Anthony Richardson Drops A Piece In The Players' Tribune That Only Furthers His Case As A Legit Top-5 Draft Pick

Matt Fitzgerald4/13/2023 7:00 PM

James Gilbert. Getty Images.

The 2023 NFL Draft is only two weeks away, and Anthony Richardson has given us a little more insight into his life story via Thursday's feature in The Players' Tribune. Unless you don't have a soul, it's all pretty moving and revealing in the best of ways.

Will do my best to not just copy-paste what Richardson wrote verbatim and set up these key passages as best I can. First, a little background on where the Florida quarterback came from:

"It’s basically always been me, my younger brother, Corey, and my mom. And the way I grew up, we didn’t always have it, you know what I’m saying?? Sometimes we didn’t have food to eat. Didn’t have new clothes, had to wash the ones we did have in the sink. Didn’t always have the best apartment. But my mom always worked for everything. Didn’t question it, didn’t complain. She just did what she had to do. So I’ll say this: I might not have gone to as many camps as other guys at this position, but not everybody had a mom like mine. Not everybody had to learn them lessons the way I did, through watching her. And I’m glad that’s the life I got dealt, the one God gave me, because it’s made me who I am today. It put something different inside of me. It’s given me a different drive and a different vision. I didn’t want my mom to have to struggle anymore, and I definitely didn’t want my little brother to have to have the same life I did growing up."

While there are a lot of similar stories like this out there involving professional athletes, it never ceases to amaze me how these superhero origin stories play out and get someone to the brink of being drafted super high in their sport. Shoutout to all the real MVP moms out there who absolutely kill it.

So with that as context, you could see how Richardson would pay little attention to negative keyboard warriors coming after him. On the other hand, he shows the self-awareness to at least hear out what outsiders are underscoring as points of improvement. The great thing about Richardson is, he doesn't shy away from working hard. That's been reported by multiple insiders throughout the pre-draft process, and is on display in this excerpt:

"I may not pay attention to all the noise, but I do hear the critics. I know the things people are picking apart. People talk about whether I can be accurate. They say I don’t have touch. They say I can’t throw short. They say a lot of things. All I gotta say is: Watch how hard I work. In my mind, I can do anything with the football in my hand — but I know that no one will ever work harder than me to improve. Whether that’s my footwork, accuracy, mechanics, learning defenses, you name it. You can always grow, and that’s what I’m focused on. I’m going to come in and be tireless. I’m going to put it all on the line. My family sacrificed too much for me to not give everything to this game."

As I'm sure most people know or have come to discover, every opportunity in life boils down to what you make of it. The cliché of getting out of it what you put in. With all the insane innate athleticism Richardson has, the progress he can still make as a player and the willingness to work toward that, it makes him an even more appealing top-five draft pick. I won't waste a ton of space justifying why I have Richardson as my QB1 and No. 2 overall prospect. Further reading below.

This will feel like a total left-field turn and an excuse to gas myself up ("INSUFFERABLE" comments incoming), but let's cut back to the guy who I pounded the table for harder than anyone in all my years of following the draft. Here's Patrick Mahomes when he authored his own Players' Tribune piece prior to the 2017 draft.

"I’ve heard all the pundits raising doubts as to what I can do. 'He plays in the Air Raid offense. Can he take snaps under center? What about audibles?' 'Does he really have the discipline to make it as a quarterback in the NFL?' Everything that critics want to knock me on, I know I can fix with hard work. I am not a project quarterback. People who say that aren’t really watching my tape. I know that I can make any throw, especially when my team needs a big play.
"[…] I’m ready to start the journey to a championship. And, more than anything else in the world, I’m ready to suit up and play some football. The sooner we can get to it, the better.
"Just wait until you see me in the huddle."

Sounds pretty similar to some of the criticism Richardson is fielding.

I get that they're vastly different players. Expecting Richardson to hit Mahomes' ceiling is stupid. Ridiculous. That's not what I'm saying whatsoever. Please don't get that twisted. That said, there are parallels in terms of pre-draft knocks. You'd hear a lot about Mahomes' "rawness" and "physical tools" and "crazy arm talent" and "dubious decision-making" and "can he operate an NFL offense"?

In Mahomes' case, he got to go to the ultimate QB school with Andy Reid as his coach and Alex Smith helping him along as a rookie. Above almost anything else, where you land in the draft has as much to do with a player's success as anything else. Mahomes is an extreme case because he would've been great regardless. You know what I'm saying. Generally speaking.

Oh by the way, before I move back to Richardson, you want a receipt for me calling my Mahomes shot? Thankfully my buddy helped me out with that this afternoon like the pal he is.

So to be clear, I don't hype up just any quarterback prospect. If I think a dude is really gonna be good, I don't make shit up for clicks or attention. Furthermore! I've been wrong PLENTY of times before.

And again. Do not get it twisted. I'm not saying Anthony Richardson is the next Patrick Mahomes. I just like him more than any other guy in this 2023 class. More than 5-10, 185-pounds-soaking-wet Bryce Young, who I nevertheless view as a worthy No. 1 overall pick. More than C.J. Stroud, who I have doubts about thriving in chaos with a losing franchise and whose ceiling seems so much lower than that of Richardson's. I still believe Young and Stroud will be fine pro QBs. If it were me, I'd bet on Richardson's upside.

OK so back to the subject of the blog. Those last two short paragraphs I shared from Mahomes were his closing lines. Now let's look at Richardson's:

"I just want to make the most of this opportunity, and inspire the kids who are going through what I went through and might have a story like mine. I want to show them that they can go anywhere they want to go in life. This isn’t just about doing something for me. It’s bigger than that.
"So, to all the coaches and GMs who are reading this: See you at the draft. If you call the name Anthony Richardson, I promise that you won’t regret it."

Commenters with usernames like "donkey dick" and "GuMcUzZLeR69" think I'm an idiot for liking Richardson so much. So be it. We'll see what happens once he hits the NFL. I have a feeling I'll be right like I often am when it comes to this shit.

Yes, Richardson's lower-body mechanics need work, and there's no substitute for experience. Even with so few starts on his resume, though, the young man is showing a much higher degree of football aptitude/schematic IQ than you'd expect from someone who's played more like the reputed brainiac Bryce Young.

Just a little more food for thought I've come across in recent days in case you still want to totally write Richardson off before he's even taken an NFL snap.

I'm telling you. Anthony Richardson is about to be like…