Ahmad Bradshaw projected to start for Indianapolis Colts?
Indianapolis Colts running back Ahmad Bradshaw (44) reacts. Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
The Indianapolis Colts decision to acquire Trent Richardson from the Cleveland Browns for a first-round pick early last season was clearly one made with designs on future production out of T-Rich, but it was still incredibly disappointing to see Richardson flop in his second year, which was supposed to be a breakout season, after a ho-hum rookie campaign. Richardson flashed plenty of ability when it comes to breaking tackles, but he did a poor job of finding holes and struggled to, you know, actually gain yardage. There’s plenty of hope that he can bounce back and break out in his third season, but the Colts can’t depend on Richardson to emerge as a star or anything.
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It will be interesting to see what the consensus projections are for the Alabama product as far as third-year production goes, but it doesn’t look like ESPN NFL Nation’s Mike Wells is high on Richardson. When asked in his Twitter mailbag what he thinks the running back depth chart for the Colts looks like before the start of the draft, Wells noted that all three RBs have question marks before producing the list of Ahmad Bradshaw, Richardson, and Vick Ballard.
That’s right, Well has Bradshaw starting over Richardson as of right now despite a severe neck injury and constant question marks regarding the former New York Giants feature back’s health. Bradshaw played very well last season before his injury and is the most productive back on the roster, and the only thing keeping the well-rounded veteran from being an incredibly reliable back is the fact that he’s always injured. It doesn’t look like Bradshaw will be able to hold up as a workhorse back in this league, no matter how much we hope the injury bug goes away. I’d rather give him carries over Richardson despite Richardson’s college production and potential, because Bradshaw has accomplished much more and played better last season. That said, it’s interesting to see Wells go as far as to put Bradshaw over T-Rich on the depth chart right now, and it’s a testament to just how poor the former Browns RB was last year.