The Case For Anthony Richardson

The Will Levis thread got enough traction that I thought I'd make one of these for Richardson.

I don't envision making one of these for Young or Stroud because I don't see either of those guys making it to 13 and I highly doubt we trade up for a rookie QB with the way our roster is currently constructed.

I also have shifted my view from where I was when I created the Levis thread. I believe us drafting a rookie QB, especially one on Day 1 or Day 2 of the draft this year, is contingent upon us striking out on getting one of our top options in the veteran QB market. IF we get out of the Carr, Rodgers, Lamar (outside shot at Lamar to begin with) market and begin to look to the Jimmy G., Tannehill, etc. market, that's when I will believe that our 1st round pick this year COULD be used to draft another QB.

The Positives:

• Similar to Levis, Richardson has the prototypical size that you're looking for in a modern-day QB (6'4" 235+).
• He's got the strongest arm in the class. The arm strength pops off on any tape you watch of Richardson. There's not a throw he cannot make on the football field and he can push the ball downfield with ease.
• His athleticism is right up there with his arm strength in terms of his greatest attributes. Richardson excels as a runner, whether it's on designed QB runs or creating outside of structure, as evidenced by his 650 yards and 9 TDs on the ground in 2022.
• Has a very quick release that allows him to get the ball out of his hands extremely quickly.
• One of his more underrated attributes is his ability to navigate the pocket. There are multiple clips that demonstrate his ability to navigate a muddy pocket, keep his eyes downfield, and deliver a strike on time to the receiver. It's something I didn't expect before I turned on his tape. I didn't expect a guy his size, who is athletic as he is, to stay in the pocket and not look to run at the first sign of trouble.
• Refuses to go down easily. As you would expect from a guy his size, very rarely does he get sacked/tackled by one person. He's got the 2nd best pressure>sack% in this year's class at 9.2%. Meaning that of his 142 pressures last year at Florida, only 9.2% of those pressures were converted into sacks.
• Ball placement on short to intermediate routes is exceptional. Always seems to hit the receiver in stride in these ranges which gives them the best opportunity for YAC.
• Has shown the ability to place balls into tight windows by altering the tempo and trajectory of the ball in the intermediate-deep area of the field.
• His combination of size, arm strength, and athleticism project him to have the highest ceiling in this year's QB class.

The Negatives:

• Richardson's negatives have to start with his throwing mechanics. They're all over the place. When they're good, he looks incredible, when they're bad, yikes.
• Overall accuracy. While he has shown the ability to make every throw he's very inaccurate on a much more consistent basis than you would want (53% comp % in 2022, woof). I think his body mechanics directly contribute to this issue so they should probably be one in the same. Even his ADJ% on PFF(adjusted comp%) is 64.1%, last among all qualified Power 5 QBs.
• Limited experience. As a 1 year starter, Richardson clearly has a long way to go to become a finished product.
• While he seems to understand coverages, there are times on tape where he struggles to decipher information quickly which leads to bad decisions with the football.
• Has a tendency to fade in the pocket on occasion and relies too much on his arm strength in these scenarios which causes these passes to be inaccurate.
• Playing in the SEC is generally considered a strength, but he struggled a lot against the best defenses in SEC and only had 1 good game against a quality SEC opponent (Tennessee).

All in all, I think a case for Richardson can be made to draft him, even as early as 13. Like I finished his positive section with, I truly believe that if he can work on his mechanics and become more consistent as a passer, the sky is truly the limit for him. However, we've seen all too recently with Zach Wilson, that's no easy fix.

I'm 50/50 on if I would draft Richardson at 13 and it would truly depend on what else we've done this offseason but putting Richardson behind an experienced vet like Jimmy G. or Tannehill makes a ton of sense to me. There's absolutely no way Richardson should be expected to contribute much of anything, outside maybe a goal-line RPO package, in Year 1. He's just too raw and too inaccurate as a passer to be an every down QB in the NFL at this point in his career.

If for some reason the Jets trade down to the 20+ range in the first round this year, Richardson starts to look a lot more appealing to me and if Richardson is somehow there with our 2nd round pick this year (43rd overall) I would draft him in a heartbeat, regardless of what the Jets have done at the QB position leading up to that. His potential really is that great IMO.

So what say you TGG, would you draft Richardson this year?

 

If we do sign Rodgers or Carr, there would be 0 pressure for Richardson to play immediately, outside of some short yardage/goal line sets to capitalize on his athleticism and size.

If Richardson starts to slip into the late 1st/early 2nd round range, I could absolutely see JD pulling off a trade up like last year.