https://youtu.be/WYGHtd3Zs5A?si=kXA-w0-6P5LyFrWy Week 1 Throws
https://youtu.be/Cxrnl2WvwUg?si=EsmXor9xEP04OgN_ Week 2 Throws
Couldn't find the Week 3 video, but it's the same issue. So what is the issue? If you watch his back/plant leg, it becomes obvious. On accurate throws, you'll notice his back legs plants and he gets the rotational torque on the throw that QBs are supposed to get. A great example of this is the 65 yard bomb to Pierce in the opener. In part because he slipped and had to regather himself, AR planted his back foot and placed a ball 65 air yards downfield right into the hands of Alec Pierce. It was a beautiful throw, made possible by correct mechanical execution. Another great example is the big gainer he threw to Kylen Granson against the Bears. Again, he plants his back leg, his hips swivel open, and he delivers a perfect throw to Granson, placed exactly where you'd want it. On the high/off-target/airmail throws, there is a consistent pattern as well, which is that his back leg does not plant, and often, his foot slides behind his body as he makes the throw. This motion completely destroys the mechanics of his throw, as now his hip rotation is sliding away from the throw rather than into it, and his body is being pulled away from the throw. As a result of that, he overcompensates with his arm, causing the ball to go high, and in some cases, ridiculously high.
To me, this is the best possible thing the accuracy issue could be, because it means two things:
1) When Richardson properly executes his mechanics, he is actually deadly accurate, which for a QB with his natural athletic ability should terrify the rest of the league.
2) This is a fixable issue that the coaches should be able to identify. There are also gameplan things that can be done to counteract the bad mechanics. The Colts should do several designed rollouts over the next few weeks, not only because it forces the defense to account for AR's speed, but also because it forces AR to plant his back leg when he throws. This will help correct his mechanics.
If you want to say that AR needs time to develop and needs game experience, I think this is your best argument. If he fixes his footwork, there won't be a defense in the NFL that can stop him.
7 comments
I’ve noticed this as well. His overthrows are boiling down to bad mechanics. Let’s hope the coaching staff works on this. Would love to see him have a Josh Allen type of improvement.
Luckily mechanics are easier to fix than most other issues. The great thing about AR is he has intangibles that are hard to teach. I’m not talking about athletic ability, but he can keep his head down field, make reads, and make good decisions. He already has the poise and mental ability to be a good QB.
If he can get fundamentals down then he is in great shape.
Finally someone else sees this. I was starting to feel like a nut
It’s more fixable than processing and poise, which he seems to have, but it’s not really something you can retool mid-season.
Colts can send him to Tom House or whoever in Januray, but I wouldn’t expect too much growth this season.
Richardson’s accuracy issues stem from poor footwork. Properly planting his back leg leads to accurate throws, while sliding results in overthrows. This fixable mechanic can be improved with coaching, making him a formidable QB if corrected…
I hope this is correct and if so that AR understands it can be rectified. It sure would be fun to watch if he can put it all together soon.
So to me there is a bigger problem than footwork which made him a very un-intriguing prospect and that’s his arm angle.
There’s a fundamental QB throwing concept which is that the ball shouldn’t dip below your below when throwing. Think Carson Wentz, who was very notorious with this, and iirc Kyler Murray. Now recently with more baseball guys in the league, this has taken a back seat but it leads to very inaccurate throws in general.
From my understanding, this is something extremely hard to correct without completely redoing someone’s mechanics. And you never want to redo someone’s entire mechanics as you may never get the same QB again and possibly a worse one.
We will see what happens with AR but I think this is the guy we will get for as long as he is a Colt.