One of the adages about grocery shopping is to never do so while hungry. When browsing the aisles with a churning stomach, one may shop for more items than they would actually eat for the next couple weeks.
The same can be said for taking positions of need in the NFL. Teams desperate to shore up a certain position may not see the whole picture.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on his conference call Feb. 24 that teams not needing a quarterback have the 2023 NFL draft class slated differently when it comes to the crop of young signal callers.
“Making calls just around the league, the best way to do the quarterback conversation is talk to the teams that don’t need one, and then you’ll get kind of an accurate feel just how they evaluate him and what they think,” Jeremiah said. “Anthony Richardson is the second quarterback for several teams that I talked to.”
The Florida product is generally regarded as the fourth-best quarterback in the class behind Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, and Kentucky’s Will Levis.
“We can look at the numbers,” Jeremiah said. “It doesn’t look great on paper. You look at the accuracy and this, that, and the other; and he has elite, elite arm strength. He is a rare athlete. You don’t see quarterbacks running away from LSU with 80-yard touchdown runs. Like, he has big-time, big-time ceiling, big-time ability.”
Richardson completed 176 passes on 327 attempts for 2,549 yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine interceptions through 12 games with the Gators in 2022. The 6-4, 236-pound field general also rushed 103 times for 654 yards and nine touchdowns.
Even though Richardson has just 22 starts for his collegiate career, Jeremiah believes quarterbacks are like lottery tickets.
Said Jeremiah: “I know he hasn’t played a ton, but teams are starting to look at some of these quarterbacks as lottery tickets, and this one has the biggest pay-out. That’s why I think you’re going to see Richardson go pretty high.”
The Houston Texans are linked to Young, but could watch another team pick the Crimson Tide quarterback if they are willing to make a deal with the Chicago Bears for No. 1 overall. If the Texans can’t get to Young and have to settle for Richardson, it may not be that bad of a proposition if the 21-year-old is indeed the second-best quarterback in the draft.
