{"id":30995,"date":"2024-03-14T06:35:24","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T03:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/30995\/colts-see-joe-flacco-as\/"},"modified":"2024-03-14T06:35:25","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T03:35:25","slug":"colts-see-joe-flacco-as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=30995","title":{"rendered":"Colts see Joe Flacco as key for Anthony Richardson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Colts see Joe Flacco as key for Anthony Richardson\u060c<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><\/div>\n<p>Stephen Holder, ESPN<span class=\"timestamp \">March 14, 2024, 01:54<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\">Close<\/p>\n<ul>Stephen joined ESPN in 2022, covering the Indianapolis Colts and the NFL as a whole.  Stephen placed first in feature writing in the 2015 Indiana Associated Press Media Editors competition, and he was a previous top 10 winner in explanatory journalism in the Associated Press Sports Editors national competition.  He has reported on the NFL since 2005, covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2005 to 2013 and the Colts since 2013. He previously worked for the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times, the Indianapolis Star and The Athletic.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 In Andrew Luck&#39;s second season with the Colts in 2013, Indianapolis signed veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.<\/p>\n<p>His days as a starter were clearly over, as the Tennessee Titans moved on from the former Seattle Seahawks franchise quarterback and Super Bowl XL starter.<\/p>\n<p>What seemed like a mundane transaction at the time actually paid big dividends for the Colts, who benefited from Hasselbeck keeping their young starter cool and, when necessary, stepping in and filling his big shoes.  Hasselbeck went on to play three seasons with Indianapolis, going 5-3 as a starter, but just as importantly, serving as an extra pair of eyes and ears for Luck and the offensive coaches.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\">\n<h2 class=\"img-title\">The best of NFL Nation<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-lazyload=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/What-addition-of-Derrick-Henry-means-for-Ravens-Lamar-Jackson.jpg\" class=\"round lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Panthers reset in free agency<br \/>\u2022 Saquon, the Giants were not built to last<br \/>\u2022 Why Packers chose Jacobs over Jones<br \/>\u2022 Can the Jets replace Huff&#39;s sack production?<br \/>\u2022 Johnson is confident the Bears will do well<br \/>\u2022 What will Washington do at number 2?<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Now, the Colts&#39; current young quarterback &#8211; Anthony Richardson &#8211; appears to have landed his own Hasselbeck.<\/p>\n<p><inline\/><\/p>\n<p>The Colts&#39; signing of veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to a one-year deal on Wednesday is a great potential duo between a confident veteran and former Super Bowl winner and a raw but tantalizing second-year quarterback who can grow under the guardianship of his teammate.<\/p>\n<p>Richardson, who started just 13 games at the University of Florida and spent 13 games on the sideline while injured last season, will likely experience ups and downs as a rookie during his second season.  Last year&#39;s fourth overall pick is just beginning to return to action after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury that interrupted his promising early season performance.<\/p>\n<p>When the 21-year-old encounters those inevitable setbacks that come with being a young quarterback \u2013 the untimely interceptions, missed reads and more \u2013 it will be comforting to know that Richardson will be greeted on the sidelines by Flacco, a 39 years old.  years who&#39;s been there, done that.<\/p>\n<p>It is worth noting that Richardson has already demonstrated his ability to be teachable.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data- media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data- media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">After learning from Gardner Minshew last season, Anthony Richardson will have a veteran with a Super Bowl title on his resume as his backup this year. <cite>Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cHe had a chance to sit back, watch and learn,\u201d coach Shane Steichen said of Richardson\u2019s rookie season.  \u201cI had some good meetings with him throughout the season, just one-on-one, me and him, sitting around talking <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/football\/\"   title=\"football\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">football<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe soaked it up and he was plugged in all year round.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, Flacco&#39;s signing is important because of the most obvious element of a backup quarterback&#39;s job.  Flacco demonstrated last season that he still has the ability to play, making a playoff run with the Cleveland Browns, who have historically had bad luck with quarterback injuries, and earning Most Valuable Player honors back of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Flacco came off the proverbial couch to go 4-1 as a starter down the stretch to help Cleveland secure a wild-card spot.  He gained renewed credibility through running and established himself as a viable free agent option this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Last season, the Colts showed that backup quarterback was a priority by signing Gardner Minshew, a player who had started in previous stops and was familiar with Steichen&#39;s offensive scheme.  The fact that Minshew was called upon to <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/start\/\"   title=\"start\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">start<\/a> 13 games only reinforced that philosophy.<\/p>\n<p>After last season, general manager Chris Ballard summed up Minshew&#39;s contributions succinctly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank God we got him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>With so much of the franchise&#39;s attention devoted to Richardson&#39;s success, the reality is that the backup quarterback will ideally be an afterthought on the field.  The Colts needed someone who could succeed despite that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe backup role doesn\u2019t get a lot of reps during the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/week\/\"   title=\"week\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">week<\/a>,\u201d Steichen said.  &#8220;They really don&#39;t have any. They have the scout team reps. So you have to be ready to go in if you have to go in there and play with basically no reps, but know the game plan.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Flacco seems to be the ideal player for such a role.  He&#39;s seen every coverage and blitz imaginable.  He also thrived as a starter and coming off the bench.<\/p>\n<p>Like Hasselbeck was to Luck, Flacco could be exactly what a promising young quarterback like Richardson needs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colts see Joe Flacco as key for Anthony Richardson\u060c Stephen Holder, ESPNMarch 14, 2024, 01:54 Close Stephen joined ESPN in 2022, covering the Indianapolis Colts and the NFL as a whole. Stephen placed first in feature writing in the 2015 Indiana Associated Press Media Editors competition, and he was a previous top 10 winner in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2176,2175,6211,4415,2236,2116],"class_list":["post-30995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-anthony","tag-colts","tag-flacco","tag-joe","tag-key","tag-richardson"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30996,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30995\/revisions\/30996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}