Colts: Shane Steichen takes blame for Anthony Richardson’s up-and-down debut

It is great to see Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen having rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson’s back right after their first preseason game working together.

Shane Steichen and Anthony Richardson will need to lean on each other to help bring the downtrodden Indianapolis Colts back to national relevancy.

Richardson had every bit an up-and-down team debut for the Colts in their first preseason game vs. the Buffalo Bills on Saturday. He had his first Indianapolis drive end in an interception and didn’t lead the Colts to any points before giving way to Gardner Minshew. Despite all this, Steichen offered a great deal of praise in how Richardson handled some early adversity in his team debut.

Richardson may be more of a project quarterback than a prospect, but his ceiling is also very high.

"“I thought he had great poise. I knew we had the early interception. That’s my fault. We’ve got to do a better job communicating on that one … That starts with coaching, starts with myself. Other than that, I thought he was efficient.”"

Good for Steichen having his guy’s back in what was a hectic first game with the Colts for him.

Indianapolis Colts HC Shane Steichen praises Anthony Richardson for his poise

Admittedly, there is so much boom/bust potential with both Steichen as a head coach and Richardson as a quarterback. Steichen stems from the Nick Sirianni coaching tree, who stems from his Indianapolis predecessor, Frank Reich. He seems to be a savvy offensive mind, but he does not have the roster he worked with on the Philadelphia Eagles from the last two seasons.

As for Richardson, he did not bank all that many starts at Florida. He played for the Gators during a turbulent time for the program, initially playing for Dan Mullen before he was let go in favor of Billy Napier. Richardson’s NFL ceiling could be that of Josh Allen or Cam Newton. His floor may be a bad Vince Young or god forbid, JaMarcus Russell. Either way, he is a talent worth investing heavily in.

The good news for him is he will probably back up Minshew right out of the gate. Minshew spent the last two seasons in Philadelphia with Steichen. Frankly, he is good enough as a player to be a low-end starting quarterback in this league, or at the very least, be one of the game’s better backups. The Colts have a ways to go to get back to good, but you can see the potential in them.

As long as Richardson grows, learns and puts in the work, he could maximize his raw potential.