Evaluations of former University of Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson may be the most varied of any player—and certainly of any quarterback—in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft.
Richardson, 21, has been lauded for his arm strength and mobility but has received criticism from scouts regarding his lack of accuracy during his career with the Gators.
The opinions on Richardson resemble those of a quarterback coming out of Wyoming in the 2018 draft named Josh Allen. In fact, one NFL general manager compared Richardson's arm strength to that of the Bills superstar.
"Allen had this great throw at the combine when he was coming out—it was like a 70-yard bomb—and it kind of made us all sit up and take notice," the general manager told ESPN's Matt Miller. "Richardson will do that, too. And not those fake roll-out throws with tons of momentum. He'll just drop back and chuck it."
Richardson's arm strength was on display all season, and he tended to show it off on the biggest plays of the game. Eight of his 17 touchdowns came on passes of more than 20 yards downfield, and three of them were at least 40.
Looking at both Richardson and Allen's stats from their final collegiate seasons, there are some similarities, namely in their average yards per pass attempt. In 2017, Allen averaged 6.7 yards, while Richardson averaged 7.8.
They also both struggled a bit with their completion percentage. Neither completed more than 56.3 percent of their passes when given a full season's workload.
"There's no way around it. The accuracy is bad," one AFC area scout told Miller. "But there are so many scouts who think because Josh Allen cleaned up his stuff that Richardson and others can, too. I still think Allen is an outlier, not the rule."
Where Richardson clearly edges Allen is in his mobility. Although the Bills QB is a very good runner, the former Gator is on another level. In just one full season as UF's starter, Richardson rushed for 654 yards and nine touchdowns, almost as many yards (767) as Allen had in his entire career at Wyoming.
Over his career, Richardson rushed for 1,116 yards and 12 scores. Miller reports that his draft range is probably somewhere between Nos. 7 and 20.
