Anthony Richardson named Colts starter: Where to draft him in Fantasy Football, QBs to pair him with, more

The most athletic QB prospect to ever enter the NFL will now be starting in Week 1

Anthony Richardson has been named the Week 1 starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and first-year coach Shane Steichen also referred to him as their starter for the 2023 season. The latter part was to be expected, but the confirmation should provide assurance for Fantasy Football managers who are looking to target Richardson in their upcoming drafts to be their QB1 for 2023. Now that Richardson has been named the starter, let's dive into where you should look to target him in your drafts, which QBs make the most sense to pair him with, and how we can project his rookie season.

Jamey Eisenberg dove into the recent ADP (average draft position) data on Monday to find trends that can help you in your drafts. Richardson has been falling outside the top-12 in ADP prior to the news of him being named starter, per CBS Sports' ADP data. However, industry drafters have been a bit more aggressive in chasing his upside. In our most recent PPR mock, Richardson was the 10th quarterback selected (inside the top-100 at No. 91 overall). Although he was selected a few picks after in our Non-PPR mock before that, Richardson was also the 10th quarterback off the board. That's where our CBS Sports experts have him ranked collectively as well -- their consensus QB10.

This season we have what feels like a locked in top-eight at the quarterback position and it has certainly played out that way in our industry mocks with the same eight players coming off the board in a varying order. Those eight quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence. With news that he will now be starting Week 1 in throughout the season, Richardson has an opportunity to jump Tua Tagovailoa as the QB9, but it's difficult to see him jumping any of the eight. 

If you're looking to target Richardson in your upcoming drafts, the time to strike is just after the first eight quarterbacks come off the board. You should also be more aggressive in drafting him before the 100th pick overall. Somewhere inside but just on the edge of the top-90 should get the job done.

Why draft Richardson? Here's a few plays from his preseason debut that showcase his upside in a variety of ways:

Anthony Richardson is going to be JUST fine 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fK6Js9Qha7

— Ray G (@RayGQue) August 14, 2023

Richardson looks a lot like Cam Newton on the first play that's cut above -- escapability, speed and elusiveness as a runner were all on display. Richardson ran a 4.43 at 244 pounds at the combine. He paired that up with 99th percentile explosion drills (vertical, broad jumps) and a 96th percentile 10-yard split (quickness, acceleration). It's not just about what he can offer as a runner. Richardson layered the deep ball perfectly to Alec Pierce in the preseason for what should've been a long touchdown had the second-year receiver not dropped the pass. Richardson has the arm talent to attack all three areas of the field and generate explosive plays in the pass game.

One other major factor contributing to Richardson's upside is his pairing with Steichen. We just saw Steichen oversee an offense with an athletic quarterback (Jalen Hurts) who needed to (and then did in 2022) take a big jump as a passer. While Richardson's weapons and offensive line won't be as strong as what Hurts had, the scheme will be tailored to fit his skill set in a similar way. Now that he's been named starter, Steichen can fully commit to a system that fits Richardson.

We've spent a lot of time discussing Richardson's upside and ceiling, but there is an obvious floor that needs to be baked in. Rookie quarterbacks typically struggle to keep a passing game in rhythm. Trevor Lawrence is a great example of this -- the best pure passing prospect to enter the NFL since Andrew Luck. Even taking a look at Justin Fields, a similar prospect to Richardson purely from a rushing standpoint, paints a low-floor picture. Fields didn't crack the top-12 as a rookie and wasn't startable most weeks.

The good news is that 32 quarterbacks start in the NFL every week, and depending on the size of your league, only between eight and 14 quarterbacks start in a Fantasy Football league each week. This means that your drafts are unlikely to prioritize backup quarterbacks, especially those managers who used an early asset on one of the elite tier quarterbacks -- and even likely those who grabbed the back-end QB1s like Fields and Lawrence. 

This provides an opportunity to go one of two ways when it comes to pairing Richardson with a QB2, but both routes involve spending one of your next 1-3 round picks on a quarterback after grabbing the Colts rookie. You can go the safer route and look to pair Richardson with Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rodgers -- two pocket passers with high-floor profiles. Or you can pair Richardson with another higher-upside quarterback in that range like Deshaun Watson or Daniel Jones. 

I prefer the latter route. In a one-QB league, there will always be floor plays available to you on the waiver wire should both your quarterbacks bottom out. This is especially true if you play the matchups wisely and target those waiver wire quarterbacks in good spots. What you won't find on the waiver wire is upside. Give yourself two opportunities to hit on a QB1 is the way I look at it. Richardson can be a league-winning pick if he reaches the top range of outcomes in 2023 -- and if you're not first, you're last in Fantasy Football.