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Anthony Richardson, is the hype real or fake?

Richardson set two combine records for a QB.

NFL: Combine Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Florida Gator QB Anthony Richardson put on a show at the combine, showing off his insane athleticism and great throwing power. Let’s go over his numbers from the combine and talk about if the hype of ARich is truly worth it or not.

Combine Numbers:

One thing that has always been noticeable with Richardson is his great size for the position, as he stands at 6’4 and 244 pounds. Combine that with great speed and good strength and you can see why on paper that people have always been excited about his potential. Once we get to his actual combine numbers, they are out of this world for a QB, even an athletic one like Richardson. He set the QB record for vertical jump at 40.5 inches and also broke the broad jump record with a 10’9” jump for a QB. Before the event, people were excited to see his 40 time. We hadn’t even gotten there yet, and Richardson already had two combine records for a QB. In the 40, he easily beat the other 7 QBs that declared with a 40-yard dash time of 4.44 seconds, which is good for 4th best all time by a QB. The times ahead of him are all held by QB’s who were much lighter too. Vick ran his time at 210, Griffin at 223, and Reggie McNeal at 205. Richardson checked in almost 20 pounds heavier, compared to the other 3. Then when we got to the passing part of the combine, he was throwing absolute bombs down the field showing off that great arm strength. Richardson did struggle with accuracy on some of the shorter to intermediate throws but more on that in a moment. Let’s just appreciate the type of athletic show that Anthony Richardson put on, even as an LSU fan, you have got to appreciate it.

Now to get into the negatives of Anthony Richardson’s game. Even at the combine he struggled with accuracy on the simplest of throws. At Florida, despite having top SEC talent around him, he struggled with decision making and accuracy on short and intermediate throws. While yes, athleticism is nice, it can’t be the only thing that you have to go on. To me, the mock drafts that have Richardson being drafted at #1 is more buying into the not concrete hype and failing to look at the tape and understand his weaknesses. Despite posting record combine numbers to me, the hype should not be real.


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