Titans coach Mike Vrabel reflects on pre-draft meeting with Colts QB Anthony Richardson
Not too long ago, the Indianapolis Colts' quarterback of the future was a potential Tennessee Titan.
The Titans (2-2) visit the Colts (2-2) on Sunday (noon, CBS) for their first AFC South showdown of the season. As such, this also will be the Titans' first matchup against rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, the dual-threat passer they scouted heavily in the buildup to the NFL draft. General manager Ran Carthon attended Richardson's pro day, and the team hosted him in April for a pre-draft visit in Nashville.
The Titans never had the chance to draft him, though. The rumors that they might try to trade up into the top 10 to select a quarterback were just that. The Colts selected Richardson No. 4 overall out of Florida, and the Titans waited until the second round to snag their quarterback, Kentucky's Will Levis.
On Monday, Titans coach Mike Vrabel reflected on his meetings with Richardson.
"Had a great visit with him," he said. "Very engaging individual. Enjoyed it, enjoyed the time, our conversations. Spent a whole day here and did a fantastic job. He’s a big, physical, fast quarterback that's going to be a huge challenge this week."
Three games into his NFL career, Richardson has thrown for 479 yards and three touchdowns with one interception and rushed for 131 yards and four scores. He showed an impressive level of poise in the Colts' 29-23 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, leading the team in a second-half comeback with two touchdown passes and two 2-point conversions and he ran for another touchdown to tie the score late.
Levis, by contrast, has been inactive for the Titans' first four games. He battled with second-year passer Malik Willis for the backup quarterback job throughout training camp but missed the final two preseason games with a quad injury that limited what he was able to do.
Richardson is the second dual-threat quarterback the Titans are facing this season. The defense struggled to contain the first: Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson wiggled his way out of several hits behind the line of scrimmage to escape sacks and keep his eyes downfield, allowing him to throw for 289 yards, his most since the 2020 season, in the Browns' 27-3 win.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nickusss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans' Mike Vrabel reflects on pre-draft talk with Colts QB
