NEWSLETTER
Of the 15-plus hours of the combine the past three days, Saturday was by far the most enjoyable. Saturday featured the quarterbacks, wide receivers, and a loaded tight end group. However, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson was the talk of the football world for much of the day, and for a good reason. Let’s break down the Gators quarterback’s performance.
- Richardson came into the combine with the quarterback with the most to gain (or lose) in Indianapolis. A physical freak with questions about his NFL readiness and completeness has presented pundits with a tough case to evaluate.
- Richardson called himself a Cam Newtown-Lamar Jackson hybrid on Friday. He looked like it on Saturday. Richardson blew the physical testing out of the water, setting a record for quarterbacks and dominating in every measurable.
- Before he even picked up a football, Anthony Richardson registered a record-setting 40.5 vertical leap:
- Anthony Richardson’s vertical leap was tied for the sixth-best among all players, matching Maryland cornerback Jakorian Bennett. The Gators signal-caller also registered an impressive 10’9″ broad jump. Richardson’s broad jump was also the best among all quarterbacks.
- Here’s how Richardson stacked up against the other QBs in the physical testing:
- Height: 6’4″ 1/4 (1st)
- Weight: 244 (1st)
- 40-Yard: 4.43 (1st)
- Vertical: 40.5″ (1st)
- Broad: 10’9″ (1st)
- Richardson also registered a throw at 60 MPH, best among quarterbacks. Even better than Will Levis, who topped out at 59 mph on the radar gun.
- Richardson had himself a day in the physical testing. But he looked good in the throwing drills. Just good. That’s an issue for Richardson. Not because he didn’t look good, but because he didn’t look amazing. We knew that he was a physical freak of an athlete. It was nice to see it confirmed, and honestly, he exceeded expectations in that regard.
- However, he was paired with CJ Stroud, who put on a clinic and made it look effortless. That’s why Richardson is where he is compared to the likes of Stroud in this class. Still, I firmly believe that Richardson is worth the risk for a team, especially a team like the Seahawks, who can provide him a bridge to learn in Geno Smith.
- On the other hand, CJ Stroud was marvelous. He cruised through the passing drills with ease, making almost every throw, and making it look easy. But, I think we all expected that.
- In the first group of quarterbacks, Will Levis walked the walk after he talked the talk on Friday. Levis said he was going to show off his arm, and he certainly did.
- Levis had a strong day but is still behind Bryce Young and CJ Stroud for my money. Speaking of Stroud, check this out BEAUTY of a ball by Stroud in the go route portion of the throwing:
- Stroud launched that from the 10-yard-line and dropped it at the other 27. That’s 63 yards of air time for Stroud! But, man, CJ Stroud was on another level today. If Young and Stroud weren’t already 1 and 1a, they are now. And that might only be because Young didn’t throw. Stroud might have left Indianapolis with the edge if he did.
- Stroud’s teammate at Ohio State, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, had a great day today. JSN was as smooth as butter in the gauntlet drill and route running drills in the second group.
- Other receivers that had nice days were Boston College’s Zay Flowers, North Carolina’s Josh Downs, and Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt.
- If there was any question as to whether or not Downs was a first-round receiver, there shouldn’t be after today. Downs’
- However, not every wide receiver had a day to remember. Quentin Johnston and Jordan Addison were two wide receivers who left plenty to be desired. Johnston participated in the vertical and broad jumps and scored well. But we knew that Johnston had plenty of speed and explosiveness. However, what I wanted to see from Johnston were his hands. Johnston bobbled and relied on his body far too much to change the narrative that he’s a body catcher rather than a pure catcher.
- Addison didn’t do all that well in the physical testing and decided to shut it down before the on-field drills due to an injury—pretty disappointing day for the USC wide receiver.
- So, day three is in the books in Indianapolis. We’ve got one day of action left tomorrow and it kicks off at noon.
