05-08-2023, 08:34 AM
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The Colts' development of Anthony Richardson has begun
https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...n/70186929007/
Quote:
INDIANAPOLIS - Anthony Richardson can be found with a football in his hands as he walks through the halls of the Colts facility on West 56th Street, his new workplace. The No. 4 pick in the draft is cradling the ball, staring down at it sometimes, walking with a bounce in his step.
"Just make it feel real a little bit," Richardson said. "I’m feeling good. I’m the quarterback, so I'm holding the ball and feeling excited.”
This is real now. It's no longer just the dream of a 20-year-old kid in college or the hypothetical talk of draft analysts. This life of carrying a football, scouring a playbook, lifting weights, doing cardio, working on drop-backs and throwing to receivers is what he calls a full-time profession.
"I got drafted Thursday. I think that Monday it just felt normal," Richardson said. "I’m like, ‘Okay. No more draft, no more people talking. No more politics, anything. Just football now.’ Just walking around the house, walking around the city, I’m like, ‘Okay, it’s life now.’ I’ve just got to play football and do the right stuff.”
Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson is getting to know his new teammates and coaches at the team's rookie minicamp.
Richardson will turn 21 later this month. He's a baby in NFL terms, and this portion of the year is designed to make players feel like they're being pulled by strings. The Colts held their second day of rookie minicamp on Saturday, where Richardson dropped back and threw footballs into nets and to stationary receivers in individual drills and then took play calls into the huddle and ran the offense for a few contact-less series.
Richardson has a copy of the Colts playbook, which he said is noticeably thicker than the last one he had at Florida. The Gators did more pre-snap than many NFL teams, but the depth of plays and formations were not what they are now, which is still the beginner level of what Shane Steichen is trying to build around his dual-threat quarterback.
This playbook requires more five-step drops out of the shotgun than the last did. So much of his work right now is on basic techniques to turn those movements into muscle memory rather than something he has to count out in his head and risk overthinking, which he's admitted can lead to some of his misses.
"It’s really honing in on learning the system and then footwork wise, it’s really about the concept that we’re throwing," Steichen said. "Do we want him to take a five-step drop? Do we want a three-step drop right here? Where are your eyes? How do we want this ball thrown? Do we want it firm with an arc over a linebacker or if it’s a man-to-man coverage, do we got to throw that thing firm with no arc?"
The time for settling into Indianapolis will come. The Colts facility is just about the only building he knows so far. He hasn't checked much else out yet.
"I went to Walgreens to get some stuff," he said with a laugh.
The other key part of this time of year is the chemistry Richardson is building with teammates from the ground floor. He arrived on Thursday and was coming out of a meeting when he saw a text from Josh Downs, the receiver the Colts drafted in the third round out of North Carolina. Downs wanted to throw for the first time together in the parking lot of his hotel, so Richardson drove over and they tossed a football for a half hour until the sun went down.
MORE:From parking lot throws to a busy 1st Colts practice: How Josh Downs met Anthony Richardson
"His arm is crazy," Downs said. "He's got a tight spiral."
The two have been building that connection in a more real way in the days since. Downs has been easily Richardson's favorite target in 11-on-11 settings, and Downs has taken quickly to a slot role that makes getting open a mindless task during these contact-less settings.
The connection isn't perfect, of course, because it's not meant to be yet. Richardson missed Downs on a slant across the middle during Saturday's practice. But after each miss, and even on some less-than-perfect completions, Richardson will often throw his arms in the air or communicate with the receiver about what could have been better.
This is a job now, but it's still the game he's always loved playing as a boy. The backyard has hash marks drawn into it now, but he's going out there every single day he's allowed, which will be through this weekend before rookies have to take a break per NFL rules.
"If I was able to stay, I would definitely stay," Richardson said, "because I’m excited to be here and I don’t think I want to leave.”
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