Say what you want about Billy Napier’s predecessors. They were stubborn. They flamed out. They didn’t grasp the bigger picture.

All of those things are fair. What’s also fair? Dan Mullen and Jim McElwain both had extremely talented quarterbacks take off in Year 1.

For McElwain, that was a bit short-lived. Pre-suspension Will Grier was a revelation in Gainesville. For Mullen, the path to Year 1 relevance included turning Feleipe Franks into one of the league’s better quarterbacks. In 2018, Franks was just that.

For Billy Napier, his top Year 1 task is similar. It’s to make sure that Anthony Richardson, AKA the guy who got Dak Prescott comparisons in his 2021 coming out party, takes his game to another level.

Let me stop you right there. You might’ve pushed back on that phrasing of “top Year 1 task.” Obviously there are some macro things that Napier needs to accomplish. For example, continuing to restore relationships with powerhouse Florida high schools is key, and ideally, Napier’s overall vision will be supported within Florida’s administration. Go ask Auburn about when a Year 1 coach doesn’t have support from influential people.

Richardson is the type of player that most first-year coaches aren’t fortunate enough to inherit. Then again, most programs don’t have Florida’s history at the position. It probably also helped that Richardson went to Eastside High School in Gainesville. Barring a surprising change of heart in spring, Richardson is going to have a leg up on Emory Jones and Ohio State transfer Jack Miller.

(There’s something to be said for the way that Napier is reportedly all in with NIL. I can’t help but wonder if Richardson, who signed an NIL deal with Outback Steakhouse among others, would’ve sought other options if Napier came in with the wrong approach.)

Ideally, all 3 QBs would stay on Florida’s roster. But more important than that is Richardson being groomed as the starter. That means first-team reps and a full dose of Napier’s tutelage.

As talented as Richardson is, we saw him come back down to earth in the latter half of the season after he returned from injury. He pre-determined reads and forced throws that weren’t there. In many ways, that LSU game was a microcosm for Richardson’s play so far. The good was great and the bad was ugly.

One of the first plays in there was that little fake pitch to Dameon Pierce, who then had a pretty straightforward route of the backfield. Because of how dangerous he is with his legs, Richardson sold a keeper with a step-back, which turned into an easy pitch-and-catch with Pierce.

(Mullen actually dialed up an extremely similar look later in the game for Richardson, but instead of targeting the back, he hit the tight end.)

That’s scheme. That’s stuff that Napier can take from Mullen and utilize. Quarterback draws or even just the threat of them should be a major part of Richardson’s skill set.

That’s not to say that Richardson can’t sit back in the pocket and go through his progressions to deliver a dart. He’s never going to be at the level of Bryce Young in that department, but we saw late in the LSU game what happens when Richardson sets his feet, doesn’t panic and steps into a throw. He tied the game with what was easily his best throw of the day:

Jacob Copeland was also on the receiving end of that long touchdown pass Richardson had in Week 2 against USF. Once again, he sold the run play and fooled the secondary enough to give himself a massive throwing window:

Wait a minute. I forgot. They did that twice that day:

Richardson won’t have the luxury of working with Copeland, who transferred to Maryland. He will, however, have a full offseason to develop without getting backup treatment. At the very least, one would think that he’ll be getting even reps with the first-teamers.

Let’s back up for a second.

Napier should be giving Richardson all the first-team reps. Allow him to get on the same page with those wideouts and don’t worry about who enters the transfer portal. Miller just got to Florida as an undergrad, which means he can’t leave elsewhere unless he wants to sit out another year. Unlike Miller, we’ve actually seen Richardson shine on the college stage.

Unless Miller shows up to camp one-upping stuff like this, all of Napier’s eggs should be in Richardson’s basket:

But we’ve also seen him make throws like he did after the Copeland touchdown against LSU that were, um, freshman-esque:

Richardson looked like someone who wasn’t used to dealing with spots in which his unbelievable athleticism couldn’t bail him out. After he returned from injury, we saw that more in the latter half of the season. It wouldn’t be surprising if the backflipping, somersaulting stallion of a quarterback makes some mistakes that someone like Levi Lewis, who started for 3-plus years with Napier, didn’t make.

In those 3 seasons as the starter in Napier’s offense, Lewis had just 15 interceptions. He averaged 1 interception per 71 throws. Even the great Joe Burrow only averaged 1 interception per 67 throws during his historic 2019 season.

There’s no guarantee that Richardson, who averaged 1 interception per 13 throws in 2021, will be as mistake-proof as Lewis became with Napier. No matter what, it’ll look different with the 6-4, 230-pound Richardson because Lewis was a 5-10, 190-pound lefty, but many of the goals of Napier’s offense should look the same. Spread teams out, occasionally attack downfield, have designed runs and misdirection, etc. Like Lewis, we know that Richardson can make people miss in space, too. You don’t average 8 yards per carry strictly because of scheme.

Part of the frustration with Jones in Mullen’s offense was that even as he continued to make mistakes (both physical and mental) in the passing game, there seemed to be an insistence that he worked through those issues instead of turning into a run-first quarterback or turning to the younger signal-caller. In that case, it was Richardson. Ideally, Richardson won’t have the same issue. If you’re the Florida quarterback, the margin for error is slim. Those mistakes are scrutinized in a different way, both with the quarterback and the play-caller putting him in those spots.

In the same way that Jones got a bit of a pass for his pre-2021 shortcomings because he wasn’t getting full reps yet, Richardson got similar treatment in 2021. Interceptions were considered an indictment on Mullen for not making him the starter earlier. Even the Georgia game, wherein Richardson had a disastrous 2-minute stretch against a generational defense, came back to Mullen for making that his first career start.

If and when Napier rolls with Richardson, he won’t get that type of leeway. He’s in Year 3. Gone are the days when he gets to be the fun backflip/somersault guy. Perhaps more importantly, his lows won’t be seen as a byproduct of limited reps. It’s now more difficult than ever to have patience with Richardson because in a small sample size, we’ve seen those highlight-reel plays. Napier’s ability to harness that and create stability at the most important position will go a long way in defining his first season in Gainesville.

Few things will establish trust from the Florida faithful like maximizing the abilities of a young, talented quarterback. It worked wonders early on for Mullen and McElwain. Soon, we could be having a similar conversation about Napier.

It’s about time that we saw Florida’s most explosive weapon unlocked.