Indianapolis Colts 2023 and forward

[ThorstenDenmark]

Hello fellow Colts fans

 

Now the 2023 draft is in the books, it's time to look toward the upcoming season.

 

We now know that Anthony Richardson (AR) will be our QB for the future and that Shane Steichen is our new HC, so things are changing in Indy. 

 

I don't believe that AR will have the impact like Andrew Luck, who turned a 2-14 team into a 11-5 team and made the playoffs in his rookie season, while throwing for 4374 years, 23 TD's and 18 Int. Nor do I think AR will have a season like Peyton Manning, with 26 TD's and 28 Int's.

 

What I do think could be more likely, is that AR will rush for 8-12 TD's, while throwing for 18-22 TD's, and that we end up with a record of 5-12 or 6-11 or at best 8-9.

I know it's way too soon to speculate in these things, but if AR ands up in the ballpark of these stats, I would look at his rookie season as a success.   

 

Will we play him day 1... no one knows, but I hope we for once have a season with more positives than negatives.

 

So Colts nation... how do you look at the future for our team and what do you look forward to the most, now that we have our QB for the future?

 

Go Colts  

[BlueShoe]

I think there are many things that point to a bright future for the Colts. 
 

I’m not sold on Steichen. He might be a great football mind. But not all good coordinator’s make good head coaches. I have a feeling he is one of those coordinators who should never be a head coach. I feel he is our weakest link. Things about him rub me the wrong way. And I’ve said enough about that in threads the past couple of days. If others don’t feel that way then that’s okay. I don’t have a good gut feeling about the dude though. Maybe he can grow on me. I am certainly open to him changing my opinion of him. 
 

We finally have a quarterback to plan the future with. As much as I loved Andrew Luck, he screwed this team for a few years. And I understand why he did it. But it set this franchise back a few years. We almost had to fall on our face to have an opportunity to draft an Anthony Richardson. But we are finally moving forward, and this is the Anthony Richardson era. 
 

I feel good about our defense and I’m so happy that Jim Irsay kept this team together. I felt it was the right way to approach it after we fired Reich, and Irsay pulled off a very creative way of keeping this team together. We added the press corners we need to evolve this defense. 
 

We have quietly improved the receivers room a lot more than people might realize. It will show up early in the regular season. Adding McKenzie and Downs… We just haven’t had that level of play on the inside. And Ballard kept going big. I believe it was a flaw in his concept of building the team. We can’t have a bunch of outside guys only. Maybe that’s what Reich wanted. It’s hard to tell. But the philosophy was messed up. I have a theory that Ballard and Reich never had the same vision of what a receiving room should look like. That’s why you guys saw me pleading for us to draft guys like Hunter Renfrow. I’m happy that Ballard has corrected the ship, and realized that quicker guys working over the middle of the field are essential to the modern NFL. They put pressure on a defense and open up the playbook. Over the past month or so, our receiving room went from one of the worst in the NFL to at least middle of the pack. That’s a huge jump. 
 

Our offensive line will be better. I believe Ballard has learned a valuable lesson to never allow more than one starting lineman walk in an off-season. It was crazy to think we could pull that off. Ballard has taken accountability for that and he owns it. That’s one of the traits I love about Ballard. He recognizes his mistakes, and he owns them. 
 

This team has some potential. It might not be overnight. It might take us a couple of years. But we have the building blocks we need. 
 

 

 

[buccolts]

28 minutes ago, BlueShoe said:

I think there are many things that point to a bright future for the Colts. 
 

I’m not sold on Steichen. He might be a great football mind. But not all good coordinator’s make good head coaches. I have a feeling he is one of those coordinators who should never be a head coach. I feel he is our weakest link. Things about him rub me the wrong way. And I’ve said enough about that in threads the past couple of days. If others don’t feel that way then that’s okay. I don’t have a good gut feeling about the dude though. Maybe he can grow on me. I am certainly open to him changing my opinion of him. 
 

