Note: Updates on Levis and Young’s performances will be added after they conclude games against the Bears and Jets, respectively.

Like CJ Stroud’s first series with the Texans, Anthony Richardson’s first series with the Colts ended in an interception.

For Stroud, it was a classic case of waiting just a hair too long even if the decision was correct. For Richardson, it was the classic case of a completely broken play resulting in a moment of chaos that produced a less-than-ideal conclusion. From the outset, the final play of Richardson’s first drive seemed doomed. The running back acted as if there was supposed to be play action. There was an (almost) free rusher screaming off his play side. And so, the rookie No. 4 overall pick panicked a bit and threw toward the sideline for a receiver who had stopped the route altogether.

Both of these quarterbacks needed more repetitions and, indeed, Richardson ended up with a handful more drives than the No. 2 overall pick in his preseason debut, lasting almost the entirety of the first quarter. But it was hard not to leave the Colts game just a little bit more excited about Richardson, just not for the reasons one might think.

Richardson looks like Derrick Henry with an arm and the times that he left the pocket on designed runs there was an incredible velocity and violence to it. The undeniable good about his debut was that he didn’t lean on that obvious advantage. By my count, there was only one non-designed run in which Richardson left the pocket, and that play ended up being called back anyway. He finished the game 7-of-12 for 67 yards and an interception with a quarterback rating of 39.2.

While watching him I was reminded of last preseason, when Malik Willis was getting his first professional reps with the Titans. His instructions were obvious: we already know you are incredibly talented as a rusher, so don’t show us that in the preseason. Use the reps to round out the other parts of your game.

And while I’m not sure if there was a similar directive for Richardson, his complete and total willingness to remain in the pocket and download the additional repetitions as a pure passer was obvious and encouraging. He could have left the pocket on each and every drive, flattening the Bills’ secondary like a padded Tyrannosaurus. Instead, he made quick, decisive throws. His motion looked similar on each pass and he lofted a beautiful pass on a corner route to Alec Pierce that should have been caught and should have set the Colts up for an easy touchdown.

Unlike Stroud’s debut, there was only a brief window of that very real intimidation that comes with a transfer from practice speed to game speed at the NFL level. Stroud felt like he had problems trusting himself, whereas Richardson kept his finger on the trigger, willing to accept the good with the bad.

While we’re trying to be measured and not derive some grand conclusions about a quarter of practice football, this was the kind of start the Colts could easily build on. Coming out of college, Richardson had a low completion percentage (the source of which is up for debate) and very few starts. The distance between there and here has been significant and allows us to buy into the high-ceiling gamble made by the Colts.