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David Levine -> RE: 2023 NFL Draft (3/7/2023 12:09:22 PM)
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The show stopper in my mind was Florida QB Anthony Richardson. I had him No. 50 on my list last summer. That’s pretty high for a QB. My UF sources described him as “a chiseled 6-4, 238 pounds with just 10 percent body fat,” who could run a 4.4 40 and can throw a football 75 yards.
“Anthony is physically built like an outside linebacker — tall, long, and chiseled out of stone,” Florida strength coach Mark Hocke told me. “Has the athleticism (speed and agility) and bounce (plays above the rim) of a running back/wide receiver combined with a Jugs machine for an arm.”
Richardson didn’t just back up that hype, he far exceeded it. He measured in at 244 pounds and clocked a 4.43 40. His vertical was 40.5 inches, and his broad jump was 10-9. That is wow stuff, especially paired with his juiced-up arm. It is spectacular seeing him launch balls through the air like Shohei Ohtani majestically uncorking on home runs deep into the sky.
Having said that, it is unfair to compare Richardson to Cam Newton, the last really super-sized Freak QB with a small on-field sample size of playing quarterback in major college football. Newton put an Auburn team with a very ordinary supporting cast on his back and carried it to a national title. Richardson had some wow moments, such as in the 2022 opener against Utah, but he was very inconsistent.
The NFL coaches I spoke to in Indy are intrigued by his potential but think he’s extremely raw. Could he be utilized similarly to how Brian Daboll brought along Josh Allen and then how he deployed Daniel Jones this season with the Giants, which entails letting him be an athlete, moving the pocket, using more QB run game, cutting the field in half, using more play-action and more RPOs and limiting the true drop-back game? That seems like the recipe for Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis.
Indianapolis, at No. 4, might be a good fit for Richardson and Levis because new coach Shane Steichen did some of that in Philadelphia with Jalen Hurts as well as with the Chargers and Justin Herbert during Herbert’s rookie season in 2020. Las Vegas with Josh McDaniels probably wouldn’t be ideal.
“I knew that was what Anthony was gonna look like throwing the ball,” one NFL QB coach told The Athletic on Monday. And the reason why I’m so high on him is you can see him throw with touch on film; you can see him take a good drop and be accurate, throwing the right type of ball. He just needs to play quarterback more.”
The coach said Florida’s Billy Napier told him Richardson is the best athlete he’s ever been around, which carried a lot of weight with him considering that the Gators head man has been at both Alabama and Clemson previously.
Richardson’s physical presence wowed NFL coaches when they first eyeballed him in person. “When he weighed in, and they called out ‘244,’ a bunch of people were like, ‘Holy crap!’” the QB coach said. “It’s just he looked like he weighed 220, the way he was built and carrying it. But he’s just so BIG. His bone structure; thick wrists; a big head. He’s just a big dude. And he throws it as good as any one. On those 10-yard outs, you don’t see him loading up the back leg and really driving off like some guys do, he’s so under control.
“I think he’s unique. Cam’s taller and not nearly as fast, and Anthony throws it better than Cam. Josh Allen at Wyoming was the biggest guy on the field. He was crazy inaccurate, but he had played a lot. I think there’s pieces of Cam and Josh Allen and Lamar (Jackson) and Daunte Culpepper in there. I had him first on my quarterbacks in this class. He’s an outlier to me. I’m not a fan of projects, but he is so otherworldly talented, and I’ve seen him on film doing it right. You saw it in the Utah game. He is gifted enough as a runner and so big and strong enough physically to buy enough time to mentally catch up as a passer and turn the corner. That’s what Jalen Hurts did this year.”
https://theathletic.com/4281870/2023/03/07/nfl-combine-takeaways-jaxon-smith-njigba-cj-stroud/
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