We finally have a quarterback to plan the future with. As much as I loved Andrew Luck, he screwed this team for a few years. And I understand why he did it. But it set this franchise back a few years. We almost had to fall on our face to have an opportunity to draft an Anthony Richardson. But we are finally moving forward, and this is the Anthony Richardson era. 
 

I feel good about our defense and I’m so happy that Jim Irsay kept this team together. I felt it was the right way to approach it after we fired Reich, and Irsay pulled off a very creative way of keeping this team together. We added the press corners we need to evolve this defense. 
 

We have quietly improved the receivers room a lot more than people might realize. It will show up early in the regular season. Adding McKenzie and Downs… We just haven’t had that level of play on the inside. And Ballard kept going big. I believe it was a flaw in his concept of building the team. We can’t have a bunch of outside guys only. Maybe that’s what Reich wanted. It’s hard to tell. But the philosophy was messed up. I have a theory that Ballard and Reich never had the same vision of what a receiving room should look like. That’s why you guys saw me pleading for us to draft guys like Hunter Renfrow. I’m happy that Ballard has corrected the ship, and realized that quicker guys working over the middle of the field are essential to the modern NFL. They put pressure on a defense and open up the playbook. Over the past month or so, our receiving room went from one of the worst in the NFL to at least middle of the pack. That’s a huge jump. 
 

Our offensive line will be better. I believe Ballard has learned a valuable lesson to never allow more than one starting lineman walk in an off-season. It was crazy to think we could pull that off. Ballard has taken accountability for that and he owns it. That’s one of the traits I love about Ballard. He recognizes his mistakes, and he owns them. 
 

This team has some potential. It might not be overnight. It might take us a couple of years. But we have the building blocks we need. 
 

 

 

I agree with pretty much everything you said except for your moderate enthusiasm for AR.

 

Personally, I want him to prove he can be a pass first (only?) QB by year 3, maybe 4. Otherwise I hope it's obvious, by then,  that he doesn't belong, so there's no thought of a second contract.

[Indyfan4life]

32 minutes ago, buccolts said:

I agree with pretty much everything you said except for your moderate enthusiasm for AR.

 

Personally, I want him to prove he can be a pass first (only?) QB by year 3, maybe 4. Otherwise I hope it's obvious, by then,  that he doesn't belong, so there's no thought of a second contract.

Exactly. This is the part some people have failed to understand. I want a QB that can run when NECESSARY. A QB that can get his WR open by moving around some. Not take the snap and run every play. 

[buccolts]

1 minute ago, Indyfan4life said:

Exactly. This is the part some people have failed to understand. I want a QB that can run when NECESSARY. A QB that can get his WR open by moving around some. Not take the snap and run every play. 

IE: I don't mind a mobile QB, AT ALL

I just DO NOT want a running QB.

[Jackie Daytona]

1 hour ago, buccolts said:

IE: I don't mind a mobile QB, AT ALL

I just DO NOT want a running QB.

You won't want to watch College or NFL football in as soon as a few years most likely.

[buccolts]

1 minute ago, Jackie Daytona said:

You won't want to watch College or NFL football in as soon as a few years most likely.

That's possible. When the NFL is nothing more than bad College football.... yeah.

 

At that point I might find the XFL,or USFL more compelling, or maybe not.

 

It's crossed my mind. 

[BlueShoe]

3 hours ago, buccolts said:

I agree with pretty much everything you said except for your moderate enthusiasm for AR.

 

Personally, I want him to prove he can be a pass first (only?) QB by year 3, maybe 4. Otherwise I hope it's obvious, by then,  that he doesn't belong, so there's no thought of a second contract.

I think he will run/pass about as much as Josh Allen. When the play breaks down, and you got the ability then use it. It will be nice to see us do that other teams for a change. It’s been done to us enough. How many times have we had a team in 3rd and long, only to have their quarterback break containment and pick up a cheap first down? I’d say we have some serious paybacks to give the NFL. 
 

I’m sure there will be some designed quarterback runs, but I doubt we see that too often. 
 

This kid is 20 years old. It’s going to take some time for him to reach his potential and we’ll have to be patient. 
 

We will have a good idea after the first year and know for sure after his second.