NFL Network analyzes what Anthony Richardson must show during preseason

The Colts begin their preseason schedule on Saturday against the Buffalo Bills, and the Anthony Richardson era will officially be underway in Indianapolis.

Ahead of his highly anticipated debut, NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah explained what their expecting to see from the former Florida quarterback in his NFL debut.

“So for me, Anthony Richardson is a little different,” Brooks said, via the Move The Sticks podcast. “I want to see him show some of the special stuff early. I want to see him run around a little bit. I want to see what it looks like at the pro level. Because a lot of what we talked about, and a lot of why we talked about him being a top-five pick was because of the athleticism and what he could be. It’s important for me to see him in the preseason tease us with a little bit of that, because we heard people talk about him, ‘Hey man, he’s more athletic and stuff than Cam Newton,’ well the one thing that we saw Cam Newton do early, is he dominated as a runner.

“I know they won’t do a lot of designed quarterback runs, but I’m hoping that there’s a couple of broken plays, where he can give you a little bit of that um, explosive ability on improvisational playmaking.”

It’s going to be fascinating to see if the Colts take the training wheels off for Richardson in their first preseason game. He could be the biggest highlight maker of the entire summer if they do so.

Nevertheless, Richardson has his fair share of believers in the media, like ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, who earlier in the month made a bold prediction about Richardson’s rookie season, thinking there will be some hardware in his future.

“Anthony Richardson, the rookie quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts will win Offensive Rookie of the Year,” Orlovsky proclaimed. “The unicorn talent where he can beat you with his arm, his legs, and his mind.”

Moreover, Richardson had only one year of starting experience in college with the Gators. He made 12 starts in 2022 with a 6-6 record, throwing for 2,549 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and nine picks on a 54% completion percentage. He also added 654 rushing yards and nine more scores on the ground.

Coming out of high school, Richardson was a four-star recruit, but On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Powers said that the industry still underrated him as a recruit, which seems to be the case.

“Indianapolis Colts’ No. 4 pick Anthony Richardson was not an easy evaluation as a high school prospect,” Powers wrote. “He was not overly productive as a junior and showed some flashes early on as a senior, but missed half of the season with a shoulder injury. Even though he wasn’t a dominant player, we should’ve done a better job of recognizing and weighing his incredibly rare physical tools.”

Ready to begin his NFL journey, Anthony Richardson just needs to keep being himself, and we’re betting that’s what he’ll do moving forward.