The Colts open the season one week from today at home and for the first time, the home crowd will get to see its rookie quarterback in action. Also, for the first time since the retirement of Andrew Luck in 2019, Colts fans have hope for the future as this young team looks to build itself back to being a winning franchise.

Vegas Insider has the Colts winning 6.5 games this season and this projection is a fair assessment of how a young roster with a rookie quarterback will compete. There will be several ups and downs in 2023 and even though this team will not be primed to make the playoffs, there are three key areas that can help propel them to being a future super bowl contender and top AFC team.

An Explosively Talented Quarterback

This goes without saying, but the key to the Colts being a contender again starts with the quarterback. Anthony Richardson is 21 years old and barring that he stays healthy, he is primed to be in this league for at least 15-20 years. The main thing for Richardson, with the trend that we’ve seen in preseason, is that the more he plays, the better he gets. Richardson is in no way ready to take this team all the way right now, but he is in a perfect situation with his head coach Shane Steichen (which we’ll get to).

In interviews and press conferences, it is clear that Richardson wants to be great and he realizes the challenge ahead in order to be great – it takes work, it takes focus, and it takes sacrifice. It is evident from where Richardson was when he was drafted to where he is now, that he has taken the challenge head on and is trending in the right direction to be great.

QB Anthony Richardson Preseason Statistics:

In 2 game appearances, Richardson was 13-29 passing for 145 yards and one interception. He also rushed 7 times for 45 yards, leading two touchdown drives. As mentioned so many times, the stats do not convey how well Richardson actually played and looked. The Colts offense would get off to slow starts, but once things settled down, this offense moved fairly smoothly up and down the field.

A New and Exciting Head Coach

It goes without saying that any time a team hires a new coach to go along with a new quarterback, excitement ensues. For the Colts this is especially true because of who the new head coach is and who the new quarterback is.

Shane Steichen is an offensive-minded coach with a philosophy of “throw to score points” and “run to win (games)”. As the Philadelphia Eagle’s offensive coordinator, this philosophy was put on display as the Eagles finished the year as one of the best offenses in the league. Let’s also not forget that the Eagles quarterback was Jalen Hurts who possesses very similar skill traits to Anthony Richardson.

According to TeamRankings, the Eagle’s offense finished 1st in touchdowns per game, 2nd in points per game, 3rd in yards per game, 3rd in third down conversion rate, and 3rd in red zone scoring rate. The hope with Steichen as head coach is that he can replicate at least some of that success with this young Colts offense. From what we have already seen with Anthony Richardson in preseason coupled with the way the running backs are moving the football and the way that receivers are getting open underneath and in the middle of the field, this offense has all the tools to grow together to be a top power house for years to come.

An Overall Young Roster

To further divulge what was just alluded to, the Colts have a young roster with a lot of growing to do. The Colts have one of the youngest rosters in the league and do not have a single player over the age of 30. This being said, though, there is still some veteran presence within this young roster across the board like Shaquille Leonard, Kenny Moore II, DeForest Buckner, Ryan Kelly, and Mo Alie-Cox (to name a few).

The advantage of youth is that there is longevity and potentially longer continuity. The downside with youth is there will be growing pains, a lot of mistakes, and immaturity. Nonetheless, this article is to showcase what this team can do in the future, not necessarily what they can do in the 2023 season. If the core on offense continues to grow and unite together and the core on defense continues to grow and unite together, this team has the makings of something really special.

Bottom Line

Regardless of where the Colts end up in the win total this season, it is safe to say that the mood surrounding this team is excitement and hope for the future. Regardless of if Richardson sets any rookie records or wins any rookie awards, it is safe to say that this quarterback has the traits to be something special. And regardless of if the Colts end up picking in the top 5 next draft, it is safe to say that this team can only continue to build upon the foundation that is currently being set in 2023. This season is going to be a fun one to watch!