Pretty decent assessment of Anthony Richardson as an NFL prospect - the good and the bad.

Yes we shouldn't make personal attacks on the kid

But he was still out 2nd best QB since Tim Tebow.

And Travis had a great 2022. That was his 3rd year starting. AR was in his first year. ARs 2022 > Travis 2021. If AR came back in 2023 then his year would most likely be similar to Travis in 2022.

So it isn't like Travis is head and shoulders better than AR. He is older. NFL pays for potential. It just seems like a lot of people are upset he is going pro and a possible top 10 pick. I get that but there is a reason why AR is going pro now and Travis still can't go pro. AR has more potential and is clearly ahead of Travis age adjusted. Travis is a 2018 recruit, AR is a 2020 recruit. Not a knock of Travis. He had a great 2022 and should have a great 2023.

 

Yeah. Just save your criticism for a kid who committed to Florida before he ever sets foot on campus....

And I agree with your defense of AR's character. People are way out of line for bashing him but the overwhelming majority here are just realistic about his accuracy, leadership and performance as a Gator and NFL prospect. It would be nice if you showed the same benefit of doubt to Mertz as you do AR.

 

I don't think Mertz is a good QB because he hasn't shown it on the field in multiple years. ARs total QBR in 2022 was 70.6, Mertz was 52.5 (his 2020 and 2021 were similar). AR was significantly better. That gap is similar to Trask and Franks as a point of comparison.

I am still rooting like hell for him and I'd never bash his character. I hope he takes a big jump in 2023 and wins the Heisman. But I can objectively analyze his performance AND hope like hell that he takes a huge jump. But a huge jump would mean he'd have a similar year to AR in 2022 (which would be fantastic for Mertz), but may not be enough given our porous defense to produce a decent turn around in year 2.

 

FWIW Mertz evidently was under center like 95% of the time, could make a difference for the kid with that percentage flipped.

 

These are all opinions and everyone's entitled to theirs but you give AR the benefit of doubt due to scheme and then completely disregard Wisconsins. By that same token, while you seem to deride Napiers scheme, if AR hits several wide open short to intermediate throws our production could have improved dramatically. Numbers lie. AR was Horrific against Kentucky and erratic in many of his better performances as well.

 

I hope Mertz is getting a good payday from us because if he gets the same OL "protection" as AR...he will be getting paid to come here and take a beating till our real QB prospect gets here eventually.

 

I wasn't attacking his character nor bashing AR- sorry I came across that way. Also- I was trying to explain why people had such animosity to AR. Not necessarily me.
A minor league baseball player cares about making the show- in no way does that mean he has bad character.
That was my analogy. Let's examine why...

Did AR think of UF as a stepping stone to the NFL? Again, like a minor league baseball player?
Or did he agonize over the wins and losses, and was he consumed with getting the Florida GAtors back to being one of college football's superpowers.

Here's a few reasons why I contrasted him to a minor league baseball player instead of a "give your heart and soul and your whole being to the Orange and Blue" type of player.

• We have a poster on here (with a good rep) who says AR was going pro after 3 years no matter what. That was always the plan- and has been since soph year of HS.
• His dismissive quote after the Vandy loss. Can you imagine Tebow saying the same thing? (Perhaps this was taken out of context, but its out there.)
• The fact that he still went pro after many scouts said he needed another year.
• The fact that he went pro when WE BADLY NEEDED him another year. OUr QB room is atrocious. (I think you have pointed this out many times.)
• The fact that he couldn't be bothered to play in the bowl game- even after Kitna was released. His team needed him badly, but did that cause him a 2nd thought? Apparently not.
• The fact that he could make (I assume) big money from NIL if he did come back. But didn't seem to give that a 2nd thought because NFL. So his financial pressures were not like many players who bolted in the past- yet everyone said he was gone after the FSU game. Which he was.

You don't have to respond and argue with me point by point.
I understand AR could say that our QB room, bowl game, loss to Vandy were not his fault, so he didn't owe us anything.
I can hear AR saying that now. He is not wrong.

But THAT'S THE POINT. His whole POV seems to be he owes us nothing, so goodbye.
AGain, just like a minor league baseball player. A minor league player with good character and who played hard, but a minor league player who above all just wants to go to the show.

Nothing in the above attacks his play on the field or his character. I have no quibble with either. (Except he needs another year.)

