PHILADELPHIA − The list is impressive as new Colts head coach Shane Steichen has mentored quarterbacks Justin Herbert as a record-breaking rookie in 2020, then turned Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts into an MVP runner-up last season.
Combined, the two quarterbacks have received second contracts worth as much as a half-billion dollars this offseason. That certainly should make Steichen a Quarterback Whisperer.
Steichen, as the Eagles offensive coordinator the previous two seasons, helped Hurts go from a QB who barely completed 50% of his passes into a dynamic runner who completed 66.5% of his passes in leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl in a span of two years.
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Of course, the Colts noticed this and hired Steichen as the head coach to do the same with Anthony Richardson, whom the Colts drafted No. 4 overall next spring.
That doesn’t mean that it will automatically happen, and that could have more to do with Hurts than it does with Steichen.
That was evident Tuesday in the joint practice session between the two teams. Hurts is, and should be, way ahead of Richardson at this point.
In on-one-drills between wide receivers and defensive backs, Hurts lofted a perfect deep ball into the arms of A.J. Brown, with Kenny Brown, a Pro Bowl player, all over him.
Brown caught it over his shoulder into the end zone, the ball placed perfectly beyond Moore’s outstretched arms. Later in team drills, Hurts hit DeVonta Smith in back-to-back plays as Smith each time made a leaping catch over Darrell Baker.
It’s also fair to say that Hurts as a rookie in 2020 going through his first training camp (the year before Steichen and head coach Nick Sirianni arrived) was behind Richardson at this point. After all, Richardson has already been anointed the starter, and Steichen is in the process of building an offense around Richardson’s running ability.
But in 2020, Carson Wentz was the Eagles’ franchise quarterback, and Hurts was mostly seen as a “gadget quarterback.” Even when Wentz was mercifully benched for Hurts for the final 4½ games, Hurts was primarily a running quarterback.
And that begs the question: Is Hurts’ improvement more a result of Hurts’ sheer will or Steichen’s tutelage? And what does that mean for Richardson?
“Shane’s a guy that is passionate about the game,” Hurts said. “He loves it. I’m excited for the opportunity that he has in front of him. He’s a guy that believed in me. He wanted me to do big things.”
As for Richardson, Hurts said this: “He’s really talented. He’s big and he’s fast. He has a strong arm. He’s always had that. It’d be cool to see how he puts it together. He had a great career at Florida, and I’m excited to watch him play under Shane.”
All we can go on, for now, is what we’re seeing in practice. Hurts hasn’t played in any of the preseason games. But we also know Hurts is a student of the game, as Hurts described what he does while watching backups Marcus Mariota and rookie Tanner McKee play.
“I’m just making the calls myself in my head and listening to the coaching points with the coaches on the headset with them,” Hurts said. “Just learning. I’m a student when I’m in that mode. It’s very valuable. I think about all opportunities I’ve had when I come off the sideline and come off the bench.
“I always want to be prepared for those moments.”
Richardson very well could have all of those qualities. And Steichen is certainly impressed with what he has seen so far from his rookie QB.
“You see the upside on film; it just jumps off the tape,” Steichen said about Richardson recently on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “Holy smokes, there aren’t many guys that can do the things that he’s doing.”
Well, there’s one guy − Hurts.
And Richardson has a much longer way to go to reach Hurts’ level. Richardson, an accomplished runner, completed just 53.8% of his passes in his one full season at Florida.
Hurts, meanwhile, won a national championship as a true freshman at Alabama, led the Tide back to the title game the next season before he was replaced by Tua Tagovailoa. Hurts played his senior season at Oklahoma, where he completed 69.7% of his passes for 3,851 yards. He also ran for 1,298 yards and was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.
And the disparity was evident in practice. While Hurts was dropping dimes to Brown and Smith, Richardson threw behind a receiver, and another pass was intercepted by K’Von Wallace, but was called back because of defensive pass interference.
Hurts also has a much better supporting cast with Brown, Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert, and perhaps the NFL’s best offensive line. The same can’t be said of Richardson. The Colts’ top offensive weapon, Jonathan Taylor, is unhappy with his contract and he’s on the physically unable to perform list.
Oh, and Taylor was granted permission by the Colts to seek a trade.
Even with Steichen leaving, the Eagles kept the continuity on offense by promoting Brian Johnson from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. Johnson has known Hurts since Hurts was 4 years old, while playing in high school for Hurts’ father.
While Johnson might differ in style from Steichen, the message is the same.
“He has his way of doing it,” Hurts said about Johnson. “He asks me a ton of questions about how I like the communication process to go. I think that’s something you adjust with. You want to go in prepared as much as possible, but when you get to the games you kind of find your own rhythm, your own way of communication.
“Going into this year having a new coach in a new role, yet still having the same person in the building, it’s just navigating through all those things.”
Hurts has navigated all of it. Steichen is just starting to go through it with Richardson. So if Steichen truly is a Quarterback Whisperer, Richardson is his biggest test.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
