3 things Anthony Richardson can learn from Joe Flacco

The veteran quarterback has been on fire the last two weeks and the Colts need to ride the hot hand.

Anthony Richardson will be fine. He will be the starting quarterback for long time, he will only get better and is back on the field this week. However, Richardson has been raw this year and Joe Flacco has shown to be the more polished passer thus far. What can Richardson do to get the level that Joe Flacco has attained as a passer. Flacco is by no means a great quarterback anymore, but there are attributes that have made him successful in his career and that continue to help him today.

There was a time where the top quarterbacks in the draft wouldn’t play their rookie season or had to wait awhile before playing. The 2003 first overall pick Carson Palmer did not play one snap his rookie season. 2005 first overall pick Alex Smith didn’t play until October of his rookie year. Drew Brees didn’t play at all his rookie season and Aaron Rodgers didn’t play for 3 seasons! Tua Tagovailoa didn’t play until November of his rookie season. The Packers made Jordan Love sit for two seasons. Jalen Hurts didn’t play most of his rookie season. The list goes on and on.

There are many players that have played and been successful early on, but those players had experience in college and came with a more pro-ready style of play. Richardson had 12 starts in college and was far from polished as a passer, showing a ton of inconsistency with his timing and accuracy. He had (and still has) a tendency of sailing short to intermediate throws and was often late with his passes. What he did flash was jaw-dropping athleticism to match his rare size and an incredibly strong arm that can make any throw on the field with ease.

Richardson is a young, raw quarterback with sky high potential. He has made some one-of-one plays this year that you do not see from 98% of quarterbacks in the history of the game. At 22 years old born in 2002, he is the 2nd youngest quarterback on any roster in the NFL (only Drake Maye is younger).

To be a great quarterback in the NFL, you require three things: accuracy, timing and smart decision-making. There have been quarterbacks with weak arms that have had these three things and been successful.

Accuracy is important because the windows in the NFL are extremely tight and the players move and react quicker. Ball placement is also crucial in many ways because you need to put the ball in the best spot possible so the receiver can not only make a catch, but get yards after the catch. Throwing behind a receiver running a drag who gets tackled immediately after a few yards doesn’t do much good, but hitting him in stride and in front of him can turn a 3-yard throw into a 15-yard throw. For an example of his accuracy, refer to the second throw in Baldinger’s breakdown below.

Timing is important because as mentioned before the windows become a lot tighter and the players are quicker and faster, so you can’t afford to be late on your throws otherwise it ends up in the opponent’s hands. Timing is a general term and anticipation falls under timing as you need to throw receivers open. For example, for many throws in the NFL, hitting a receiver two steps out of an out route is usually too late, so many top quarterbacks get the ball out before the receiver even makes his cut. This is done because the receiver is most open the first couple of steps out of his cut so you want the ball in his hands when he’s the most open. Like accuracy, a well timed throw will avoid turnovers but also turn a 8-yard gain into a 18-yard gain.

Finally, smart decision-making is the final big factor. Tom Brady made a legendary career doing a lot of dinking and dunking. Colts fans remember vividly many Brady games where he would kill the Colts with a thousand checkdowns in the middle zone that was vacated during a Tampa 2 defense. A great quarterback almost never forces a bad throw and when he has to, it’s usually because they’re in a dire situation. Having a stronger arm does make a difference in this area as it allows you to hit more throws so there are more options to work with. Smart decision means taking high percentage throws, avoiding turnovers and consistently moving the ball. As mentioned before, there were many games where Brady didn’t throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field, yet he would go 25/35 for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns and win easily. These quarterbacks take what is given and make the most of it. Referring to the charts below, you will see more on that.

After looking at the charts, you see that Flacco is winning by taking all the short throws and not forcing anything. He is moving the ball by killing defenses with a bunch of “paper cut” throws. The occasional chunk play is there, but it’s the 5-6 yard throws that add up. Richardson, as you can see is purely relying on his incredible arm and the big plays. That just doesn’t work consistently in the NFL. Flacco has 25% the arm talent and 5% of the athleticism as Richardson, yet he’s been the better quarterback this season, mainly because of his decision making.

39 year-old Flacco has played around 11 quarters of football this season and has gone 71/108 for 716 yards with 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. He even has a run of 21 yards! His passer rating is 102, which is amongst the highest in the NFL for quarterbacks over the last few games. He put up these stats against top good defenses, especially the Steelers defense which was ranked the #1 defense in the NFL in many metrics. He did this by being accurate, making good decisions and being on time with his throws.

With regards to the three things, Richardson hasn’t shown the ability yet to consistently be good in these areas. What is encouraging is that he has shown the ability to make incredibly accurate throws, and hit receivers at the perfect time and he’s had long stretches where he doesn’t force throws and makes the right decision. The ability is there, but it’s not consistent and that’s what matters. A great quarterback is consistent.

Joe Flacco is consistent. He doesn’t possess the same arm talent that he used to, but there’s a reason he can still ball out in the NFL whether it’s with the Cleveland Browns or with the Indianapolis Colts. The hope is Richardson can blend Flacco’s skill with his own 1of1 arm talent and athleticism to create a Josh Allen type of quarterback.