Much Love for Anthony Richardson
Did you watch the NFL combine? Of course you did, but the average person had so much more to do with their week. Listening to Rich Eisen talk about the NFL’s future in such a soft spoken voice, as if Tiger Woods was taking the final putt in all of golf, wasn’t exactly the easiest to sit through. He did manage to lull me to sleep a couple of times and I must admit there is a timbre to the man’s voice that gave me the deepest of slumbers. I did, however, manage to keep my eyes open long enough to see the quarterbacks toss around the pigskin, that is, everyone but Bryce Young.
I watched Will Levis first. He remarked about his cannon of an arm but, if we are being honest, it was some of the least impressive stuff of the big three that chose to throw. His deep balls on the go routes were what everyone was waiting to see and, frankly, it was a long wait for an average showing. The long balls were a bit flat. It’s not that he doesn’t have the arm strength, it’s that it wasn’t any more impressive than the rest of the lot. It’s not all negative for Levis however, he does have the absolute best hair of everyone being drafted this year. Like Johnny from Karate Kid. It will be fun to see if the William Zabka effect helps him out on draft day.
Then I saw Bryce Young sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else do their best to impress the employers looking to hire them. I will say that if this column seems a little bent about the fact that Young chose not to throw, it’s probably because it is. I don’t like his choice not to compete at the combine. I mean, I literally watched CJ Stroud get called back up to toss a couple more long balls and after he was done, Anthony Richardson jumped right back up to throw some more as well. Why? He’s a competitor. I like to see that spirit in a football player and I’m sure the coaches and GMs, who were watching, like to see it as well. Nobody got a chance to see it in Bryce Young during the combine. Will that matter? Probably not, he still has his pro day coming up. But, to see what Young can do in direct competition with his peers would have been nice. I just don’t like the choice he made, and if I were an NFL GM it would weigh on my draft decision.
Then came time for QB group numero two. CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson were tossing the ball one right after the other so everyone got a good look at the two contenders. Both are around the same height and both have amazing arms. Both were extremely accurate on their short and medium throws and both tossed that long ball from one 10 yard line to the opposite 30. It was not only fun to see the two compete, but it was also good for teams to see and compare them side by side. I listened to Tony Boselli on 1010XL, Breakfast with Boselli, and he said what I think most NFL GMs are now thinking. CJ Stroud is going to be the number one overall pick. Bryce Young is just too small. Only Drew Brees and Kyler Murray are as short as Young but neither are as tiny in stature. Neither weigh just a buck 70 soaking wet. Stroud is more of a pocket passer than a runner and Young has some pretty good running skills. This scares me and should scare the NFL decision makers since Bryce Young is half the weight of the professionals trying to tackle him.
Now we come to my favorite part of this column, Anthony Richardson. Full disclosure, I was on the bandwagon that AR should have stayed at the University of Florida for at least one more season. But, after seeing his combine performance, I think I might have been wrong. More directly, after seeing the slobbering fuss that everyone is making over AR’s combine numbers, I know I was wrong. It’s as if the broad jump, high jump and 40-yard dash determine NFL success. It makes sense with all the hopping and jumping Tom Brady did to win seven Super Bowls. All jokes aside, Anthony Richardson was impressive at the combine. He is currently the talk of the town and moving up draft boards as I type. Anthony Richardson’s combine performance created one very important question. Did UF misuse AR and is he actually as good as he looked in Indy last week? Or, is he actually as rough around the edges as every single person thought before they watched Richardson’s record breaking combine performance? The dilemma of being an NFL GM. Either way, I truly believe that this NFL combine skyrocketed Anthony Richardson and severely hurt Bryce Young’s chances of being taken number one overall. Whatever the case may be, it pains me as a Jaguars writer to say that two of these talented quarterbacks will most likely be playing in the AFC South. Which two still remains to be seen. It is my “expert” opinion that CJ Stroud goes to the Texans, Bryce Young goes to the Colts, and Anthony Richardson goes to the Seahawks…maybe?
A lot of trading has to occur for this to happen, so it’s going to be a very exciting month leading up to this years NFL draft. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.