Yes, Richardson needs development as a pure passer after just one season as a starter with the Florida Gators. But new Colts head coach and former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen can take the QB run game he had with Jalen Hurts and push it to an entirely new level with Richardson, who presents measurables at the position we have absolutely never seen before.
Height: 6′ 3¾” (66th percentile) Weight: 244 (96th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.43 (98th)
10-Yard Split: 1.53 (96th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 40½” (99th)
Broad Jump: 129″ (99th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32¾” (75th)
Hand Size: 10½” (95th)
Bio: A four-star recruit out of Eastside High in Gainesville, Florida, Richardson finished his high-school time with 41 rushing touchdowns and 37 passing touchdowns, making him a four-star recruit, and the No. 1 quarterback in the state. Dan Mullen at Florida first offered Richardson a scholarship in his sophomore year in 2018, and Richardson stuck with the Gators despite an ever-increasing list of interested schools including Michigan, Georgia, and Penn State. Richardson was an All-SEC Freshman in 2020, and Emory Jones’ backup in 2021 with a few explosive plays to his credit in 2021.
In 2022, his one season as a starting quarterback in college, Richardson completed 175 of 330 passes for 2,553 yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and a passer rating of 84.3. He also gained 654 yards and scored nine touchdowns on 103 rushing attempts.
Stat to Know: In Weeks 7-13 of the 2022 season, Richardson completed 96 of 186 passes for 1,375 yards, 12 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 92.9. The improvement over time wasn’t generational, but it was obvious.
Strengths: Let’s start with the measurables, which are absolutely stupid.
Athletically, Anthony Richardson compares favorably to Cam Newton… and Khalil Mack. pic.twitter.com/fefAUrBJoa
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 23, 2023
Richardson completed 26 of 64 passes of 20 or more air yards last season, and because his velocity is truly special, he has an ease with the deep ball that will show up on Sundays just as well as it did on Saturdays. This 51-yard pass to receiver Justin Shorter against LSU last season is about as indefensible as it gets. There isn’t any area of the field that’s safe from his deep ball.
Richardson is just as impossible to deal with as a runner; this 60-yard scamper against Texas A&M shows how easily he can break free and just beat everybody downfield. Putting him in a heavy RPO offense should present similar nightmares at times for NFL defenses.
Last season when under pressure, Richardson completed 41 of 108 passes for 593 yards, seven touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 66.6. He was even better when blitzed — 59 of 129 for 890 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 79.9. He’s as big, strong, and athletic as a lot of the edge-rushers coming after him, and with that easy velocity, he can throw it on a rope even when his mechanics are affected by defenders in his face.
Weaknesses: When Richardson throws from a solid base, he’s fine. But there are too many times when he gets cute with his mechanics, and that can be a problem. Here against Vanderbilt in Week 12, he’s got receiver Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman beating cornerback Tyson Russell downfield. Richardson still has a relatively clean pocket when he throws the ball, but because he narrowed his base when he threw the ball, the pass was wildly offline.
Against USF in Week 3, Richardson had receiver Ricky Pearsall running an intermediate crosser on a switch release from left to right. Richardson actually did a nice job of looking the safety off to his right, but when he re-focused over the middle, he committed two cardinal sins: He threw Pearsall late and closed through the coverage, and he failed to account for linebacker Dwayne Boyles, who was right where Richardson was intending to throw.
Richardson has the kind of arm strength most quarterbacks would envy, but it didn’t always transfer to arm talent. On this interception against Eastern Washington in Week 6, he tried to feather a deep throw to Xzavier Henderson on a seam route. Two issues here: There wasn’t enough velocity on the throw to allow Henderson to release from quadruple coverage… and Richardson was throwing into quadruple coverage in the first place when he had Justin Shorter wide-ass open on the intermediate crosser. This is where Henderson is the clear-out guy. Shorter is the target, and you thank the football gods for such an easy opportunity.
Also: You’re up 35-3 at the start of the second half. Take the profit, man.
Conclusion: Bult like an edge-rusher, runs like a track star, and throws the ball right out of the building… though Richardson is still in need of development as a pure quarterback, he brings a toolkit to the position that we’ve never really seen at the NFL level. For that reason alone, he’ll be highly discussed in every building, and highly regarded in most of them. If he is able to reach any part of his ceiling, Richardson will be a most estimable weapon at the next level. If he’s able to hit it all? It’s hard to imagine what he’ll be, but it will be amazing to watch.
NFL Comparison: Colin Kaepernick. The comps to Cam Newton are widespread and understandable, but Newton came out of college with a more refined sense of touch and differing velocities. Kaepernick, who presented an equivalent running threat in his prime as an NFL quarterback, was also a 95-MPH pitcher at one time, and just about everything was a fastball with Kaepernick when he had a football in his hand. But when Kaepernick had it going on, he destroyed defenses with his running ability, and those fastballs had a lot of opponents on edge more often than not.