Anthony Richardson Shouldn't Be Expected to Be 'Superman from Day 1,' Colts GM Says

The Indianapolis Colts presumably made Florida's Anthony Richardson the franchise quarterback when they selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in Thursday's NFL draft.

But general manager Chris Ballard told reporters it is time for patience:

"He's got to come in and earn his way like every player we bring in. Let's not expect him to be Superman from day one. I think history has shown there's not many of them that are Superman from day one. Some of them it takes two, three years for them to become a really good player. … It's the one area where teams that, the pressure for these guys after one or two years—back 10, 15 years ago, guys would get year three, four, five. Think about it. Terry Bradshaw, he might have never played in today's NFL. It took him time in Pittsburgh.

"We've got to let these guys develop and play. They're going to have some struggles and then they've got to work through the struggles and eventually, their talent, the more they play, their talent will come to life."

Patience will be much easier said than done for Colts fans.

After all, expectations are going to be sky-high for someone the franchise just used the fourth pick on in the draft. What's more, Indianapolis just cycled through a number of temporary stopgaps in Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Jacoby Brissett.

The team has been looking for a long-term answer since Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired, and Richardson could be just that.

However, there will likely be some growing pains.

He made just 13 starts during his time at Florida, and there were some accuracy concerns when he was on the field. He completed just 53.8 percent of his passes in his final season with the Gators and was an ugly 9-of-27 in his last game against Florida State.

NFL defenses are primed to take advantage of costly accuracy errors, so finding a way to adjust to the speed of the next level will be key.

Still, Richardson has the athleticism to develop into a dynamic quarterback and part of a dominant read-option attack with running back Jonathan Taylor. Defenses will have to pick their poison when it comes to that backfield, and even the slightest hesitation could mean a big play on the ground.

It might take time for Richardson to reach his potential, but his general manager seems fine with that.