NFL fans got an early Christmas gift when the NFL decided to mic up quarterback Philip Rivers for the Indianapolis Colts’ Monday Night Football matchup against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16. However, Rivers was going viral before the mic’d up footage was even released due to audibles the hot microphone picked up during the game. Rivers’ impressive play, combined with these audibles, has reignited a conversation about young quarterback development in the NFL.
At the start of the season, Tom Brady initially revamped this conversation after comments he made on The Colin Cowherd Podcast.
Brady states, “There’s a lot more, I would say, physical development happening at a younger age, but less, I would say, mental, emotional development happening.”
Brady goes on to discuss how players like himself, Patrick Mahomes, Eli Manning, and Aaron Rodgers all had the opportunity to sit behind a veteran quarterback and develop their mental fortitude and confidence before being thrust onto the NFL stage.
The reason this conversation was reignited was due to how vocal Rivers was at the line of scrimmage during Monday Night Football. The checks he was making and how he was quickly processing the 49ers’ defense were all on display as his 277-yard, two-touchdown performance shocked many NFL viewers.
The calls, plus his remarkable play after a five-year hiatus, naturally have fans concerned about how different the league is today, with younger quarterbacks not exhibiting these audible traits in today’s game. Part of this can be attributed to a lack of patience by NFL coaches looking to save their jobs, NFL teams looking to excite their fans, and NFL owners looking to make money. Another reason for the lack of development stems from how quarterbacks are taught at the college level.
How QB Development Is Taught Today
On December 17th, at an Atlanta Falcons press conference, Kirk Cousins elaborated on how many quarterbacks are taught to read NFL defensive coverages instead of pure progress reads at the college level.
Cousins shares, “At Michigan State, it was you see coverage, and you pick a side, and you basically take five eligibles down to two, down to your checkdown. So you basically cut the field in half.”
Essentially, young quarterbacks are taught to read half the field depending on the placement of the defense’s safeties and if they are in a single-high or two-high look. And for the most part, this is an efficient way to help get a young quarterback acclimated to reading an NFL defense.
These half-field reads were an approach the Colts initially took with Anthony Richardson during his rookie season.
But as we’ve seen with Richardson, at the NFL level, this type of read has a flaw that can stunt quarterback progression.
In his press conference, Cousins also stated, “The whole game plan’s built on is it single-high or split safety? And I can’t see if it’s single-high or split-safety. Like these defenses are just making it muddy until I’m three steps into my drop.”
Essentially, NFL defenses got so good at disguising their coverages that it negates the simplification of the read and would end up having the reverse effect.
So Cousins then alludes to the fact that he had to learn how to go through a pure progression, which means working from your top option down to your last across the entire field.
Will the Colts Finally Develop Anthony Richardson?
With Daniel Jones done for the 2025 season, no first-round pick next year, and a 44-year-old quarterback currently at the helm, the Colts could find themselves going back to Anthony Richardson for 2026. Richardson’s rookie contract could be extended to have him play for the team through 2027.
GettyIndianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson was activated of injured reserve last week following an orbital eye fracture earlier in the season.
Teams usually force young quarterbacks into the starting lineup due to a lack of patience and potential pressure from ownership. With the Colts’ current predicament at signal caller and lack of other options, they may choose to run it back with Richardson and commit to allowing him to develop into a pure progression passer.
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