Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson still has a long way to go before he proves himself to the league.
In an anonymous preseason poll including executives from all 32 NFL teams conducted by The Athletic, the Indianapolis Colts were ranked 13th of 16 AFC teams. While two executives voted the Colts to be the eighth-best team in the conference, the three others picked them to finish 14th or 15th.
Indianapolis finished one spot higher on the list than its division rival, the Tennessee Titans, but one executive argued the Colts should finish lower on the totem pole than Tennessee due to their lack of depth at cornerback and linebacker.
However, the most major talking point in the list's aftermath was this quote from an anonymous NFL executive, explaining why the Colts were so low in their ranking.
“By putting the Colts at 15, I am saying I do not think Anthony Richardson is a legitimate quarterback in the NFL, but if he does have success, they will be one of the top four or five teams in the AFC,” one exec said, according to the survey.
In Richardson's first start of the season against the Houston Texans, he accumulated 268 total yards (212 passing) and three total touchdowns — two passing touchdowns of 60 and 54 yards.
The second-year Florida Gator alum also threw an interception and only completed 47.4% of his passing attempts against the Texans. Richardson's athletic ability and freakish arm strength kept Indianapolis competing against its AFC South rival until the very end, but his efforts weren't enough to give the Colts a win.
Richardson has only played in five NFL games so far, but he's accumulated 981 total yards and 10 total touchdowns in those contests. His 57.3% completion percentage is concerning (three points below league average), but it's a small sample size.
Some have even pointed to the fact that Richardson only started one full season while at Florida, and wasn't able to complete his first season in the NFL due to injury.
The fact of the matter is, when Richardson is on the field, there are few quarterbacks physically capable of what he can do.
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