Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson saw plenty of hype heading into the 2024 season. With all eyes on CJ Stroud and Patrick Mahomes as the incumbent and the challenger of the AFC this season, Richardson is looking to butt his way into the conversation.
With Stroud and Richardson battling in Week 1, the latter quarterback had his best opportunity to put the division and the conference on notice.
How did he do? Here are two big observations about the young Colts signal-caller who still remains very much a mystery in where he fits in the NFL.
Anthony Richardson’s ceiling is atmospheric
All it took was one play to put an exclamation mark on what Richardson can do in his career. In the latter third of the first quarter, Richardson spotted wide receiver Alec Pierce running past defenders. Standing in the pocket with pressure baring down on him, the quarterback heaved a pass all the way to the end zone, hitting Pierce in stride.
The play was one of the highlights across the NFL in Week 1. Richardson had been hyped for his legs and his massive frame with little said about his arm strength or deep accuracy. However, his display in Week 1 teased that he might be the entire package one day. While the Colts lost the game by a score of 27-29 in a thriller, the performance gives Colts fans reason for hope that the team might finally have their long-term answer since losing Andrew Luck to early retirement.
Consistency is key
Richardson had one of the highlight plays of the week. That said, his overall production left plenty of area for improvement in one key area. He rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry, which dwarfs what the similarly mobile Justin Fields was able to do in Week 1 with 14 rush attempts (4.1 yards per carry and zero touchdowns, per ESPN ).
However, when it comes to Richardson’s completion percentage in the game and total yardage, it left some room for improvement.
Richardson failed to complete double-digit passes in the game, completing just nine of 19 attempts for 212 yards. Of the 212 yards, a large chunk of it was earned on the highlight pass to Pierce.
Had Richardson been as productive through the air in the final three quarters of the game, the Colts would have run away with it. Instead, the Colts are starting down a potential 0-2 record in Week 2.
Put simply, Anthony Richardson will need to get more consistent through the air.
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