Colts draft Anthony Richardson: Full scouting report, Fantasy Football fits, NFL projection, Dynasty, more

The Indianapolis Colts selected quarterback Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Here's what you need to know about how his Fantasy stock in both season-long and Dynasty formats is affected by his landing spot.

Richardson's Fantasy fit with the Colts

Richardson has the most Fantasy upside of any quarterback in the class, and the chances of him reaching his upside is helped greatly by landing with coach Shane Steichen. We've already seen Steichen help mold Jalen Hurts into a fantastic dual-threat quarterback, we can certainly hope he can do it again with Richardson. And the Colts receiving corps, while not exactly explosive, isn't as bad as some other possible places Richardson could have landed. There's still the matter of whether or not he's the Colts' starter in Week 1, but it would take a bad training camp for that to happen. Thus, expect him to be a trendy QB Fantasy managers will gleefully gamble on with a pick in Round 8 or 9 as a guy they can pair with a veteran. 

Dynasty outlook

Obviously, Richardson is the long-term starter for the Colts. Even if he never becomes as polished as Jalen Hurts or Josh Allen became, he can still provide ample Fantasy numbers. This is the QB to target long-term in your Dynasty leagues, but your leaguemates know it. Someone will fall in love with Richardson in every rookie-only draft and take him with a top-2 pick in Superflex/two-QB formats and a top-8 pick in one-QB Dynasty leagues. 

Anthony Richardson: What to know

Richardson is best known as the Gainesville product who went to the big-time college 15 minutes from his house, but his football story started in Miami where he was born. His uncle, Jobbin "Tanka" Lane, taught him how to throw a football when he was 3 and started playing when he was about 5 years old. He won a football throwing contest as a fourth grader at his elementary school and realized that football was his passion. After moving several times, he, his mother and his brother settled in Gainesville, where he started his high-school career as a receiver but converted to quarterback for good when Eastside High's starter broke a finger during his freshman year.

After three years as a starter, including one playoff berth, Richardson earned a four-star composite prospect rating from 247Sports, ranked as the ninth-best dual-threat quarterback in the nation. You may remember seeing his journey on season 3 of Netflix's "QB1: Beyond The Lights," where he ultimately chose to stay close to home and join the Gators. Then-coach Dan Mullen and then-quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson (now on the Eagles) had just developed Dak Prescott at Mississippi State, and Richardson hoped they could do the same for him.

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Age as of Week 1: 22 | Height: 6-foot-4 | Weight: 244 | 40-time: 4.43

Comparable body-type to: Josh McCown

We're breaking down everything you need to know about Young from a Fantasy manager perspective, including best fits, Dynasty outlook, measurables, scouting report, key stats and an NFL comparison.

Scouting report

Strengths

• Tall, filled-out body with strong legs, wide chest and solid arms. No size issues at all.
• Naturally gifted athlete. Played football for four years and basketball for two years in high school.
  
• Frequently had very good posture when dropping back. Knees were bent, back was straight.
• Not a one-read quarterback. Capable of coming off his first read and re-setting his feet with his next read(s). Actually made some tremendous throws on his second and third reads.
• Displayed very good throwing motions, both traditional and side arm, with a very quick "flick of the wrist" release that got the ball out of his hand in a snap. Was at his best when playing in rhythm.
• Had arm strength for days. Made a slew of long throws to the far sideline and willingly attacked downfield. Witnessed four passes that traveled 50-plus Air Yards (two over 55), including two for touchdowns. Made a throw of 68 yards at the Elite 11 Finals football program as a high schooler.
• Also made a number of "all-arm" throws (passes without generating any power or stability from his legs) thanks to his good upper-body torque, power and quick release. Bootlegs off of play-action should be in his future.
• Had very good, almost too-aggressive velocity to beat defenders when he needed to make a strong, fast throw.
• Perhaps at his best when he was patient in the pocket, able to wait an extra second for a receiver to get open and fire with accuracy. Rarely was impatient when it came to getting rid of the ball.
• Often salvaged plays that didn't go according to plan. Good improvisational skills thanks to gifted athleticism.

• Savvy. Knew when it was best to throw the ball out of bounds rather than take a sack or an unnecessary risk with a throw. Knew to check on the safety before chucking to the target he really wanted.
• Has learned, nuanced mobility. Has second-nature ability to slide in the pocket to throw and knew not only when it was best to run but when to get down and avoid a vicious hit.
• A willing runner, particularly one with very good speed for his size and with good balance and enough elusiveness to make tacklers miss. Rarely carried the ball near the goal line for Florida but was 5 for 5 on scoring runs from 3 yards or closer. Should be cash money near the goal line when called upon in the pros. 

• Referred to as a mature, humble young man who preferred to stay home and play video games (Fortnite is one of his favorites) rather than go out with friends. 
• Had a GPA of 3.0 or better since his freshman year of high school. Graduated early from the Professional Academies Magnet at Loften High School in Gainesville, where he trained to work in Fire and Emergency Medical Services, but played football at Eastside High.
  

