The 2022 NFL draft has come to a close and that means it’s time to speculate about who will be the top names in next year’s edition of the event. ESPN senior draft analyst Todd McShay released his way-too-early mock draft for 2023 on Thursday and has Florida quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] going sixth overall to Carolina Panthers.
McShay has Richardson as the third quarterback off the board behind Ohio State‘s C.J. Stroud and Alabama‘s Bryce Young at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. He also has Will Levis from Kentucky and Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke going in the top 10. It makes sense for the 2023 draft to be heavy on quarterbacks early on after only one was selected over the first two rounds this year.
Richardson is still relatively unproven, though, so it’s a pretty big endorsement of his natural talent and physical capabilities to have him so highly ranked, even this far out from the draft.
Richardson is a huge projection — the 6-foot-4, 236-pound passer played in just eight games and started once last year — and has some turnover issues. But he’s extremely talented and poised for a breakout season in his first as a full-time starter.
While there is a full year until the draft, McShay has gotten pretty good at predicting who the big players will be. He successfully predicted five top-10 picks in the 2022 draft a year ahead of time and got 10 first-rounders correct in total.
The hype surrounding Richardson will only continue to grow as Florida’s first season under [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] approaches. It seems like most in the country want him to be a success story, but only time will tell if he’s a first-round talent. Entering the 2022 season as a redshirt sophomore, Richardson could easily opt to come back for another year to improve his stock too.
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