Colts owner Jim Irsay had been hinting towards Indianapolis trading for a starting running back throughout the week after starting RB Vick Ballard got ruled out for the season. Ahmad Bradshaw was at his lonesome, but judging off his injury issues from the past, Indy couldn't risk letting him carry the majority of the load. Donald Brown wasn't going to be the answer for those problems.
Irsay was making more noise than the Geico Hump Day camel on Wednesday, hinting that the newly-acquired running back by the Colts was going to be a former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Many thought it would be Mark Ingram, as he seemed like the most likely guy Indianapolis could get. It was a major shock to hear that the Colts ended up getting Richardson, who was basically the Browns whole offense since his rookie year.
With Cleveland only taking just a first-round pick, having an aging Willis McGahee replace him and making Brian Hoyer start at quarterback, it's all pretty clear they are in full-out tanking mode and calling it quits on the 2012-13 NFL season -- all after just Week 2. With that said, it looks like Cleveland is aiming for Tajh Boyd, Teddy Bridgewater or Jadeveon Clowney in the 2014 NFL Draft.
As for the Colts, the only thing you can say is -- WOW. Last year, they did a bit similar when trading a couple of mid-to-late round picks to land cornerback Vontae Davis of the Miami Dolphins. This was one trumps it by one-thousand times, as the Colts have now found their running back of the future.
In his rookie season, Richardson was more than impressive, carrying the full workload as running back of the Browns. T-Rich had 957 yards on 257 carries and 11 touchdowns. He also added 51 catches, 367 yards and one touchdown through the air. This was all behind a mediocre Browns team, so imagine what he can do with the supporting cast he will be joining in which the Colts possess.
The only thing that could hold Richardson back is Indy's offensive line, which is shabby to say at best.
However, Indy has been working towards building a solid run game, and it has been shown since last season. With that, Indianapolis could create a major two-headed monster with Richardson and Bradshaw.
Richardson likely could be seeing anywhere from 60 percent-to-80 percent of the carries from now on. That will definitely help Bradshaw, who is reaching the running back's father time and has a bad history with injuries. With Bradshaw getting 8-15 carries, it will be huge asset going down the road.
This will help Andrew Luck and the Colts offensive line a lot as well. Opposing defenses in the past two games have been anticipating the pass more often. This will take the load off of Luck having to throw the ball so much or trying to make plays with his own feet a lot now. Having Richardson can set up for more play-action and building the pass better.
The Colts o-line can also catch more of a break, since Richardson has been seen making a lot of plays on his lonesome. Still, despite that, there's no excuse for being mediocre when blocking, especially with two of the top 3 picks from the 2012 draft on the field at the same time now.
Overall, the Colts got a major win in this deal. They are set to take this offense to the top, and maybe just a few seasons from now we could even be seeing them contending for a Super Bowl, if not sooner.
This article was written by Josh Dhani. Follow him on Twitter here and read more of his work here.
