Why I'm rooting against my own Anthony Richardson NFL prediction
When Anthony Richardson announced earlier this week that he was declaring for the NFL Draft, I’m sure I had the same thought that many of you did.
Oh, he ain’t ready.
I could point to a variety of factors that contributed to that reaction. For starters, the guy has over 100 fewer college pass attempts than notable 1-year starters like Dwayne Haskins (590), Mitch Trubisky (572), Mac Jones (556) and Kyler Murray (519). Richardson finished 11th in the SEC in quarterback rating and he completed just 53.8% of his passes. Most highly touted NFL quarterback prospects don’t walk off after a 35-minute stretch without a completion and for all the talk about his mobility, Richardson still only rushed for 65 yards in 4 of his 12 starts in 2022.
If I’m betting the house on how Richardson’s NFL career will turn out, I’d say that he’ll struggle to avoid those colossal mistakes and he’ll never become a franchise quarterback.
But am I rooting for that? Absolutely not. If anything, I want Richardson to prove me wrong.
I’d take more joy in watching Richardson’s skill set thrive in the NFL than being able to look up 4 years from now and say that I was right about his bust potential. I realize that in this world of #DraftTwitter, that’s an unpopular thing to say. If we fall on one side of the fence, we’re supposed to retweet and share any play/data point/analysis that’ll support our prediction.
Miss me with that.
If you want Richardson to regret his decision to leave Florida with 2 years of eligibility remaining, that’s on you. I’m not sure what sort of personal satisfaction comes with that other than you, supporter of that mindset, getting to feel like the smartest person in the room. As for me, I’d rather be the most entertained person in the room.
While I have my reservations about using a first-round pick on a guy who couldn’t sniff a 60% completion rate in college — he also didn’t hit that mark in any of his final 3 games — I can also admit Richardson following the Josh Allen path to success would intrigue me way more than him being out of the league in his mid-20s.
Allen is an example of a guy who I, like many, believed was being overvalued in the pre-draft process. I remember watching Allen get dominated by Iowa in the 2017 season opener and thinking “THIS is the guy that scouts are drooling over?” I dug my heels in during the pre-draft process, and in the first year of Allen’s career, my take felt validated.
Then, well, he became what he is today. That is, a bonafide superstar and one of the faces of the NFL.
But as I was sitting at home on Thanksgiving and watching Allen carve up the Detroit Lions like the turkey he probably scarfed down later that day, it hit me. This scenario is far more beneficial to my entertainment than watching Allen fail so that I can go on Twitter and say, “I told you so.”
Richardson, like Allen, will need to find the right offensive system to harness those superhuman skills. You know, like all quarterbacks. The difference with Richardson is that he’s going to enter the NFL with as polarizing of a scouting report as any prospect.
And to be fair, he should. You can compile a 5-minute highlight clip of Richardson that’ll blow you away. There are individual games you can watch like the 2022 opener against Utah or the LSU games and see why there are respected draft analysts who are drooling over his dual-threat potential:
Time to get back into some #NFLDraft stuff. Anthony Richardson is going to be divisive but he is a fun watch. Love this 2 point play early in the year against Utah. pic.twitter.com/9zoKdFdvlQ
— Rory-Joe Daniels (@rjdanielsnfl) December 6, 2022
LSU was NOT tryna tackle Anthony Richardson ?
(via @ESPNCFB) pic.twitter.com/HmFq4unTZL
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) October 16, 2022
At Richardson’s best, there’s no denying that he’s more fun to watch than current NFL starters at their peak like Kirk Cousins or Geno Smith. Those guys aren’t must-watch.
(Justin Jefferson and DK Metcalf are must-watch. But when they aren’t targeted? No thanks.)
Richardson has the potential to be a must-watch guy. We’ve already seen him pull off plays that are extremely rare for a 6-4, 232-pound quarterback (that’s without mentioning the pregame backflips). No matter where Richardson ends up in the NFL, it’d be fun to see more of that even if there are some growing pains like what we saw during his first and only season as Florida’s starter.
It’s OK to wish that he stayed in school another year. It’s OK to express doubt about his long-term prospects. It’s even OK to suggest that he could be a cautionary tale for why college reps are invaluable, especially for someone who had far more low moments than any of those aforementioned 1-year starters who left school early for the NFL.
But if you’re actively rooting against Richardson’s NFL success, ask yourself why. Are you a frustrated Florida fan? Or do you just want to be proven right about saying he’s too raw to succeed in the NFL? Cool. Get in line. You’re in the majority.
My suggestion? Lay the hater hat to rest and instead root for Richardson to make your Sunday afternoons more enjoyable.