INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in half a decade, the Colts headed into the offseason without the question of who will be the quarterback of the future hanging over the franchise.

The team drafted Anthony Richardson to fill that role, and even though Richardson did not play enough before a season-ending shoulder injury to prove conclusively that he’s a franchise quarterback, he showed enough early promise that the Colts are committed to him for the near future.

With Richardson in the fold and few changes coming to Shane Steichen’s coaching staff, the focus in Indianapolis this offseason is clear.

“We have to get more explosive (plays) on offense,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said at the end of the season. “And we have to be able to eliminate the explosives on defense.”

The words came from Ballard.

But the sentiment came directly from the head coach’s office. When Steichen breaks the game down to the fundamental level, the Colts head coach believes the difference between winning and losing typically comes down to winning the turnover battle, and to creating more explosive plays — defined by the NFL as a run of 10 yards or more or a pass of 20 yards or more — than his opponent.

Indianapolis nearly made the playoffs despite falling far short of Steichen’s ideals for explosive plays.

Offensively, the Colts produced 54 running plays of 10 yards or more, a mark that tied them for 10th in the NFL — but Indianapolis produced just 45 passes of 20 yards or more, ranking 24th and a full 30 plays short of the 49ers, who led the NFL with 75 explosive pass plays.

Defensively, Indianapolis finished 17th in the NFL in all three categories: explosive run plays allowed (42), explosive pass plays allowed (54) and overall (96).

After a year that was supposed to be transitional under a first-time head coach and rookie quarterback ended up coming within a fourth-down throw of the playoffs, the expectations in Indianapolis have changed heading into 2024.

“We should legitimately be competing for the division and playoffs,” Ballard said. “That’s our expectation. That’s really our expectation every year, but I think that is really possible here going forward.”

Being more explosive on offense, and defusing more bombs on defense, will be key to the Colts taking the next step.

Anthony Richardson is the key

For the next three months, the focus will be on the players the Colts can add to the offense.

Even if Indianapolis brings back Michael Pittman Jr., the Colts badly need another receiver — the team’s three starters all played at least 788 snaps, and the game Pittman Jr. lost to a concussion was the only game any of the three missed — and there is room for a playmaker to emerge at tight end, either from within the current ranks or from a game-changing addition like Georgia tight end Brock Bowers.

From the sounds of it, though, the Colts believe the key to making this offense more explosive is already on the roster, currently rehabilitating after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery that took him out of the lineup just as he was starting to shine.

Ballard, always protective of his young players, was still trying to preach patience on Richardson at the end of the season.

“We’re encouraged by what we saw,” Ballard said. “Let’s not go crown him, let’s not stamp him yet. I mean, we’re not there, we’ve got a lot of work to do and he’s got a lot of work to do, but it’s encouraging.”

But then Ballard offered a hint of how the Colts see the issues in their offense this season.

“When he was playing, I think we were like 10th (actually 8th) in explosive plays,” Ballard said.

Richardson remains far from a finished product.

At the same time, the rookie’s strengths make it a lot easier for Steichen to create explosive plays, both in the running game and through the air.

For starters, Richardson’s natural running ability makes him a far more devastating threat than backup Gardner Minshew, who rushed for 100 yards on 29 carries this season. By comparison, Richardson picked up 136 rushing yards on 25 carries in just 173 snaps, and four of his 25 carries were explosive runs.

If it were only Richardson’s runs, that would help.

But the threat of Richardson making big plays with his feet ends up producing explosive plays for the running backs lined up behind him.

“When he plays, people defend you a little differently,” Ballard said. “I think we saw it already. It kind of naturally happens when he’s in there.”

In the three games Richardson started with Zack Moss at running back, Moss averaged 5.5 yards per carry — he averaged just 3.8 yards per carry in games where Richardson was not available.

And Moss, a bruising back who does not have game-breaking speed, is not the team’s preferred companion for Richardson in the backfield. That honor goes to Jonathan Taylor, who averaged 4.4 yards per carry in an up-and-down season this year but proved he still has the same home-run ability with a 30-carry, 188-yard performance in the season finale against Houston.

“Watching him this last game, it was amazing, because I can only imagine myself in the offense with him, opening up some things for him with my legs as well,” Richardson said.

Taylor and Richardson played just one snap together in 2023.

The Colts want to see what happens when they’re on the field together a lot more in 2024. Even though Indianapolis was tied for 10th in the NFL with 54 rushing plays of 10 yards or more last season, there is still plenty of room to improve. The two most explosive rushing attacks in the NFL, Chicago and San Francisco, produced 74 runs of 10 yards or more, a full 20 carries more than the Colts.

“Combining those guys in the backfield is going to be big for us,” Steichen said. “We’ve got a chance, obviously, with both those guys in the backfield, to be very explosive.”

Can Anthony Richardson produce explosive plays in passing game?

A running game that produces more big plays will help, but the Colts offense cannot be truly explosive unless the passing game takes a big step forward.

That responsibility will fall heavily on the right arm of Richardson.

From the outside, it can look like the Colts are limited by a lack of downfield weapons, but the way Ballard was talking at the end of the season put a lot of responsibility on the quarterback's play, even if he acknowledged the team needs more weapons.

“I’ve got a pretty good handle on the NFL Draft, and we do think it’s going to be pretty good with some explosive guys, and then (we’re) working through free agency now,” Ballard said. “We do think there are going to be some opportunities to add some players to make us more explosive.”

