Colts’ Shane Steichen ranked among NFL’s top play-callers

Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen may have missed out on the playoffs during his first season in that role, but he proved to be among the top play-callers in the NFL.

Steichen’s innovative play-calling and offensive scheme was a bit limited during the 2023 season because of the shoulder injury that claimed Anthony Richardson’s rookie season just five games into the campaign.

But that didn’t stop Derrik Klassen of The 33rd Team from ranking Steichen among the NFL’s top offensive play-callers.

The best offensive play-callers in the league via @QBKlass pic.twitter.com/Z719w6Ykku

— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) February 24, 2024

Steichen came in at No. 8 among NFL play-callers in this ranking. He showed a lot of promise throughout his first season as a head coach, which isn’t always the easiest endeavor when moving from offensive coordinator into that role.

The use of RPOs heavily influenced Steichen’s scheme, and that’s likely only to grow more with a healthy Richardson under center moving forward.

Where the Colts can improve under Steichen in Year 2 comes mostly on third downs. Indy ranked 26th in the NFL on third-down attempts, converting just 35.3%. Part of that had to do with injuries to personnel, and part of it had to do with finding themselves in poor situations after unsuccessful plays on early downs.

Getting Richardson back, along with players like Ashton Dulin and Jelani Woods, should help the offense become more explosive, but there should be a lot of optimism regarding Steichen’s abilities as a play-caller.