With the 2022 regular season over and bowl season about to kick off, ESPN Senior Writer Todd McShay has updated his big board of the top 32 prospects in the upcoming draft cycle, and Florida has two players featured on it: quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] and offensive lineman [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag].
Neither name is a surprise on the list, but each player presents a wildly different story coming into the draft. Richardson, a starter for just one season at Florida that produced mixed results, has been described as the biggest wildcard in this cycle. His arm talent is obvious and his scrambling ability is even more noticeable, but there’s no denying that Richardson is a work-in-progress player. Ranked No. 32 (the last spot on the list), McShay obviously sees both sides of the coin with the Gainesville native.
“On one hand, he displays excellent physical traits,” McShay wrote. “He has the arm strength to drive the ball downfield, and his speed and elusiveness allow him to make an impact as a runner (654 rushing yards, nine TD runs). But on the other hand, he is still relatively inexperienced (13 starts) and is still ironing out his accuracy (53.8% completion percentage). Richardson is a huge projection, but the talent and upside are definitely there.”
Conversely, Torrence, who McShay ranks at No. 27, is about as sure an NFL prospect as it gets. He was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded offensive guard this year and continues to collect postseason accolade after postseason accolade. If an NFL team needs a plug and play interior offensive lineman this year, Torrence is the guy. Although is name might not have the same star power attached to it as Richardson’s, Torrence could be the most successful Gator to hit the pros this cycle.
Torrence isn’t without his flaws, but it’s hard to nitpick a guy who hasn’t given up a sack since 2019.
“He’s a wide-based blocker who rarely gives up ground to powerful rushers, but he lacks ideal mirror-and-slide agility and can get in trouble with mobile 3-techniques… Torrence does a great job of latching on and controlling defensive linemen while moving laterally in zone-blocking scheme, though his second-level range is only average.”
Being ranked by McShay among the top 32 doesn’t mean that both Richardson and Torrence a guaranteed to go in the first round, but there is a good likelihood of that happening given all the hype surrounding Richardson. Torrence should be an easy pickup for some team. It just depends on draft position and what the team needs most.
The first night of the 2023 NFL draft begins at 7 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 27.
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