Where is AR on the depth chart?

[Kray007]

Originally Posted by ChoppedWood

I am 100% with you on this. That is why I was so heated about the Philip thing. It certainly appears to me that Steichen is too prone to his own hubris obfuscating reality. With AR, I think he was willing to "try" to do it a different way at the outset- he was doing to great things on the ground and in improv passing, but once the injuries happened he was probably like "nope, all I need is a guy who just executes exactly what I tell him to do". And, given what we saw to start the year last year, there's some merit to that. Conversely, we also witnessed a diabolical collapse where that very simple "go execute what I say" approach, was not sufficient to win games.

I’m not sure that Steichen had many options after Jones went down. Riley Leonard was a rookie with a banged up knee, and Richardson was sidelined with his latest injury.

By the time week 14 rolls around, there are no easy solutions left when looking for a Quarterback. Names like Sam Ehlinger, Taylor Heinecke, Trevor Simien, Ryan Tannehill, and Herndon Hooker were all objects of speculation.

Slim pickings.

Part of the problem is that, week 14 is too late in the year for a coach to contemplate changing offensive schemes…in other words, he’s jiggered. The Colts turned to Rivers simply because he knew the system.

As far as criticism that Steichen is some doctrinaire martinet, inflexible and insistent that a QB fit into his system rather than designing a system tailored to his unique skills…

Since being promoted to Quarterbacks Coach, through jobs as Offensive Coordinator, then Head Coach, Steichen has successfully coached Philip Rivers, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, Anthony Richardson, and Daniel Jones. Five Quarterbacks, five different skill sets.

Besides, what are we saying about Steichen’s desire at the position? He wants someone smart, who knows how to study and prepare. Someone who’s an accurate passer with good anticipation and who’s adept at mastering and executing an Offense. Someone with enough mobility to operate in a new age in which a Quarterback can no longer set up five yards deep in the pocket and do his best imitation of a statue. A leader.

My guess is that if you were to ask 31 other head coaches, all of them are looking for the same things.

I suppose that you might argue that, with Richardson, he tried to drive the proverbial round peg into a square hole. I never saw much evidence of that, and injuries, historically poor accuracy, and a casual attitude towards preparation pretty much conspired against getting any real sense of AR’s ability and how well he was working within the scheme.