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We mentioned Florida QB Anthony Richardson in this week’s takeaways, and the NFL still has a lot to learn about him. He only started one year. He came on the radar late. He’s raw. So I thought, in an effort to get to know him better, I’d reach out to Billy Napier, who coached him last year at Florida. Here are some snippets from our Sunday-afternoon conversation …
Sports Illustrated: Anything surprise you about Anthony’s workout?
Billy Napier: Definitely expected it. I’ve been around him for a little bit, probably 10 months or so. Just a really impressive athlete and, as we spent more time with him, we knew pretty quick he was pretty special. So no surprise how he tested. … So, yeah, I think generational numbers, freaky dimensions, I’ve always felt pretty strongly that he was a special guy.
SI: What did you see when you first got him last year?
BN: Anthony was a relatively inexperienced player. He had just been kind of a menu guy most weeks, where he would have his six, eight, 10, 12 plays he was responsible for. And then obviously he started the one game against Georgia. He had a highlight reel. I think he’d played around 200-something plays in his career at that point, so really a young player, inexperienced player that wowed people when given an opportunity to get out there and play. … When we first arrived for bowl practice, Anthony was not participating because of the knee surgery, so the first time I saw him throw it live was in spring practice at this time last year. And I slept pretty good that night, to put it that way. Let me just say this: Anthony’s gifted; he’s had terrific success at times, but his best football I really believe is still in front of him.
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SI: NFL people universally call him raw. Do you agree?
BN: The guy is still a very young player. Eastside High School, right here in Gainesville, first year of college football was COVID, and then he changed quarterback coaches for 2021 and then obviously was with us for a year, but was modified in spring ball. So, yeah, I think there’s lots of room for him to continue to grow. I think he’s had a good couple months here in preparation for the combine, and obviously put on a great show yesterday.
SI: How much did he grow in your year with him?
BN: I think you’d be surprised. Anthony’s extremely intelligent and was very capable in that area. The biggest areas of growth for him were in defensive structure, front, pressure, coverage. The other areas we worked on were the protections, relative to Mike IDs and redirecting the protection both in five-man and six-man protection. And then obviously the leadership component, being a young player and an inexperienced player. So I thought we saw him grow in all those areas.
SI: So I’d bet that speaks to his capacity to learn?
BN: I would say there are no limits there. This guy is extremely sharp. And picked it up relatively quickly. And we’re talking about a guy who hadn’t played a ton of ball. So he’s a one-year starter and he’s only going to continue to grow once he gets to the next level.
SI: What kind of kid is he?
BN: He’s a great kid. He’s humble, he is extremely bright, he cares about other people. It’s one of the things I really respect about him. He’s got a really unique story relative to his family dynamic, the things he’s overcome, the things that have shaped his story and his character. But he’s really a guy that’s humble, treats people with great respect and a guy that I think is selfless and cares about other people.
Here are some more quick-hitting leftovers from what evaluators saw at combine workouts …
1) The tight end group drew rave reviews. Georgia TE Darnell Washington, who’s a complete monster, was good enough catching the ball to intrigue teams on his ceiling in that area—his production the past two years was limited to a degree by the fact that he was playing next to the best pass-catching tight end in college football (and maybe since Kyle Pitts) in Bulldogs sophomore Brock Bowers. And 6’7” Old Dominion tight end Zack Kuntz, who transferred there from Penn State, emerged as a dark horse in a loaded group after running a 4.55 40 and becoming the tallest player to post a 40-inch vertical at the combine.
2) Florida QB Anthony Richardson was the first name brought up by just about every evaluator, which is hardly a shocker. Another common one to come up in my quick first round of texts sent out as the combine was wrapping up—Pitt DT Calijah Kancey. His case will be interesting, because like fellow Panther Aaron Donald, he’s very undersized for the position, at 6’1” and 281 pounds, which will make drafting him high a nonstarter for a few teams.
3) It was, in general, not a great weekend for the receivers, but two guys really did help themselves. One was Ole Miss’s Jonathan Mingo, who checked in at 6’2” and 220 pounds, ran a 4.46 40, jumped 39.5” and ripped 22 reps on the bench press—coming from a school with a nice track record for big, strong wideouts. The other was Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who reminded everyone how good he is, starring in position drills and posting elite times in the short shuttle and three-cone drill. If he runs a good 40 at his pro day, he has a good shot to be the first receiver taken.
4) There was said to be pretty good depth at the corner spot, and that certainly was proved out with a few guys there putting on a show—Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez, Michigan’s DJ Turner, Maryland’s Deonte Banks and Kansas State’s Julius Brents among them. All of them except Brents were 4.3 or faster in the 40. That Turner was the fastest (4.26), and the fastest of anyone at the combine, was a head-turner. He has a solid chance to go inside the top 50.
5) The other position of strength that showed up in a big way was the pass-rusher group. Everyone heard Georgia’s Nolan Smith’s ridiculous numbers—he ran a 4.39 40 and jumped 41.5” at 238 pounds. But the list of guys who excelled among the rushers was long. Iowa State’s Will McDonald, Louisville’s YaYa Diaby, Tennessee’s Byron Young, Auburn’s Derick Hall and USC’s Tuli Tuipulotu were names that came up as I asked around for combine winners.
6) One thing that was noticeable—players definitely have more free time while they’re in Indy than they used to, with the league having adjusted scheduling for TV. And that actually seems to be a pretty good thing. The guys I was around outside the stadium definitely didn’t seem as worn down or on edge as I remember in the past. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said something about how he wanted the players to be treated well, so he could see them at their best. It feels like the league’s gotten closer to creating the kind of environment in Indy where that can happen (now, they just have to avoid screwing things up by moving it somewhere else).