 

AR may turn out to be great, but based on what he has shown, if I was an NFL GM, I would not burn a 1st round pick on him.

If he gets picked in the 1st it will be because some NFL GM fell in love with his measurables similar to Trey Lance a few years ago.

 

Compare them after this coming season as they will have both been in the same system.

 

Mertz has 3 years and AR has one. I'm not giving AR the benefit of the doubt. I'm saying he had a good year. His QBR was substantially higher than Mertz (any of his years). Even with that AR left a lot on the table. So it ended up being a good year rather than a great one. It is just data based to say Mertz has to make a huge leap to even get to ARs 2022.

It is not an opinion to say Mertz had a 52.6 QBR last year and AR had a 70.6. AR was 36th in the country and Mertz 81st. Being 36th shows AR wasn't great. 36th implies inconsistency. If Mertz gets to ARs level next year that is a huge victory. To expect Mertz to be above ARs level is a reach.

 

No more a reach than AR developing against NFL competition.

 

I'll hit upon multiple of your points

• We have a poster on here (with a good rep) who says AR was going pro after 3 years no matter what. That was always the plan- and has been since soph year of HS.
• The fact that he still went pro after many scouts said he needed another year.
• The fact that he went pro when WE BADLY NEEDED him another year. OUr QB room is atrocious. (I think you have pointed this out many times.)
• The fact that he could make (I assume) big money from NIL if he did come back. But didn't seem to give that a 2nd thought because NFL. So his financial pressures were not like many players who bolted in the past- yet everyone said he was gone after the FSU game. Which he was.

He is a projected 1st round pick with multiple mocks with him in the top 10. How can we possibly blame him? And we can't just assume another year is helpful. What if he is as bad as some people here think? He would have dropped in the draft. I don't think we cant blame him for striking when the iron was hot. And most high school recruits want to become 1st round picks and leave.

• His dismissive quote after the Vandy loss. Can you imagine Tebow saying the same thing? (Perhaps this was taken out of context, but its out there.)

I didn't like it either. But the reality is we've been a bad program with a bad culture for awhile. That permeates far beyond AR

• The fact that he couldn't be bothered to play in the bowl game- even after Kitna was released. His team needed him badly, but did that cause him a 2nd thought? Apparently not.

We have to get used to players not playing in non playoff bowl games. Is Kyle Pitts now a bad Gator? We are going to have this happen every year

My question for you is why are we holding AR to this standard and not other players that are leaving early? The vast majority of projected first rounders are leaving school early. I bet damn near every one of them have been dreaming about the NFL

More specifically where is the hate for Dexter?
1. He is projected to be drafted lower than AR.
2. Defense has been far worse than offense
3. Both leaving as RS Sophs

 

Okay? That has nothing to do with anything. Even if he doesn't develop he still gets first round $

And if he doesn't develop that is proof that he came out at the right time. Better to get drafted based on potential than not get drafted once they realize what you are.

 

Okay? That hasn't been your argument. You've been claiming AR was held back by Napiers offense and is worth a 1st round pick. Unless I have you confused with someone else. The NFL loves the combine and he might be a first rounder so I don't blame a kid for taking the money. JaMarcus Russell was a physical freak too with a better resume. I hope he succeeds I just don't see him fixing the mental and accuracy issues.

 

No reasonable person can fault him for going pro if he has a legitimate shot at top ten draft pick. I'll pull for him.

However, I think the long play for him would have been to stay another year (or perhaps transfer) since he really needs the game reps more than anything else, IMO. He's got so little game experience at ANY level as a qb that I think he's playing catch up. The expectation and learning curve that comes with the NFL will be much harder for him. And, game reps may not be easy to come by. Just ask Trask.

Still, coming back to cfb would have been a risk even if it may be the better decision in the long run. Time will tell.

 

Maybe

 

Second dumbest shot of the day. Sorry I meant dumbest, the other guy was yesterday.

 

I know what you're saying but as fragile of a player as he seems to be, I don't see him lasting long at any position other than QB.

 

Chicago and Mitch Trubiski say Hi.

 

It isn’t a matter of whether you or I think he’s worth a 1st round pick. He’s projected to go mid 1st with top 10 potential. Whether he is worthy or if it is just irrelevant opinion. The fact is he’s almost certainly going to be a high pick.

We’ve had dozens of early entrants that will be drafted lower than AR yet they didn’t get close to this hate. Even this year someone like Dexter had far more to gain by coming back.