Colts rookie passing records (Cont.)
The biggest knock on Anthony Richardson as a prospect was centered around his completion percentage that sat at an uninspiring 53.8%. It's a warranted concern to have if you're merely sifting through stat sheets, but as always, one statistic never tells the whole story.
Richardson only has his lone sopohmore campaign to consider, which lies a separate problem. Not for Richardson, but for the naysayers. It's an incredibly small sample size with a bunch of moving parts (scheme change, youth, etc.), growing pains are to be expected.
Asking Richardson to unlock his full potential in year one is among the tallest of tasks, but if he can improve on his completion percentage organically by three percent, Indianapolis will have a new record holder.
Despite leading the league in interceptions his rookie year, Manning was fifth in the league in passing touchdowns and third in yards. Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence similarly led the league in INTs as a rookie in 2021, however, even with the modern day game being more of a passer's league, he only threw 17 INTs and 2022's interception leader only threw 15– that's with a 17-game season as well.
Even if Anthony Richardson manages to lead the league in interceptions as a rookie, chances are he won't surpass 20, let alone take the throne in Colts’ history as most INTs thrown as a rookie with 29 (or more).
When you consider how balanced of a quarterback Richardson is, there's even more of a case against this hypothetical record breaking come to fruition due to him being inevitably used as a runner more than your typical NFL QB. Not to mention, it's still up in the air when exactly Richardson's career as a starting QB will begin.