The Indianapolis Colts have tried to fill their QB need by acquiring veterans each offseason, but it just hasn’t worked out since Andrew Luck retired. Now it’s Anthony Richardson’s team. Let’s break down the 2023 Indianapolis Colts.

A Closer Look at the Indianapolis Colts 2023 NFL Season

Intensity. Energy. Passion.

Coming up next: #ColtsCamp. pic.twitter.com/0D7048NDgo

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) June 26, 2023

• NFL Week 1: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 2: at Houston Texans — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 3: at Baltimore Ravens — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 4: vs. Los Angeles Rams — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 5: vs. Tennessee Titans — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 6: at Jacksonville Jaguars — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 7: vs. Cleveland Browns — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 8: vs. New Orleans Saints — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 9: at Carolina Panthers — 4:05 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 10: at New England Patriots — 9:30 a.m. ET (NFLN)
• NFL Week 11: BYE
• NFL Week 12: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 13: at Tennessee Titans — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 14: at Cincinnati Bengals — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 15: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers — TBD (TBD)
• NFL Week 16: at Atlanta Falcons — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 17: vs. Las Vegas Raiders — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 18: vs. Houston Texans — TBD (TBD)

New Coach, New Goals

The Colts were a total mess last season in finishing 4-12-1, with Coach Frank Reich fired during the season and owner Jim Irsay making a disastrous decision to hire former Colts Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday out of the ESPN booth to replace Reich. That didn’t work out, either. The new head coach is former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.

The Eagles offense was one of the most explosive units in the NFL last year, and it was clear QB Jalen Hurts made impressive strides as a quarterback under Steichen’s tenure. Steichen, 37, is the second-youngest head coach in franchise history behind Don Shula, who was 33 years old when he took the head coach job for the Baltimore Colts in 1963. He’s also the third-youngest head coach currently in the NFL.

Steichen presented Irsay with a detailed plan for addressing the quarterback position. The Colts had one of the NFL’s worst offenses in 2022 using multiple QBs ranking 30th in scoring (17 points per game), 27th in QBR (36.8) and 30th in yards per play (4.8).

“Shane just knocked it out of the park and really showed the qualities that put him above during the whole process as our man,” Irsay said.

Did the 2023 NFL Draft Bring Power?

At No. 4 overall in this year’s draft, the Colts took a big swing on Florida QB Anthony Richardson. He turned the NFL scouting combine earlier this year into a personal highlight reel, establishing a quarterback record in the vertical jump (40.5 inches) and running one of the fastest 40-yard dashes at his position in recent years (4.43 seconds).

Richardson could be an absolute monster in the NFL but he struggles to simply throw the ball at times. He will need to be taught a lot to play QB in the NFL and might not be the Week 1 guy – veteran Gardner Minshew could be. Minshew is familiar with Steichen’s offense as they were together in Philadelphia last season. Minshew has starting experience and gives the Colts an initial option under center if they want to bring Richardson along slowly.

Richardson’s development as a passer will have a direct impact on the short and long-term outlook for Michael Pittman. Set to enter his fourth season with the Colts, Pittman narrowly missed a second-consecutive 1,000-yard campaign in 2022, as he finished with a line of 99-925-4.

Running back Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for a franchise-record 1,811 yards in 2021, is coming off a down season in which he battled a nagging ankle injury that limited him to 11 games. He rushed for 861 yards and four touchdowns. But the sum total of Taylor’s three seasons with the Colts remains highly impressive: 3,841 yards and 33 rushing touchdowns. He’s looking for a new contract.

Shaquille Leonard is one of the best linebackers in the NFL when healthy, but wasn’t much in 2022 and is still recovering from offseason back surgery. This is who Shaq Leonard was for the first four years of his career: 16 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, 11 interceptions and 15 sacks. He piled up 23 takeaways in the first 57 games, a ridiculous rate of one every 2.4 starts. He was flat-out one of the best players in football.

“I see the things where they say I won’t be back to myself,” Leonard said. “You know, (that) I sat out for nothing, stuff like that. So now it’s back to day one, of proving who I am. I don’t think I shy away from it, I don’t think I throw it on the back burner, I continue to use it as a reason why I wake up at 4:30 in the morning is to prove everybody wrong. For myself, I know who I am.”

Will the Colts Have a Rough Schedule?

The Colts in 2022 played five of their six AFC South games in the first seven weeks of the season; this year, the Colts play four of their six AFC South games in the first six weeks of the season. They open on Sept. 10 at home vs. Jacksonville as 4-point underdogs. The Colts haven’t won in Week 1 since 2013.

Indianapolis doesn’t have a single prime-time game scheduled in 2023. If the Colts do not get flexed into a primetime slot, 2023 will be the franchise’s first season without a night game since 1999. Indy is hard to get a read on because Richardson is so raw, but it’s a talented roster overall.

Where to Bet On NFL with Crypto

NFL odds are available all year round here at Nitrobetting. Create a Nitrobetting account now to win tons of crypto from the 2023-24 NFL season with our up-to-date NFL futures odds, as well as our special Crypto Squares and Picks contests throughout the upcoming season!

Check out our latest crypto betting guides for the NFL season. Stay tuned for more football previews and articles, and don’t forget to check out the latest NFL betting odds at our online crypto sportsbook.

READ MORE: Indianapolis Colts 2023 NFL Season Betting Guide