WESTFIELD, Ind. – Anthony Richardson's athleticism and talent are easy to see. You don't need to be a coach to appreciate an off-balance 40-yard throw or how fast the second-year quarterback runs at 250 pounds.
But for Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, the year-to-year growth he's seen from Richardson has come in the details of playing quarterback. That growth may not be as obvious to the naked eye. But to Cooter and the Colts' coaching staff, those improvements in certain small areas can make a big difference.
"Obviously, you're going to go watch the highlight plays and the great throws and runs and hopefully touchdowns and wins and all that stuff, but it really is the little things that separate quarterbacks in this league," Cooter said on this week's episode of the Official Colts Podcast. "And we've seen Anthony make really great strides there. He's really pushed himself to improve every area of his game, and that's been really exciting for us as coaches."
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But what, exactly, are the details on which Richardson has improved?
"When you come in as a rookie, when you're a young player, you learn the offense. You know sort of the X's and O's — here's the depth of the route, here's my drop footwork and all the good stuff," Cooter explained. "But the more reps you get, the more you go through that process, the more you understand what we are doing and why we are doing it and maybe what coverage this particular play really attacks or maybe is not quite so good against. And for a quarterback, those are huge moments. So that understanding just continually gets added as guys get reps, as guys experience things.
"And sometimes the beauty of offseason and training camp is you do get to get those experiences, and maybe you do have a decision where it's not perfect but you have the ability to learn from that and that makes you better during the regular season.
"That happens to every single quarterback. It's happened with Anthony where were able to — hey, something happened in practice let's go talk about it. And then the next time that comes up, he might change the play or he might throw the ball somewhere else.
"And we'll say hey, Anthony, why'd you throw that ball over there, here's our progression — it sort of says hey, this is one and this is two. And he may say, well you remember that rep on Day 3 of camp that wasn't there versus that coverage? I just got it real quick over there to the third progression, those types of things. He's really growing in his understanding, which is great for a young quarterback."
And as Richardson continues to work on perfecting the little things and small details of being an NFL quarterback, he'll create more opportunities for his athleticism and talent to shine on Sundays.
