Despite an eye-opening, jaw-dropping, record-breaking performance at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, quarterback Anthony Richardson still may not be the Carolina Panthers’ cup of tea. According to a few team beat reporters—The Athletic’s Joe Person and FOX Charlotte’s Will Kunkel, to be precise—the braintrust doesn’t seem to be too high on the University of Florida star.
But our own Luke Easterling is!
In his latest three-round set of projections, the Draft Wire editor has the Panthers trading up to the third overall spot to select Richardson. Easterling writes:
Carolina made the mistake of passing on Justin Fields two years ago, and it won’t happen again. Instead, they deal next year’s first-rounder and one of this year’s second-round picks (perhaps even more) to move up and land the quarterback prospect with the highest ceiling in Richardson.
The 6-foot-4, 244-pounder gave us a sneak peek of that ceiling with his athletic testing in Indianapolis. He finished—per MockDraftable.com—in the 98th percentile amongst all quarterbacks ever recorded in the 40-yard dash (4.43 seconds), the 96th percentile in 10-yard split (1.53 seconds) and set new records at the position for the broad (129 inches) and vertical (40.5 inches) jumps.
He also put that bazooka that’s attached to his right shoulder on display during on-field drills. Save for a few errant mid-range throws, Richardson showed he has more than enough arm strength to warrant the comparisons he’s gotten to Cam Newton, Josh Allen and Daunte Culpepper.
So, was all of that really not enough for the Panthers? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see after all the smoke settles.
