiling and hugging the young man. He’s not cocky or arrogant, just a product of 21st century stardom.
Fueled by sycophants on social media, athletes say the strangest things these days, like after the Colts’ 2018 NFL Draft when Rutgers defensive end Kemoko Turay called himself “our generation of Von Miller” and Northern Iowa receiver Daurice Fountain said he could be “talked about like Antonio Brown.”
“Literally,” Fountain said.
Doyel in 2018: Did you hear what Colts' draft class said about itself??
Deon Cain, a receiver from Clemson, was saying in 2018 that “I’m going to be a hall of famer in this league,” so let’s not hold it against Richardson that, five years later, he'd say:
“God blessed me with physical abilities that not every quarterback has,” he said on draft night. “I can do things other QBs can’t do. … Then I’m also willing to learn. I’m willing to be just as good or if not better than all these quarterbacks in the draft or all the quarterbacks in the league.”
Here we are, less than four months later, and Richardson has that chance. He’s the starter. And here’s what he said Tuesday, after a reporter asked if he was ready.
“As of right now, I think I’m ready,” he said. “But who am I to say if I’m ready or not?”
He’s learning, see. He’s seen what an NFL defense looks like – the Colts in practice, the Bills in the preseason opener – and realizes his physical gifts will take him only so far. This is good, this is what we want. Richardson is determined to reach his potential, whether it’s showing up to the stadium five hours before kickoff Saturday or playing catch with rookie receiver Josh Downs in the parking lot outside the team hotel on the first night of rookie minicamp in May.
"Just from that," Downs said, "I know he’s ready to go any time and he’s going to put in the work to be great.”
Doyel in May: Anthony Richardson's work ethic, like his physical ability, is off the charts
This is what it will take, plus time and patience, but it sure seems like we have the ingredients in place for something delicious here. This season? No, not this season. The 2023 Colts roster is barren of elite talent thanks to injuries (linebacker Shaq Leonard), wear-and-tear (guard Quenton Nelson) and pouting (running back Jonathan Taylor), and the depth looks suspect. The offensive line might be decent. Same goes for the receiving corps. Whatever the Colts do on offense this season, they will do it because of those ingredients I just mentioned:
Richardson’s athletic ability, throwing ability and hunger – and Steichen’s genius for offense.
We need to see more of that – mainly Richardson’s throwing ability, and Steichen’s genius – but if both can deliver on their promise, the Colts are in good hands. It’s tempting to say the payoff will come down the road, in 2024 or maybe beyond, after the rest of the roster rises to the occasion, but let’s not overlook the 2023 season. Let’s not overlook Sept. 10 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Anthony Richardson is here, and like Manning and Luck before him, he will start the first regular-season game of his NFL career. He will have rookie moments, and he will have great moments, and let’s savor all of it. Because someday down the road, when Richardson and the Colts become what they are destined to become, we’ll be able to say this:
We were there, like Richardson, from the start.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts name Anthony Richardson starting QB, so the fun starts now
