Anthony Richardson is the ceiling-shattering QB with highest upside in 2023 NFL Draft

The ball hit the ceiling.

If there were a Pro Day throw that would encapsulate Anthony Richardson, it would be that one. Five step drop, one hitch—THWONG.

The echoes rang out through the indoor facility at the University of Florida, where every scout and media member was in awe of what happened.

“Wait, he did what?”

“I’ve never actually seen that happen in person.”

Richardson, however, was all smiles, laughing about it then moving on to the next rep.

Every scout in the NFL was at Florida’s Pro Day, held in an indoor facility in Gainesville, Fla., and all eyes were on the QB, who’s built a lot like the defensive linemen who were doing the bench press drills before his passing session. The need to execute was at an all-time high, with the chance to show scouts abilities that he couldn’t during a tumultuous season at Florida. Despite a meager statistical season, Richardson still entered the draft and wowed evaluators with his testing numbers at the combine. Now all eyes were on him as he tossed the ball with his trainers. Coaches scurried over to watch the show, looking more like children ready to see fireworks than grown men holding the keys to an NFL franchise. The pressure was on, and Richardson had to respond.

You wouldn’t believe Richardson was feeling any pressure watching him at his Pro Day. He was joking around with teammates, laughing and cheering as others jumped, pressed and ran to impress NFL scouts before the main event came. The pressure of a pro day was nothing compared to what he’s gone through, and those moments shaped him into a potential top ten pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“There are no butterflies,” Richardson said after his Pro Day. “People have been watching me my whole life, so this is just another day in the office.”

The craziest thing former Eastside High School head football coach Cedderick Daniels ever saw Anthony Richardson do has nothing to do with football.

During a basketball game, an Eastside player missed a shot that came off the backboard awkwardly. Richardson, who averaged 9.5 points and 6.7 rebounds in two years as a varsity basketball player, with college football coaches in attendance, grabbed the ball and put it back in the rim. Daniels talked to the coaches, who said, “That’s all we needed to see,” before leaving the game.

Daniels always knew about Richardson, who moved to Gainesville when he was 10. Shoot, it was hard to not know about him. Everyone was aware of the skinny kid who could throw the ball a mile, but also run fast enough to catch said ball. Basketball was Richardson’s preferred sport when he stepped on campus, and Daniels had to win him over to play on the gridiron.

“Everyone who was a coach in the city knew of him,” Daniels said. “It was important for us that we get him into some practices and workouts over the summer, then throw him in with our guys.”

When the season came around, however, Richardson wasn’t starting at QB. Hell, he wasn’t even playing QB as a freshman. At that time, Eastside High School hadn’t finished the season with a winning record since 2008, and Daniels was cognizant of that, so he said he didn’t want to bring Richardson in as a freshman QB. For the first “three or four” games of the season, Daniels said Richardson played wide receiver in the first half, then would come in the second half if the team needed a spurt of energy. Two passing attempts here, maybe five more next week in the second half, all with the intention of bringing him along slowly.

Then, against Lake Weir, the starting QB above Richardson was hurt on the second series of the game. Richardson went in, after only playing QB in the second half of blowouts and never for an extended period of time.

The Rams won the game, the only win of the season. Richardson didn’t light the world on fire, throwing for 171 yards and a pick, but it was his team from then on out.

Despite a poor record from Eastside High in Richardson’s time as starting QB, he excelled on the field, throwing for 27 touchdowns and running for five more in his sophomore and junior years as a Ram. Richardson would attend camps, and pick up offers here and there, but according to SI All Gators publisher Zach Goodall, the offers really started to pour in after the home team made an offer.

“Eastside didn’t really boast much in terms of talent historically, so Anthony was kind of a rarity,” Goodall said. “But you could tell that there was something special there.”

