Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson may be built like Superman, but even Clark Kent needed time to hone his powers.
While the optimism and excitement are at an all-time high following Round 1 of the 2023 NFL draft—and rightfully so—the Colts are preaching patience when it comes to the development of the new face of the franchise.
“He’s got to come in and earn his way like every player we bring in. Let’s not expect him to be Superman from day one. I think history has shown there’s not many of them that are Superman from day one,” general manager Chris Ballard said Thursday night.
With only 13 starts and 393 pass attempts in his collegiate career, there’s a long road of development ahead for Richardson. He’s shown a lot of promise in some advanced areas such as pocket manipulation and going through full-field progressions, but he still needs reps.
And as far as the timetable goes, the Colts aren’t rushing the process. They have no qualms about letting the rookie develop at his own pace.
“We’ve got to let these guys develop and play. They’re going to have some struggles and then they’ve got to work through the struggles and eventually, their talent, the more they play, their talent will come to life,” said Ballard.
Part of the allure of Richardson’s upside is the fact that new head coach Shane Steichen will be leading the development process. His success with various archetypes at the quarterback position bodes well for his chances of reaching an extremely high ceiling.
It also helps to have Gardner Minshew in the quarterback room, especially with his two full seasons of experience in Steichen’s offense to help Richardson develop at a faster rate.
“Yeah, Gardner is a good player. Obviously, we brought him in here for a reason and obviously we’ll see how that whole thing shakes out. You know what I mean?” Steichen said. “We’ve got to get Anthony in here, get him started in OTAs and go through training camp and go through that process and see where it goes from there.”
Fans have the right to be excited, but patience is warranted. There will be struggles along the road of development, but Richardson’s upside is undoubtedly worth it.
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