One of the problems with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is that he should have always been a training camp and preseason star. His raw physical traits are immense. If a team isn't scheming against him, he should be great.
It's the real game that would be the issue. While AR5 has shown he has a cannon for an arm and enough speed and power to remind some of a young Bo Jackson (if Jackson had played quarterback), he hasn't proven he has a high football IQ. Raw skill alone will not equal NFL success.
So while Richardson was having a relatively great week of practice last week, when the drills changed on Saturday, Richardson put on the kind of show that reminded Colts fans of the quarterback's failures in the previous two seasons. This was especially true during a red zone drill.
Anthony Richardson's practice failure lets Indianapolis Colts fans know he is unchanged
In those drills, Richardson was asked to drop back and find receivers in tight coverage and lead the offense to points. His execution was miserable. He didn't complete many passes, and he also threw an interception. If the quarterback is struggling to find success in practice, he isn't going to succeed against other teams that understand his tendencies and have planned for them.
This won't help Indianapolis Colts fans, of course, but backup Daniel Jones wasn't any better. In other words, a simple replacement of Richardson with Jones doesn't appear all that promising either.
According to the Colts' official website, offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter tried to explain what the issues were for the quarterbacks. Unfortunately, while Cooter's explanation made sense, the problem is one that loads of other quarterbacks (decent QBs, at least) have been able to overcome.
Cooter said, "The defense squeezes those zones, the man coverage is tighter...At the same time, (the quarterbacks) are working different progressions and where they can throw certain balls...There’s going to be some things we can coach off today’s tape, but it was an encouraging day because we’re working a lot of things, and I think we got better at it."
That sounds like a parent who just saw their kids mess up and wants to discipline them, but doesn't want to hurt their feelings either. While practice is used to coach-up players, Anthony Richardson is now in his third season, and he should need less coaching on fundamentals, like how to play in the red zone, than he needed as a rookie.
That is the whole problem with how Richardson did in practice on Saturday. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback doesn't appear to have progressed much entering his third season. Time is running out for Richardson to prove he is worth keeping around for the Colts.