Goodall remembers the first game he saw Richardson play in high school, where former Gator coach Dan Mullen was in attendance. Richardson dropped a pass into a bucket from 50 yards away, and despite it getting called back for a penalty, the throw left Mullen and other Gators coaches cheering and getting excited for the future of the QB they were in on.

More offers began to roll in. Georgia came calling, then the Wolverines from Michigan offered. Richardson actually decommitted from the Gators in 2019, but then recommitted and enrolled at Florida to practice with the Gators during their Orange Bowl preparation. The prince who was promised had come, at last.

That’s where his story really takes a twist.

***

Being from Gainesville and having family who still lived in the area, I heard rumors of Richardson at Florida long before he suited up in a game. Rumors of a scrawny kid from Eastside who might be the next Cam Newton were the talk of every family get-together. The next big thing at QB was said to be here, and ready to lead the Gators back to the promised land.

However, for the first year of Richardson’s Gator career, rumors were all they were.

As incumbent QB Kyle Trask stole the spotlight in a resurgent 2020, and with former four-star QB Emory Jones being Mullen’s first blue-chip Gator QB recruit, Richardson redshirted, watching on the sidelines and developing under a known QB guru in Mullen and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. Goodall said that Richardson would impress in scout team reps, but things were going well under Mullen.

Richardson’s rise to the helm of the Gator signal caller became less Hero’s Journey, and more of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Emory Jones was named the starter in the next year but underwhelmed, and Goodall says Mullen may have checked out. “There were leaks of Mullen wanting to make the jump to the NFL,” Goodall said. “From that point on, how hands-on was the development of Jones and Richardson?”

Brian Johnson left for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Goodall said that Johnson’s voice might have been missed in the QB room, despite Mullen being the one to call the plays.

Instead of being surrounded by play callers who were all-in on his development now that his redshirt year was over, Mullen threw Richardson to the wolves. His first career start? Against one of the greatest defenses of all-time, the 2021 Georgia Bulldogs, in a rivalry game.

Richardson struggled of course, only throwing for 82 yards and two interceptions, but in many ways, he wasn’t given a chance.

“That game plan [against Georgia] was pretty vanilla; there wasn’t much they were trying to do with him,” Goodall said. “I start to wonder, could more have been done to help Anthony Richardson?”

Mullen was fired after a 24-23 loss to Missouri, and once again, Richardson would be learning an offense with a different QB coach, different coordinator and different head coach.

Current Florida head coach Billy Napier still remembers the first time he saw Richardson throw.

After the 2021 season, Richardson had surgery on a meniscus injury that had ailed him since his senior year in high school, so he wasn’t able to participate in offseason workouts at all. Richardson miraculously came back for Day 1 of spring practices, and after seeing him throw, Napier had to make a phone call.

“I remember calling my brother on my way home that night,” Napier said. “I told him, hey this kid is pretty special, I’ve been on a lot of fields with a lot of really good players, and it was pretty apparent from the first practice that this kid was really gifted.”

The challenge for Napier was getting the offense up to speed, with their QB1 finally healthy. Richardson was the unquestioned starter, and going into the Gators’ first game against top 10 opponent Utah in the Swamp, people were expecting a show.

And boy did they get a show.

Richardson threw for 168 yards, ran for another 106, and completed a 2-point conversion that looked like it was directly out of an anime. Richardson rolled out to his right, and two Utah defenders went with him. Richardson jumped to throw the pass, but then he didn’t. Utah was sure to take him down for a failed 2-point conversion.

Except that didn’t happen.

The Gators would upset the Utes in the first game, and Anthony Richardson stock was hotter than fish grease. The comparisons to Cam Newton kept rolling in, and Gators fans had dreams of their next Tebow, a 15 in orange and blue who would conquer the SEC, then the college football world. However, those expectations might have placed an unnecessary weight on Richardson’s shoulders.

