Tag: anthony richardson scouting combine

Three-round post-combine mock draft: Anthony Richardson’s rise, and Jalen Carter’s fall

With the scouting combine in the rear view, Doug Farrar’s latest mock takes it all in — including Anthony Richardson’s rise, and Jalen Carter’s fall.

It’s amazing how much the scouting combine obscures, and how much it reveals.

For all the lie-bombs and hidden agendas you get when you’re walking around Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center, there are other times when the truth hits you right in the face, from good and bad places.

In the case of Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter, there was the story (well, stories) about his involvement in the January 15 auto accident that cost teammate Devin Willock and Georgia staffer Chandler LeCroy their lives.

From our own Barry Werner:

Carter is alleged to have been racing his 2021 Jeep Trackhawk against the 2021 Ford Expedition driven by recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy, leading to the crash.

“The evidence demonstrated that both vehicles switched between lanes, drove in the centre turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists, and drove at high rates of speed, in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other,” the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a statement.

Adding insult to the situation, ESPN reported that Carter returned to the combine in Indianapolis.

This all broke about 15 minutes before Carter was supposed to take the podium for his combine presser, so that turned into a circus. When we’re talking about the loss of life, how this affects Carter’s draft status means less than nothing in the big picture. But that will still be discussed in every NFL facility.

Then, there was Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, whose ridiculous (in a very good way) combine workout proved that he is as compelling an athlete at the position as we’ve ever seen.

Which has Richardson going above Carter in this particular mock draft — and had you told me that this would be the case when I published my last mock on February 25, I would have said that a whole lot of weird things would have to happen.

And, here we are.

So, with the 2023 scouting combine in the rear view, here’s how the first three round of the 2023 NFL draft might be affected by a week that was exceptional in all the ways you’d want, and quite a few you never saw coming.

(Note: The Miami Dolphins, who were slotted with the 21st pick in the first round, forfeited that pick as punishment from the NFL for tampering). 

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated). 

Florida QB Anthony Richardson is absolutely dominating the scouting combine

Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is making the 2023 scouting combine his personal demolition project with record-setting performances.

INDIANAPOLIS — Question the pure passing potential of Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson all you want (though he clearly showed improvement in the second half of his first season as a college starter), but let it be known that this dude is just as freaky an athlete on the track as he is on the field.

During Saturday’s combine drills for quarterbacks, Richardson blew up the 40-yard dash with a 4.44-second time — which, per MockDraftable.com, is the fourth-fastest 40 time for a quarterback since 1999. Richardson finished behind Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick in 2001 (4.33 seconds), Texas A&M’s Reggie McNeal in 2006 (4.4 flat), and Baylor’s Robert Griffin III in 2012 (4.41).

Richardson’s 40 was faster than those of Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor, Vince Young, Daunte Culpepper, Jake Locker, Colin Kaepernick, and Russell Wilson.

Oh, and he also made history in other ways.

Richardson saw no need to run a second 40, and who could blame him?

We’ll see how Richardson fares in the throwing drills — he has a ridiculous deep arm and can feather touch passes a bit better than his detractors think. If he aces that as well, Anthony Richardson could send the 2023 draft class into total chaos.