CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards Has Colts Selecting Florida QB Anthony Richardson in Round One of 2023 Draft

Although there are still a few weeks left to play in the 2022 season, many fans have turned their attention toward April’s 2023 NFL Draft.

The Indianapolis Colts, who have a 4-8-1 record, currently hold the No. 7 pick with four games against the 10-3 Minnesota Vikings, 6-6 Los Angeles Chargers, 7-5-1 New York Giants and 1-11-1 Houston Texans still to play.

CBS Sports analyst Josh Edwards has the Colts selecting Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with their first-round pick. At the time the article released, Indy had the No. 9 overall pick. But Richardson still makes a lot of sense, especially given Indy’s current uncertainty at the most important position in the NFL.

At 6’4”, Richardson, who recently declared for the upcoming NFL Draft, has started to catch the attention of many teams around the league. Although some may have concerns regarding his accuracy over his final season at Florida (53.8% completion rate in 2022), Richardson possesses other traits that make him one of the more intriguing prospects in this year’s quarterback class.

During his time as a starter for the Gators, Richardson threw for a total of 3,105 passing yards and tossed 24 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. The dual-threat quarterback also rushed for 1,116 yards and scored 12 rushing touchdowns during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Around one month ago, the Colts reportedly had scouts in attendance to watch Richardson play against South Carolina. Indy has been in search of a long-term answer at quarterback for the last few seasons, and the route of going with a veteran at the position has failed to produce the results the organization wanted. With many talented prospects and currently a top-ten draft selection, doing their homework on this year’s class of quarterbacks makes sense.

Although some teams may view the playmaking quarterback as more of a project, given everything we have seen from Richardson — including his arm strength, the ability to make plays off-script and his threat as a rusher — there’s certainly a lot to like. With the right coaches and pieces in place, I could see Richardson absolutely having success at the next level.

It’ll be interesting to see how the remaining four weeks go for the Colts, but taking a young, unique prospect with tremendous upside like Richardson would make a lot of sense, even if there are things in his game that may need some developing over time.