“Florida’s fan base can be a pressure cooker, and going out there and spinning your way into a 2-point conversion unlike anyone has ever seen and upsetting a top 10 team at home, no one had ever seen that before as a Florida fan,” Goodall said about the Utah victory. “Dan Mullen came in and won a bowl game in convincing fashion in Year 1 despite what happened the year before with Jim McElwain, so you add that in and the expectations were sky high.”

Florida’s offense sputtered after the Utah game, lacking creativity on offense in the passing game and the receiving talent to aid Richardson’s development. A disheartening loss to Kentucky the next week where Richardson looked lost put a severe damper on the hype around both the Gators and Richardson. Richardson admitted after the game that he lost confidence in himself, which on a larger scale is very understandable. Being 20 years old and playing in front of people who have watched you play football since you were in sixth grade, one week after dominating national headlines in an upset win, and you perform poorly? Yeah, the confidence will get shaken a bit.

“Anthony was very inexperienced going into the season, and for a first-year starter, with a first-year head coach and staff, we had to understand that there were going to be good days and bad,” Napier said of Richardson’s struggles. “So supporting him and understanding where Anthony was at as a player and person was really important.”

The early struggles would continue in an uneven performance against South Florida, where despite getting the win, Richardson once again was inconsistent. Heading into the Tennessee game, it would seem like the pressure was turned up to 1,000, right? Going into Neyland, against a rival whose offense was firing on all cylinders — maybe this would be the game where all hell breaks loose, the game where Richardson finally completely unravels and the Gators are back at square one.

What actually happened was Richardson playing one of his best games of the season. Despite the loss, Richardson threw for 453 yards and two touchdowns, and added two more on the ground. The Ben Hill Griffin-sized boulder was off of Richardson’s back, and people began to notice how freely he played. Napier said that one of Richardson’s greatest qualities is his performance on the road, and Tennessee is one of the first times he saw that trait.

“I saw him kind of grow up a little bit as a competitor,” Napier said. “He wasn’t worried about what anybody thought; he was trying to take his group and beat the other team.”

“When he’s allowed to use his athletic gifts, he’s such a sharp football player,” Goodall said. “I don’t think he gets enough credit for that, when he’s allowed to just go play.”

Richardson finally settled in. Despite not having the gaudy stats to back it up, he was playing with more confidence and energy, and Napier noticed his comfort level increase off the field as well.

“Anthony was very diligent,” Napier said. “We do quite a bit to create structure and routine, and Anthony embraced that.”

Napier raved about Richardson’s leadership and managing what comes with the spotlight as well. “[Anthony] has a sincere care for other people,” Napier said. “He does a great job of not letting [the spotlight] affect who he is, and I appreciated his humility and care for other people.”

For Goodall, he admires Richardson’s dedication to learning more about people, even if they’re not on the team.

“Relationships are meaningful to him,” Goodall said. “He would come and spend time with us after practice, and we’re just the media who covered a 6-7 Florida team that lost to Vanderbilt. He made sure to go out his way to say something or have a conversation with us, and that means a lot.”

***

As the draft gets closer and closer, odds get increasingly higher that Richardson potentially comes off the board with the first overall pick. DraftKings has Richardson at +800 to be the first overall pick only behind QBs CJ Stroud and Bryce Young. Richardson is seen as a massive boom-or-bust prospect, but if you ask Napier, all Richardson needs is time.

“What I really believe is that Anthony needs repetition,” Napier said. “He needs continuity, a system and a staff. You provide a routine for him and he’s going to do the work.”

Since entering college at Florida, Richardson has had three different coordinators and three different QB coaches. Stack that on top of the meniscus injury and you get a guy who might not have been dealt the best hand. However, you can’t deny his arm talent, his athleticism, and advanced pocket movement for a player who won’t turn 21 until after the draft. There are issues that come with Richardson, such as the scattershot accuracy that stems from footwork, but much like the pass thrown at Florida’s Pro Day, the only thing that’s stopping him is the ceiling.

The moment may be massive, but best believe Richardson is more than ready for it.