Tuesday two’fer Colts articles

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Insider: 10 thoughts Anthony Richardson, Will Levis, Lamar Jackson and the Colts QB search

Ten thoughts on the Colts' quarterback search after traveling to pro days for Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Kentucky's Will Levis and Florida's Anthony Richardson:

1. The Colts are taking a cautious approach to solving the dilemma that has caught the franchise in neutral since 2019. Just like they did with the search that led to coach Shane Steichen, they’re trying to give every option a fair chance to prove he’s the guy.They’ve decided to do that by visiting the top four quarterbacks this week and by trusting their scouts at the pro days – in this case, area scout Mike Lacy at Stroud’s and Levis’ and director of scouting Morocco Brown at Richardson’s. It’s a unique way to evaluate the potential face of a franchise, but the Colts don’t want to tip their hand, and controlling the visits seems to be their way to do it.Of course, that patient approach also whittled the field of potential options down, as the Colts let the Panthers trade up to the No. 1 pick because they said they weren’t ready for such a commitment. Carolina, with Frank Reich, isn’t taking any chances to end its version of the same dilemma.

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud is the favorite to go No. 1 overall in this year's NFL Draft.
C.J. Stroud is an easy favorite for Carolina

2. It was interesting to see Panthers brass at each one of these pro days, where ownership had dinner with each prospect.At this point, it seems likely that they will take Stroud, given the cleanliness of his resume and traits. Bryce Young has size concerns at 5-foot-10 and a playing weight south of 200 pounds, and that will matter to Reich and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who both played a decade-plus in the league at 6-4. Will Levis has turnovers and sacks to iron out, and Reich fell into a trap of conservative play-calling with Carson Wentz. Anthony Richardson has a lack of readiness with just 13 starts, and the Panthers want to solve this issue now.But there’s time on the clock, and teams have overthought this before. (See the 49ers in 2020, after trading up to No. 3 and selecting Trey Lance.) Attending each pro day is thorough scouting, but it also opens the door for new impressions.


3. The trajectory of Stroud in this pro-draft process has been telling. In January, Stroud played his final college game in the College Football Playoff against Georgia and dominated with his arms and legs, totaling 382 yards and four touchdowns on the No. 1 defense and showing the escapability and rushing scouts said he lacked before. “I'll show them my athleticism,” he said at the combine. "I've done it before on film, but since people don't think I can do it, I'm going to do it again."Flash forward to the pro day, where he put on another show with his arm but opted out of the 40-yard dash."I don't need to run the 40," Stroud said with a laugh. "... When I need to extend plays, I extend them just as well as anyone in the country. You've gotta watch the tape."Stroud decided to double down on his best trait, which is the one the other quarterbacks can’t match: throwing with power, accuracy and consistency to all levels of the field. It’s also a window into how he sees himself: He’s a pocket passer, and that’ll always be his focus above out-of-structure plays.

MORE:C.J. Stroud makes another case to go No. 1, but the Colts are monitoring

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis has one of the stronger arms among NFL Draft prospects in recent seasons.
Why Will Levis and the Colts could be a match

4. Since the combine, it’s felt like Levis had been falling between the fascination over Richardson’s athleticism and Stroud’s consistent throwing. It became easier to poke the holes, like his 23 interceptions the past two seasons and his inability to put it all together as a fifth-year quarterback.


Those questions haven’t disappeared, but I was struck by how much he and Kentucky leaned into them. Coaches and players spoke of self-awareness and growth mindset. It’s the bedrock of a program playing in the best conference in the country without the same resources or history or local talent and must find a different way, with recruits from the Midwest. It’s what made Levis, coming from Penn State, a perfect match. This was the rare time Kentucky acquired a quarterback who looked like those at Tennessee or Florida.

Levis won them over by being him -- the banana peel-eating, mayo-in-coffee, bulldozing runner with the cannon arm. Ask any player about Levis and you can see the light in their eyes just at the mention of his name.


