With all the hype that Florida quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] has received heading into his first year as the Gators’ starter, it’s sometimes hard to remember that he’s a relatively unproven player.
He competed for playing time last year with [autotag]Emory Jones[/autotag], and Dan Mullen never really gave him a fair shot at the starting job — his one start came against Georgia. Richardson still finished his redshirt freshman year with 529 yards and six touchdowns on 38-for-64 passing. He also added 401 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 51 carries.
While he’s shown flashes of first-round potential, Richardson has also made his share of mistakes. He threw five interceptions in seven games and needs to show some consistency to make good on the draft experts’ projections. That uncertainty is why Richardson finds himself ranked 25th on Athlon Sports‘ list of the top 131 starting quarterbacks in college football.
Rounding out the top 25 isn’t synonymous with excellence in college football, and that rings true in these rankings. There’s a lot of “what if” to Richardson’s game and he could easily end up being a two-year project if things don’t click in year one with Billy Napier.
Upside and potential are the two words most often mentioned about Richardson going into the 2022 season. New coach Billy Napier is tasked with harnessing and developing the enormous talent Richardson has, and the ’21 campaign provided plenty of insight into the type of player he can become … Can Richardson turn the upside and potential into more consistent (especially through the air) production this fall? If he can, this spot will be too low on our list by December.
Given that last line, it sounds like the folks at Athlon Sports are expecting to be wrong on this one. There’s no guarantee he turns into a first-round pick as some draft experts have projected, but the consistency should come as the team’s unquestioned starter.
For those wondering, they ranked Jones at No. 58 as the likely starter for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
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