There might not be a more polarizing prospect in the entire 2023 NFL draft class than Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Evaluators rave about his dual-threat ability, his excellent size at 6-foot-4 and 232 pounds and how he can beat you with the best arm in the draft class. And they'll talk about his sky-high ceiling, with comparisons to Josh Allen and Cam Newton. From a physical traits perspective, he could be the most talented player on the board this April after he declared for the draft following his redshirt sophomore season.
But Richardson is not the favorite to be the first pick in the 2023 draft, and he might even be the fourth quarterback off the board. Why? Many scouts see the upside but are concerned with his inconsistent production over just one full season as a starter and massive accuracy issues. Richardson completed 54.7% of his passes in his career while throwing 24 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions.
That means there's a lot of risk for a team looking to land its future franchise quarterback in Round 1, which makes Richardson such a difficult pre-draft evaluation. How do you weigh the potential against the flaws? I spoke to more than a dozen scouts, executives and coaches from around the NFL to get a sense of how Richardson stacks up right now, why he's so hard to place on their draft boards, how he can find success in the league and what's next for the super intriguing prospect as we prep for the combine.
Why are scouts in love with Richardson's upside?
When talking to one scout at the Senior Bowl, he openly gushed about all the things a team could do with a dual-threat quarterback like Richardson. The signal-caller could unlock new parts of the playbook for the team that drafts him. Look no further than the 2022 season opener against Utah for a perfect illustration of that talent and promise.
The Gators were trailing 13-7 near the end of the second quarter. Richardson -- in his second career start -- was in a pistol formation with 11 personnel and ran a mesh concept, setting up a run-pass option. The ball could be tossed to a receiver in motion for a jet sweep, handed to the running back or kept by Richardson for a pass or run. Richardson kept it and surveyed the field, looking deep and going through his progressions. His eyes stayed up the entire time, even as he stepped up in the pocket to avoid a defensive end crashing the backfield party.
Then he saw a crease, and he was simply gone. Richardson pulled the ball down and ran 45 yards for six points, showing excellent speed, agility and balance. It is the type of play that causes scouts to wear out the rewind buttons on their video controllers.