“In Will we trust,” running back Chris Rodriguez said. "If you draft him, you'll get a once-in-a-blue-moon type of quarterback.


5. Becoming special at Kentucky and doing so in the NFL are two different beasts. Levis understands that, which is why he’s working with renowned trainer Jordan Palmer to attack the weaknesses teams are laying out to him.


"I have as talented of an arm as anybody, and even when I don't have efficient movements and am off-pace a little, I can still pull it off because of how strong my arm is," Levis said. "Being able to move to a position as efficiently as possible, to get my feet in the right spots, to be consistent and efficient in my delivery has been the biggest part of the training."

In his throwing session, he showed off that growth in marrying his feet to his arm for throws on the run. He was still firing with too much straight-line power on intermediate throws, creating the occasional miss.

He’s a work in progress, but he’s doing a nice job of showing he’ll work. His confidence, talent and ego create an aggressive personality for a quarterback with his resume, and it might not be for everyone. But I bet the Colts will like it. They are desperate for an offensive leader with a ceiling to chase.

6. Everything is under the microscope for these quarterbacks, creating an early test of how they’ll handle the scrutiny and pressure that comes with the NFL. It can bring a lot of glory, but it’ll cost a lot of guts early on. Let’s not forget that Peyton Manning set the rookie record for interceptions.


Everyone wants a perfect quarterback, but that doesn't exist in college. There's strength in having seen the adversity already. That’s one edge that Levis and Richardson have on Young and Stroud. They didn’t show up to College Football Playoff programs, wait for a season behind first-round quarterbacks and step in for elite offensive coaches to throw to elite receivers. Instead, they played in the toughest conference with less talent and coaching stability than the monsters they were up against.

It exposed some warts, like Levis’ pocket presence and Richardson’s accuracy. But there’s a value to having worn the sting of losses and disappointment as a quarterback representing a major institution. That’s going to happen to them as rookies, and it can't break them when it does.

Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson set the NFL Scouting Combine record for quarterbacks with a 40.5-inch vertical jump.
7. On that front, Richardson presents a fascinating disposition. For the one quarterback in this class who hasn’t tasted a big-time season on the field, he just comes off so… happy. You saw it as he beamed in warmups, and then as he launched 70-yard touchdown passes, and then even as he hit the rafters on a throw, and then as he back-flipped at midfield, and as he spoke, and as he took photos with the teenagers and college friends who got to see this play out in his hometown.


"If you're in a room with people who are sad, you'll see him smiling,” Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence said. “He lifts up the morale of the room.”

It’s hard to resist the Cam Newton comparisons when you’re around Richardson. He’s a kid in love with his gifts and where they can take him, and he’s that confident in where he’s going that dwelling on the negatives is wasting time. It’s not that he doesn’t want to improve his accuracy or decision making or leadership, but more that he accepts the burdens of being young and not having all the answers drawn up yet.

INSIDE ANTHONY RICHARDSON: ‘Lord knows what my ceiling is.’ Will Colts be the team to find out?

Why didn't Anthony Richardson produce more at Florida?

8. It’s fair to look at Richardson’s 6-foot-4, 244-pound frame with 4.4 speed and record burst and wonder why wasn’t better last year, when he completed 53.8% of his passes for only 17 touchdown passes with 654 rushing yards. But dig into the circumstances, and it’s also easy to see why that was the case.


Playing in the SEC as a first-year quarterback at Florida is its own welcome-to-the-NFL moment. Richardson sat a year behind Kyle Trask before battling Emory Jones and dealing with some injuries. That was the year the Florida program fell apart, in recruiting and player discipline and retention. Billy Napier arrived last season with a new offense and a new recruiting plan at wide receiver, but it wasn’t going to come together in time for a first-year quarterback.