Concerns

• Footwork needs significant attention. He unintentionally drifts when he drops back, tends to play on his toes and lifts his right heel too soon (if he plants his foot at all) when he throws. Coaches must commit to refining his footwork to improve his accuracy as well as find out why it was never refined at any point in the last seven years.
• Unfortunate accuracy issues, likely related to poor footwork and persistent mentality to throw too hard, but also because of a herky-jerky motion and hopping when in the pocket.
• While his upper-body form was fine on most downfield throws, he seemed to take a little longer to gather and go with screen passes parallel to the line of scrimmage. Ranked 92nd out of 98 qualifiers in completion rate on those types of throws (78.9%)
• Made a lot of "all arm" throws, some of which were completed for pretty gains, others were off-target. He must improve his technique to unlock his full passing potential.
• Didn't consistently throw with proper velocity. Unnecessarily held down the bullet-pass button too often and needs to work on throwing more often with touch.
• Threw more than a handful of passes that put his receivers in harm's way, be it because he was late to throw or didn't see an on-coming defender.
• Didn't always make the right decisions on read-option plays, and his play-fakes when he did hand off weren't sold convincingly. Improvement here will lead to improvement on traditional play-action passes as well.
• Didn't always see the field real well. Would miss open targets, sometimes because he greedily chased barely-open targets downfield, sometimes because he was looking at pre-determined targets to get open. Several interceptions and near-interceptions were because he didn't see lurking defenders.
• Seemed sensitive to pressure, though it didn't always end in disaster. There were a handful of times when he'd leave a clean pocket just because a defensive linemen in his sightline jumped to try and bat down a pass, or because a lineman was getting blocked close to him.
• Didn't always keep his eyes downfield when pressure arrived in the backfield, leading to some missed opportunities through the air.
• Not sure if he's well-versed enough to beat post-snap defensive coverage adjustments right away. May need some coaching here.
• There were a number of moments at Florida where he did not run even when the opportunity presented itself. He had 10-plus rush attempts in five of 12 games in 2022. Was he coached to not run all the time? Or did he attempt to preserve himself for the pros by not running all the time. 
• Not a consistent winner. Went 6-6 as a one-year starter at Florida. His best high-school season (out of four) was 7-4 in 2018. Never won a playoff game in high school (played in one playoff game) and attempted one pass in a college bowl game (as a freshman in a blowout loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl).
• Reported injuries: Missed four games as high-school senior with a shoulder injury (2019). Hamstring strain in September 2021 cost him two games. Claimed he battled an ankle injury all of 2022. 
  

Stats breakdown

	G	Cmp%	PaYds	Yds/Att	PaTD	PaINT	RuAtt	RuYds	RuAvg	RuTD
2022	12	53.8	2549	7.8	17	9	103	654	6.3	9
2022 v Top-25	5	49.1	1233	7.4	6	4	55	232	4.2	5
Career	22	54.7	3105	7.9	24	15	161	1116	6.9	12

Advanced stats to know

• 53.8% completion rate was 94th out of 98 collegiate QBs with at least 250 pass attempts in 2022.
• 38% completion rate when pressured, which ranked 79th among qualifying passers.
• 55.7% completion rate on throws of 5 or fewer Air Yards, second-worst among qualifying passers.
• 54.2% completion rate on throws of 9 or fewer Air Yards, second-worst among qualifying passers.
• Compiled a 53% completion rate over four years in high school, including 64.5% as a senior and 48.6% as a junior.
• Ranked 92nd out of 98 qualifiers in completion rate on screen throws and quick outs. (78.9%)
• 19.3% off-target rate was third-highest among qualifying passers in 2022.
• Average time to throw was 3.23 seconds, third-highest according to Pro Football Focus.
• 10.34 average target depth was 10th highest among qualifying passers.
• Had 17 snaps and two pass attempts from under center in 2022.
• 6.3 yards per rush in 2022 was second-best among qualifying quarterbacks.
• Top-10 in both yards before and yards after contact per rush.
• 40 tackles avoided was third-best; 39.0% tackle-avoided rate was tops in the nation.

NFL comparison

Every year there are souped-up quarterbacks with fantastic rushing prowess who tantalize NFL scouts and wanna-be scouts alike. In 2020 it was Jalen Hurts, in 2018 it was Josh Allen. Richardson compares to both of those passers in different ways. As a rusher he reminds me of Hurts because of his ability to break through defenders' grasps and win in short-yardage situations. As a thrower, he reminds me of pre-NFL Allen because his accuracy and footwork aren't very good, and his velocity is one-speed, but his arm strength is very good and his size is drool-worthy. If he takes to the coaching that both Hurts and Allen got, he's going to be special. If he doesn't get it, he's going to be E.J. Manuel, and that's a possibility that will keep every single NFL GM up at night.