Around the NFL

March 05, 2023

Anthony Richardson

Quarterback wows at combine

Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud have generally been the most talked about quarterbacks coming out of college. They put up huge numbers last year for top Alabama and Ohio State programs, respectively. But Anthony Richardson's performance at the combine yesterday was what people were talking about.

Athletically, there wasn't much doubt that Richardson was the most intriguing prospect, even before he turned in a bunch of ridiculous workout numbers. Those include running a 4.43 40, posting a 40.5 vertical leap (a modern combine record for quarterbacks), and a 10-foot-9 broad jump (tied for the best at the position).

Those numbers are even more impressive considering his size. At 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds, he calls to mind Cam Newton (a comparison Richardson himself made yesterday) or Vince Young -- but faster. In the last 20 years, only one quarterback who went on to be selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft had a faster 40 times. That was Robert Griffin III, who looked like he was going to be an NFL star until injuries wrecked his career. In the table below, I'm showing the top 15 (drafted Rounds 1-3) in this regard.

40-YARD-DASH, QBS DRAFTED ROUNDS 1-3, 2003-PRESENT
Year	Player	School	Height	Wt	40YD
2012	Robert Griffin	Baylor	6-2	223	4.33
2023	Anthony Richardson	Florida	6-4	244	4.43
2021	Justin Fields	Ohio St.	6-2	227	4.45
2006	Vince Young	Texas	6-5	229	4.48
2011	Jake Locker	Washington	6-2	231	4.51
2015	Marcus Mariota	Oregon	6-4	222	4.52
2022	Desmond Ridder	Cincinnati	6-3	211	4.52
2011	Colin Kaepernick	Nevada	6-5	233	4.53
2012	Russell Wilson	Wisconsin	5-11	204	4.53
2009	Pat White	West Virginia	6-0	197	4.55
2011	Cam Newton	Auburn	6-5	248	4.56
2013	Geno Smith	West Virginia	6-2	218	4.58
2012	Andrew Luck	Stanford	6-4	234	4.59
2020	Jalen Hurts	Oklahoma	6-1	222	4.59
2011	Blaine Gabbert	Missouri	6-4	234	4.61

Richardson also has a big arm, on display in his workout yesterday. All he really needs, it seems, is to land with the right team and coaching staff to develop him properly as a passer, because there are some concerns in that area. Most notably, he completed under 54 percent of his passes last season. Among other first-round picks the last 20 years (and expected first-rounders this year), only one was worse: Ravens draft bust Kyle Boller.

1ST-ROUND QBS, FINAL YEAR OF COLLEGE, 2003-PRESENT
Year	Pk	Player	School	Com	Att	Pct	P Yds	TDP	Int
2021	15	Mac Jones	Alabama	311	402	77.4	4500	41	4
2021	2	Zach Wilson	Brigham Young	247	336	73.5	3692	33	3
2012	22	Brandon Weeden	Oklahoma State	408	564	72.3	4727	37	13
2014	32	Teddy Bridgewater	Louisville	303	427	71.0	3970	31	4
2021	10	Justin Fields	Ohio State	158	225	70.2	2100	22	6
2019	15	Dwayne Haskins	Ohio State	373	533	70.0	4831	50	8
2014	22	Johnny Manziel	Texas A&M	300	429	69.9	4114	37	13
2005	25	Jason Campbell	Auburn	188	270	69.6	2700	20	7
2021	1	Trevor Lawrence	Clemson	231	334	69.2	3153	24	9
2004	11	Ben Roethlisberger	Miami (Ohio)	342	495	69.1	4486	37	10
2013	16	EJ Manuel	Florida State	263	387	68.0	3397	23	10
2010	25	Tim Tebow	Florida	213	314	67.8	2895	21	5
2022	20	Kenny Pickett	Pittsburgh	334	497	67.2	4319	42	7
2017	12	Deshaun Watson	Clemson	388	579	67.0	4593	41	17
2021	3	Trey Lance	North Dakota State	192	287	66.9	2786	28	0
2016	26	Paxton Lynch	Memphis	296	443	66.8	3776	28	4
2023	?	C.J. Stroud	Ohio State	258	389	66.3	3688	41	6
2005	24	Aaron Rodgers	California	209	316	66.1	2566	24	8
2023	?	Will Levis	Kentucky	185	283	65.4	2406	19	10
2023	?	Bryce Young	Alabama	245	380	64.5	3328	32	5
2008	18	Joe Flacco	Delaware	331	521	63.5	4263	23	5
2020	26	Jordan Love	Utah State	293	473	61.9	3402	20	17
2007	22	Brady Quinn	Notre Dame	289	467	61.9	3426	37	7
2011	12	Christian Ponder	Florida State	184	299	61.5	2044	20	8
2004	22	J.P. Losman	Tulane	251	422	59.5	3077	33	14
2006	11	Jay Cutler	Vanderbilt	273	462	59.1	3073	21	9
2018	32	Lamar Jackson	Louisville	254	430	59.1	3660	27	10
2009	17	Josh Freeman	Kansas State	224	382	58.6	2945	20	8
2003	22	Rex Grossman	Florida	287	503	57.1	3402	22	17
2023	?	Anthony Richardson	Florida	176	327	53.8	2549	17	9
2003	19	Kyle Boller	California	225	421	53.4	2815	28	10

So there's some good and bad to look at with the Florida quarterback, but bottom line, he helped himself yesterday. An exciting prospect; will be fascinating to see where he ends up.

--Andy Richardson (no relation)

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Aaron Jones has run for 1,046 yards for the 13-2 Vikings, positioning himself to join the small fraternity of players who’ve run for 1,000 yards for two different playoff teams in the same division. (He went over 1,000 yards for two Green Bay teams that went 13-3.) In the 32-team era (that is, since 2002) who is the only other running back who’s done this? (Need not just multiple 1,000-yard seasons, but for playoff teams in the same division.)

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