Richardson showed some pulse last year with a speech after a 42-20 loss to Georgia, when he begged teammates to realize why they came to Florida in the first place. He asked them to meet potential. It was a realization that he hadn’t yet met his.

9. That job will be on the next coach. Richardson is trying to become the first one-year starter to go in the first round since Mitchell Trubisky. In the past decade, the successful one-year college starters into the NFL were players who won Heismans in their one season, like Newton did at Florida and Kyler Murray at Oklahoma.


The temptation with a young player who needs to learn is to sit him, but it's easier said than done on teams where 52 other players need a quarterback's success to engineer their futures. And with Richardson, I'm not sure it's the solution. He needs live reps, to play within that 4.4 speed and rocket launcher arm and 244-pound build and historic burst and to create a playing style that feels natural, breeds consistency, stays on the field and builds the players around him.

Richardson thrives on confidence and joy, and stuffing that combination into a backup role with a clipboard could be asking for the same kind of lost time he experienced early on at Florida. I think the loss of on-field reps has been a key snag in the development of Lance.

The team that drafts Richardson could sit him for a few games, but he needs to play to learn what he wasn't able to at Florida. It could be a rocky process with a bright light at the end of the tunnel. It's the definition of boom-or-bust, but it can't thrive in the dark.

Lamar Jackson won the 2019 MVP and is now looking for a trade from the Baltimore Ravens as he seeks a new contract.
Lamar Jackson could be the best of all world

10. The one other option is to circumvent all this is to trade for Lamar Jackson, who has the upside of an MVP and the proof to go with it, at age 26.

It comes down to this: Jackson has asked out of the Ravens, which means the door is open to go somewhere else. The Colts are open to becoming that somewhere else, but on certain terms. The two are far apart on the concept of financial security, which started this standstill back when Jackson asked for a fully guaranteed contract. Jim Irsay has felt the pain of losing an MVP-caliber quarterback to injuries before.


If Jackson is truly done with the Ravens, and if they are also ready to move on, then the Colts' No. 4 pick could be Baltimore's best route to a future quarterback. Indianapolis has Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce and Steichen to offer Jackson a more sustainable playing style to lengthen his career and thus extend his earnings.

It's a leap of faith for a franchise that hasn't earned that from quarterbacks lately, but it's possible it's his best available option.

It's such a bridge to gap that the likely scenario is a quarterback pick at No. 3 or

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Should the Colts move up in the NFL Draft? How about moving down?

The Indianapolis Colts hold the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're picking fourth.

Their perceived biggest need is quarterback, and they could assure that they get their man by trading up one spot with the Arizona Cardinals. There are scenarios where they trade down and stockpile picks to address depth as several positions.

The QBs they could target: Will Levis, Anthony Richardson, C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young. Also, the Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson is eligible to negotiate a trade.

Insider:10 thoughts on Richardson, Levis, Lamar Jackson and the Colts QB search


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Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times: C.J. Stroud

(With the Panthers drafting Anthony Richardson first the) Colts run up to the podium in this scenario. Stroud has all the tools to be successful right off the bat.


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Todd McShay, ESPN: Anthony Richardson

The Colts trade up to select No. 3. They give Arizona Nos. 4, 79 and a future second-round pick.

I've heard mixed messages regarding the Colts' interest in quarterbacks not named Young and Stroud, but the veteran route just hasn't worked for them. They've started each of the past five seasons with a different starting QB, and they scored the NFL's fewest points in 2022 (15.8 per game). If either Richardson or Kentucky's Will Levis is Indy's guy, it can't afford to stay at No. 4 and just hope things work out.

There is obvious risk with Richardson, and it's certainly possible Gardner Minshew would be getting the Week 1 call. After all, Richardson has just 13 career starts and accuracy issues to work through, mainly stemming from poor footwork and still-developing touch. But you'd need to call in NASA to reach his sky-high ceiling. At 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds, Richardson ran a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash at the combine and has the strongest arm in this class. If he puts it all together, he could be a star in the NFL. New Colts coach Shane Steichen might be the guy to get him there.

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA Today: Richardson


Talk about odd pairings. Richardson, a 6-4, 244-pound passer with 4.43-second speed in the 40-yard dash and a spotty college resume, hardly seems like the kind of quarterback that Chris Ballard would want to stake his career on after the Colts GM was unmoved by so many other young passers in recent years. At this point, though, Ballard needs to make a big swing, and his options at No. 4 might be somewhat limited. Regardless, the Colts should take comfort in knowing that new coach Shane Steichen looks like a strong candidate to accelerate Richardson's development given his work tapping into Jalen Hurts' rushing ability while fine-tuning the quarterback's play as a pocket passer.


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Damian Parson, Draft Network: Richardson

General manager Chris Ballard finds his quarterback of the future staying put at the fourth spot. Anthony Richardson has elite-level physical tools and traits. He lacks experience and refinement. Head coach Shane Steichen knows the return on investment when properly developing a toolsy quarterback. I expect him to be patient and help usher Richardson along to become the dangerous quarterback he can be.

Gordon McGuiness, Pro Football Focus: Will Levis

In this three-round projection, the Colts also select TCU cornerback Steve Avila and SMU receiver Rashee Rice.

Walter Football: Levis

The Colts need to find a permanent solution at quarterback, rather than play musical chairs at the position. In a previous scenario, the Colts were trading up with the Bears to leapfrog the divisional rival Texans to obtain the quarterback they want in this class. Now, they have to hope that the team that moves up to No. 3 doesn't take the signal-caller they like. Perhaps they'll make the move themselves, or trade for Lamar Jackson.


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Will Levis has a big arm and could be chosen in the top 10.

Derrik Klassen, Bleacher Report: Richardson

Richardson's pocket management and poise are excellent, which will go a long way behind the Colts' leaky offensive line. Additionally, Richardson is a capable, if imperfect, processor and has very good anti-sack habits, such as knowing when to get to his checkdowns and throw the ball away.

Richardson's primary issue is accuracy, but the concern mostly boils down to footwork and lack of experience, which can be mended with time.

Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports: Christian Gonzalez

In this scenario, the Colts trade down with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Colts get the 7th and 38th overall picks.

The Colts need a quarterback in the worst way but they don't want to compound matters by overdrafting one here. Instead, they trade down, pick up some draft capital and get one of the most athletic players in this class. Gonzalez, a Colorado transfer, is a big-time player who is still growing into the position. He has the size, strength and speed ‒ he ran a 4.38 40 at the combine ‒ to line up against NFL wide receivers; he just needs to improve in run support.


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Danny Kelly, The Ringer: Richardson

The Colts trade up to No. 3. Here's what they give to Arizona: Nos. 4, 79 and 106 this year, and a 2024 third-round pick.

The Colts decide to go get their man, trading up one spot with the Cardinals to ensure no other QB-needy teams jump them. Richardson is raw, with just 13 starts on his résumé, but he boasts truly rare physical skills as both a passer and runner. New head coach Shane Steichen could implement a Jalen Hurts–style plan around his new quarterback, bringing a read-option and run-centric scheme that highlights Richardson’s skill set while giving him the opportunity to hone his abilities as a passer.

Cynthia Frelund, NFL.com: Richardson

My model tends to be conservative, so this pick surprised me a bit. Typically, my model wouldn't have a QB with relatively few career starts (Richardson) going ahead of a player with a similar overall rating and more starts (Will Levis). However, Richardson's fit with new coach Shane Steichen puts the Florida passer over the top. Steichen played a big part in transforming Jalen Hurts from a college star into a Super Bowl starter -- in part, by building off of Hurts' rushing ability. Combine Richardson's potential for a similar level of progression with Jonathan Taylor’s prolific production and Richardson's NFL learning curve becomes a bit smoother.

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