Ultimately, those players have to have a quarterback who can get them the ball downfield. Minshew gave the Colts a chance to win, but pushing the ball downfield is not his strong suit. The veteran averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt, and he often either passed up or did not recognize opportunities to throw to open receivers downfield, limiting the impact of a player like Alec Pierce.

Pierce has averaged 15.2 yards per reception on the 73 catches he’s made in his first two seasons in the NFL.

But the production has been inconsistent, and throughout the 2023 season, Colts coaches and decision-makers have hinted that the blame does not lie primarily with Pierce, who was routinely open downfield, only to see the ball go to a shorter route.

“The things he does really well, and really why we drafted him, is getting down the field,” Ballard said. “I think we’ve got to continue to work on ways to let him do what he does well, and that’s stretch the field. Still a young player, solid year, thought we probably could have (gotten the ball to him more). He’s so unselfish, you’re never going to hear him gripe or complain.”

Pittman Jr. is somewhat in the same boat.

A tough, bruising wide receiver, Pittman Jr. has been forced to do most of his work on tough, short routes the past two seasons, averaging 10 yards per catch on his 208 receptions.

Pittman Jr. was more of a downfield threat in his first two seasons, averaging 12.6 yards per catch as a rookie and 12.3 in his second season, numbers that suggest his drop in yards per reception has more to do with the difference in quarterback — going from Philip Rivers’ precision and Carson Wentz’s downfield aggression to a string of throwers who get the ball out short and quick — than any loss of the leaping ability that drew Indianapolis to him in the first place.

As long as Richardson’s shoulder is fully healthy, his arm strength should help. While Richardson did not have a ton of chances to prove his downfield ability as a rookie, the second half of the team’s loss to the Rams offered the Colts a tantalizing glimpse.

“I just keep thinking about Los Angeles, with Aaron Donald coming down the pipe, and he stood tall in the pocket to deliver that ball,” Taylor said. “It was insane to see the accuracy the ball was thrown with, the velocity — it was like, OK, that’s special.”

With Richardson at the helm, the vertical throws Steichen loves to dial up in his offense become much more dangerous.

“I think his ability to push the ball down the field and create allows for those explosive plays to happen,” Ballard said.

'He sees it all'

Defensively, the equation looks a little different.

Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley drew a lot of criticism this season for lack of aggression, for playing back in zone coverage and letting quarterbacks make throws underneath.

Bradley’s approach was influenced heavily by the first half of the season, by the youth in a secondary that routinely started three first- or second-year players among its five starting spots and by a head coach who acknowledged after the team’s Christmas Eve loss to Atlanta that he prefers a defensive scheme designed to take away explosive plays, rather than the riskier, blitz-heavy schemes that leave cornerbacks in man-to-man.

Steichen may be an offensive mind, but he sets the tone for the defense as well.

“He sees the big picture; this is not just an offensive coordinator that became a head coach who calls plays,” Ballard said. “No, he sees it all. … He’s always got such great recall about what happened in all three phases and what we need to fix.”

Under Steichen’s direction, Bradley began making significant changes to his defense after the team repeatedly gave up big plays to the Saints in an ugly loss midseason. At the time, the Colts were near the bottom of the NFL in explosive plays allowed; Bradley started using more split-safety coverages instead of the single-safety coverages he traditionally favors, and Indianapolis ended up ranked in the middle of the pack in explosive plays allowed.

But the Colts also finished 28th in scoring defense, in part because Ballard’s evaluation of the defense included the reality that the youth in the secondary tied Bradley’s hands at times.

“There were times that we had some soft coverage,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. “A lot of the young guys need to do some growing up over this offseason. … I feel like Gus is going to be able to be more confident in certain calls, having confidence in the guys in the back end.”

The decisions Ballard makes will play a critical role.

Nickel cornerback Kenny Moore II and strong safety Julian Blackmon, the two most reliable players in the Indianapolis secondary last season, are free agents. The rest of the young core of defensive backs — JuJu Brents, Jaylon Jones and Dallis Flowers at cornerback; Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas II at safety — have questions to answer, either because of injury or inconsistency.

“We took our lumps at times, but I think it’s going to pay off down the line,” Ballard said.

Ballard must make the right moves and additions to give Bradley a more reliable secondary.

“We’ll add fuel,” Ballard said. “There are no given jobs, so they’ll have to compete.”

Beyond the personnel additions, Ballard mentioned improved tackling as an emphasis, all while hinting at more systematic changes to alter the team’s course in terms of explosive plays. Indianapolis finished fifth in the NFL with 51 sacks and tied for 16th with 24 takeaways; both categories can improve, but the Colts produce a lot of explosive plays of their own on defense.

They have to stop giving up so many to the offensive side of the ball.

“We have to take away the explosives,” Ballard said. “But I would expect us to take another jump here this year on defense.”

Look at the teams in the Super Bowl

The emphasis Steichen places on explosive plays is warranted.

Take a look at the Super Bowl. One participant, the San Francisco 49ers, led the league in both explosive runs and explosive passes this season; the other, the Kansas City Chiefs, led the NFL in fewest explosive plays allowed.

The Colts would like to get a lot closer to the top of both of those lists.

“Every year is a new year,” Steichen said. “There’s not going to be the same faces on this roster, that’s just how it works and you got to build it again, you know what I mean? You’ve got to find out what your identity is going to be in 2024.”

Steichen has always known what he wants his team’s identity to be.

Now, the Colts need to get closer to realizing his vision.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Shane Steichen's focus on explosive plays define Colts offseason