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He’s going to be really special': Colts name Anthony Richardson starting quarterback

WESTFIELD — Anthony Richardson had no idea the decision was coming.

From the moment he was drafted, Richardson has been working with the season opener in mind, grinding in order to earn the right to be the Colts’ starting quarterback right away, even though so many analysts and experts spent the draft cycle saying Richardson needs time to sit and develop.

Richardson had been sharing first-team snaps with veteran Gardner Minshew throughout training camp, slowly but surely kept improving and started the first preseason game, all along displaying the command of the Colts offense he needed to handle the playbook.

But the rookie didn’t know what was coming when Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen called Richardson into his office Monday night to tell him the decision had been made.


Richardson’s the starting quarterback, the same way that Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck began their careers in Indianapolis as the starters right away.

“Honestly, I was shocked,’ Richardson said. “It was just hearing the words. You work for it. … I didn’t know when the timeline was going to be, I was just looking forward to Week 1, getting the opportunity and being thrown into the fire.”


The Colts wanted Richardson to win the job right away.

Steichen planted that flag on the night Richardson was drafted, saying at the time that he believed the best way for a young quarterback to develop was to play right away.

Colts owner Jim Irsay had laid the groundwork a month earlier, referencing Peyton Manning’s ugly rookie season as proof that letting a rookie learn on the fly can pay dividends long-term, and if there was any doubt where the owner stood, Irsay erased it on the third day of the draft, echoing Steichen’s belief: The best way to develop a young quarterback is to play him.


But Richardson still had to earn the right.

Indianapolis wasn’t going to the throw the rookie into the lineup right away if he couldn’t handle the playbook, if they thought he wasn’t ready as a player, if he didn’t have command of the huddle and the leadership role the quarterback inevitably takes on a roster.


Richardson answered all those questions.

By all accounts, he’s worked tirelessly on the playbook since he was drafted, and the work has been evident on the practice fields during training camp, where Richardson’s mistakes have often been more physical than mental. He’s taken ownership of his role — dapping up the first-team offense before practice periods even when Minshew was playing the snaps, and impressing the veterans with his command of the huddle during Saturday’s preseason game against the Bills.

“I try to work my tail off every day for them,” Richardson said. “I don’t want to make it seem like everything should be handed to me, because it definitely shouldn’t.”

When Richardson bounced back from an early interception in Buffalo with poise, took responsibility for the throw and then responded by playing better as the game progressed, the older Colts players weren’t surprised, because he’s been unflappable ever since he was drafted.

“I know if you talk to some of the offensive linemen, he’s got some confidence in the huddle and not like, ‘Hey, I’m this young first-round pick, I’ve got all the answers,’” assistant general manager Ed Dodds said. “It’s not too big for him.”

And as a player, Richardson might not be as accurate as Minshew right away, but he adds an explosive quality to the offense that Minshew doesn’t have.

“Like the progress he’s made, excited about his future, the playmaking ability he brings to this football team,” Steichen said.

Naming Richardson the starting quarterback now allows the Colts to focus all of their energy on getting the rookie ready for the season opener. Richardson will take all the first-team snaps in joint practices against the Bears this week and the Eagles next week, critical sessions for developing the offense.

“Keep getting more reps, keep creating that chemistry with the ones,” Steichen said. “The more reps he gets, the more he sees, the more looks he sees, he’s going to be better for it.”

The more the Colts know, the more Steichen and his offensive staff can help Richardson from a schematic standpoint right away.


The Richardson version of the offense will be very different than the Minshew version of the offense, and Steichen’s prior experience with young quarterbacks — he was the offensive coordinator for Justin Herbert as a rookie and for Jalen Hurts in his first full season starting in Philadelphia — has taught the Colts head coach that the coaching staff can help a young quarterback immensely by building the offense around concepts what he already knows.

Indianapolis knows Richardson will go through rough patches.

“Are there going to be ups and downs throughout the season? Absolutely,” Steichen said. “For a rookie, it’s a long season, it’s a 17-week grind, there’s going to be ups and downs. We fight through those together.”

Minshew now settles back into a familiar role, serving primarily as support for the rookie quarterback the team considers its future.

The fifth-year veteran is still only 27. He might have wanted a chance, even briefly, to convince the rest of the NFL that he might still have starter’s potential.


But Minshew also understands the NFL, and he’s seen how Richardson’s worked up close, even before they were on the same team — the two quarterbacks share the same private coach in the offseason.

“This is his franchise,” Minshew said. “That’s the reason they picked him. … Man, he’s going to be really special.”

Richardson will be the seventh different starting quarterback to open the season in the past seven years.

But unlike all of the others, the only exception being Andrew Luck in 2018, Richardson’s supposed to be the starter in Indianapolis for a long, long time.

“I want to be great, I want to be remembered,” Richardson said. “I don’t want to just be one of those guys, ‘OK, he was in the league.’ I want my legacy to be forever.”

Richardson has the title.

Now, he begins the harder job. Making it his own.