There’s no shortage of hype surrounding Florida quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] heading into the 2022 season.
Several experts have him going somewhere in the first round of next year’s NFL draft, but what are the chances of Richardson being the first name off the board next April? ESPN’s Jordan Reid tackled that question while going over each of the potential candidates to go No. 1 and he concluded that there is roughly a 10% chance Richardson is called first overall.
Now that may sound low, but the “serious contenders” group — which consists of Alabama‘s Bryce Young and Will Anderson and Ohio State‘s C.J. Stroud — all have a 20% shot, so there’s no overwhelming favorite to claim the spot.
Richardson is one of three names in the group of “prospects who could make it interesting,” along with Kentucky’s Will Levis and Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski. Here’s what Reid had to say about Richardson’s potential.
If I had to circle the one player to whom scouts will have their eyes glued this season, it would be Richardson. With off-the-charts physical traits, the ball explodes out of the 6-foot-4 signal caller’s hand. Despite having a bit of a loopy release, he has the arm strength to compensate.
The big concern with Richardson is that he hasn’t played a whole lot. [autotag]Emory Jones[/autotag] was Florida’s starter last season, and Richardson was up and down as a backup. Billy Napier‘s job is to find some more consistency with Richardson and unlock the potential that a player with his arm strength and speed has.
“The sample size. That’s the big question out there about him,” an NFL area scout in charge of the Florida region told Reid. “You get excited about the second half of the LSU game, but he looked lost against Georgia.”
There’s certainly some excitement heading into the season with Richardson, but he’ll have to live up to those expectations to warrant a first-round pick and he’ll have to exceed them to go No. 1 overall.
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