The Southeastern Conference currently boasts the best lineup of starting quarterbacks among its college football peers thanks to transcendent talents like Alabama‘s Bryce Young, Tennessee‘s Hendon Hooker, Georgia‘s Stetson Bennett and Ole Miss’ Will Rogers. Heck, Arkansas‘ KJ Jefferson has also excelled under center this season.
Not listed among the upper-tier signal callers is Florida’s [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], who has shown tremendous raw potential during his time in Gainesville but has not been able to put things together so far in his first season as the anointed starter. The redshirt sophomore came out of the gates blazing hot against Utah to open the season but has since fluctuated between solid and disappointing performances.
Because the quarterback position is so strong in the SEC, The Athletic’s Grace Raynor undertook the task of looking back on the recruitment of all 14 conference starters, including Richardson. Here is what she had to offer on Florida’s mercurial talent.
Ranking: No. 204 nationally, No. 9 dual-threat QB
Richardson played at Eastside High School in Gainesville, Fla., about 17 minutes from The Swamp, and ultimately chose to suit up for his hometown Gators. But it didn’t come without some drama.
Richardson originally committed to Florida in July 2018, then decommitted in February 2019. Upon his decommitment, Georgia and Michigan offered him a scholarship, joining the Gators, Penn State, Virginia Tech and others as Power 5 schools with interest.
In April 2019, Richardson re-committed to the Gators, writing in a message on social media that he “always had an idea of which schools I thought would be the perfect fit for me,” but came to realize that his decision “was bigger than just football.”
The drama wasn’t over, however. Last year, after the Florida-LSU game, Richardson — who started only one game in 2021 — was asked about a possible transfer. According to The Tampa Bay Times, he didn’t definitively shut down the possibility of entering the portal. He then took to social media to clarify his commitment to the Gators and apologize for any confusion.
Since then, Florida has hired [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag], who made Richardson the clear starter this season.
And that is the story of how Richardson became Florida’s starting quarterback.
Unfortunately, his lack of reps last season — [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] chose to go with Emory Jones for most of the 2021 campaign — likely hindered his progress, not to mention the changing of team philosophies under the new head coach. The 21-year-old still lags far behind his conference peers and by most metrics ranks in the bottom end of the SEC, but there is still a great deal of talent left to unlock.
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