The Indianapolis Colts used the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft to select quarterback Anthony Richardson.
While there is a road of development ahead, general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen expressed plenty of excitement about the potential he brings to Indy.
Here’s what they said in the media session Thursday night after making the pick:
Draft room got tense waiting
Chris Ballard: “Excited. You’ve seen the draft room. Got a little tense there at (pick) three, but we’re excited. Did a lot of work on Anthony (Richardson), spent a lot of time with him, you know, over the last month. I think he’s a good fit for us. Let’s not crown him yet. He’s a young player, he’s got work to do but we like his talent. We like what he can be. I don’t Shane (Steichen) could tell you either, but what I can tell you is we drafted him for what we think he can really be in the future. He’s a very smart young man. Good kid, he works, we think it’s all in front of him. So, we’re excited to get him.
“Anytime you’re sitting there and you’ve kind of targeted a guy in front of you, you always worry about somebody jumping up and getting him, you always wonder if somebody’s laying in the weeds and good for us, they weren’t.”
First impressions
Shane Steichen: “Yeah, obviously the tape was the first time I saw him. Just his playmaking ability, what he brings from a playmaking ability, his physical skillset is impressive. Obviously, there’s a lot of work that we’ve got to do – the whole team, not just him. There are certain things that he brings to the table that we’re so excited about as a football player in the future of this organization.”
Impressive poise
Chris Ballard: “Yeah, well look, he’s young. He’s young, but he’s very poised. I think you see it when he plays. Like, when you look at his – he’s a very poised young man. Even though he hasn’t had a lot of starts, just the one thing that I kept going back and watching, all his pressures. Everybody that pressured him. That’s when you really saw his poise come to light. Like any young man. He turns 21 (years old) here in the middle of May, so he’s going to have growing to do, like all of them do. We’ll help him, we’ll help him, we’ll bring him along and he’ll be a good player for us.”
Playing time is the best developer
Shane Steichen: “Yeah, I think with anything, I think the development of players comes with more experience. 13 starts, I think when you play more, that’s how you develop. You know what I mean? So, with him playing and his experience as a player and getting more reps, practice reps, game reps, I think that’s how you develop.”
Improvement in accuracy
Chris Ballard: “I mean, there’s always – it’s fair. That’s a fair assessment. I think the one thing we’re seeing in the league now is guys you can work on and get them more accurate. Just footwork, fundamentals, there are certain things I think we can do and I think you’ve seen guys jump in our league. I think you’ll see him jump.”
Tempering early expectations
Chris Ballard: “I’m not going to say that. 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. Some of them it takes two, three years for them to become a really good player. It’s probably the one area where I’ve seen it, and this is even before me being in the league, it’s the one area where teams that, the pressure for these guys after one or two years – back 10, 15 years ago, guys would get year three, four, five. Think about it. Terry Bradshaw, he might have never played in today’s NFL. It took him time in Pittsburgh. 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.”
They knew he was the pick for a while
Chris Ballard: “Yeah. After we spent time with him, we knew after we spent our time, worked him out, spent a lot of time with him, just felt really good about who he was as a person. Of course, he’s still young but just felt really good about who he was.”
A unique player
Chris Ballard: “I hate to make that comparison. He’s pretty unique Bob (Kravitz). He’s a pretty unique athlete and talent.”
Shane Steichen: “I think that’s kind of what he just asked – the comp. I’m not going to compare anybody. I think Anthony Richardson is Anthony Richardson. He’s his own person. I don’t like to compare.”
There were talks with Arizona
Chris Ballard: “We talked to them. Yeah. But at the end of the day we just said you know what we’re just going to sit and wait.”
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