Trent Richardson is a beast, not a bust

[Papa_Squid]

I am kind of "all in" on Trich going forward. For no other reason than through a bevy of trades - he ended up as my defaco RB2. I do wonder what the hell happened to such a prized, sought after talent. I have to think there is a rebound here. I enjoyed the article - I don't buy all of it. But, just seeing Richardson and beast in the same sentance made me happy. Cross your fingers!

[dlf_jules]

[ninotoreS]

Jules wins the thread.

[MEuRaH]

In a live redraft league, my friend who picked 8th overall took TRich in the 1st round.

Everyone else just gasped, and one guy goes "...... wow....."

Some people REALLY believe, while others have given up. There's very little middle ground.

[voiceofunreason]

Hey, as long as he gets the ball on the 2 yard line every time he touches it...

[Unknown]

Hey, as long as he gets the ball on the 2 yard line every time he touches it...

He'd only have 96 yards to go!

[Titus Young's Lawyer]

Bradshaw is just better...It's like Richardson isn't a burner RB or a bruiser RB. In college he was both but against pro defenses he isn't quite either.

[Jason3123]

Bradshaw looks pretty good tonight. Looks healthy and fresh. Trent looks boring and slow. And fat.

[lostcause]

Bradshaw looks pretty good tonight. Looks healthy and fresh. Trent looks boring and slow. And fat.

I am going to say that this is unfair. Trent is not fat or boring - but I would agree he's slow. His straight line speed with a full head of steam would probably be lethal, but he's just not evasive. His physicality isn't powerful enough to deal with the linebackers and DEs he's encountering on the edge in the NFL. His acceleration is horrible and his vision is sub-par. I really can't see him carving out a niche in the NFL with this skill set.

The more I watch, the more I think the Browns got lucky cashing him out for another 1st.

[dysrhythmia]

after watching tonight's game....I think I'm finally ready to admit that trich just doesn't have what it takes....

[holy_stromboli]

Regardless of Trent or Bradshaw or whoever is in the backfield, if I were a Colts fan, I would be yelling for Pep's head immediately -- fall behind early to finally have the offense click in the 2nd half. It's more of the same crap from last year. NINE RUNS?!?! 9 total runs between Trent AND Bradshaw. Add in the fact that I don't think they even tried back-to-back runs at any point tonight with either guy. 9 RB runs randomly sprinkled regardless of RB is inexcusable as compared to 53 passes from Luck. The play calling is awful. Period. Both Trent and Ahmad had a couple nice runs at a few points in the game, and both were open as outlets more often than Luck would look their way. How do you not abuse the screen game and RB dumpoffs is beyond me. Stop trying to force it Hilton who cannot catch a lick or horrible Fleener.

[BuckeyeNation]

Regardless of Trent or Bradshaw or whoever is in the backfield, if I were a Colts fan, I would be yelling for Pep's head immediately -- fall behind early to finally have the offense click in the 2nd half. It's more of the same crap from last year. NINE RUNS?!?! 9 total runs between Trent AND Bradshaw. Add in the fact that I don't think they even tried back-to-back runs at any point tonight with either guy. 9 RB runs randomly sprinkled regardless of RB is inexcusable as compared to 53 passes from Luck. The play calling is awful. Period. Both Trent and Ahmad had a couple nice runs at a few points in the game, and both were open as outlets more often than Luck would look their way. How do you not abuse the screen game and RB dumpoffs is beyond me. Stop trying to force it Hilton who cannot catch a lick or horrible Fleener.

I agree with a lot of this. Honestly, I don't think TRich looked that bad. Opened open with a 5 yard carry. He was carrying a pile of players with every carry. The problems with TRich are well known. He's not fast, he doesn't have great vision, and he's not elusive. TRich could be a productive back, but he needs the workload and he needs to be used properly. Neither of those are going to happen in IND, and I doubt he gets another chance with a different team.

Look how TRich is used though. His 2nd carry of the game has Luck lined up in the Shotgun. They have TRich lined up BEHIND Luck, who is already deep in the backfield. You can't give TRich the ball 6-7 yards in the backfield and expect him to be productive with the touches. Obviously this sais something about TRich's shortcomings as a RB, but the play calling and his overall usage isn't helping matters either. 6/20 for TRich and 3/15 for Bradshaw. Yes the Colts fell in a hole early, but 9 carries? If that's how the game is going to be played in IND, Adrian Peterson wouldn't be productive in that offense.

[NanceUSMC]

To be fair, I have to admit that last night was the first time I've really watched TRich intently, and honestly, if that's the best the Colts OL can do in the run game, that's sad... Much of the things said here about TRich are true, but when first contact is routinely coming 2-4 yards BEHIND THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE, you're really putting your RB at an extreme disadvantage right off the bat... And abandoning the run the way the Colts appear to do (often, not just last night) just exacerbates the issue... I can't see TRich having reliable production until that OL gets things figured out...

[Rag3aholik]

Yeah... as much as TRich didn't seem to produce much he didn't have anything to work with at any point last night. In fact I was impressed by his pile-moving ability. I don't know how the Colts expect either him or Bradshaw to gain confidence when they refuse to give each more than one carry per drive.

Sure, he hasn't looked good, but you have to give a player opportunities to succeed before he can succeed. Give up on him or make him the bellcow I don't care, but this stringing along crap is maddening. It's like a popular girl in high school stringing along the nerdy guy and it doesn't help anyone.

[zeeshan2]

This is why Trent is not good: