HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 27: Anthony Richardson #5 of the Indianapolis Colts reacts after a penalty in the end zone to negate a touchdown during the third quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on October 27, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by JPhoto: Getty Images North America
Listen to former NFL Draft scout Daniel Kelly of ‘First Round Mock’ join The Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington to give his scathing evaluation of Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, as Richardson has become the latest former first-round quarterback to surprisingly lose his starting job this early into his career.
Check out the segment above as Kelly details why Richardson is ‘one of the biggest reaches in NFL Draft history’, and a guy who Kelly had as a fifth-round grade coming into the 2023 Draft in which Richardson would be the no. 4 overall pick.
“When I looked at Anthony Richardson on game film and studied all his plays with the Florida Gators, on film he looked like a glorified option-quarterback who had difficulty reading college-level defensive pass coverage schemes. This guy was a run-first, pass-second raw prospect. Everything he did at Florida was predicated on the play-action fake. He barely completed half his passes at Florida the last year, 53.8%, 54.7% overall. He could barely hit the broadside of a barn.
I also labeled him – and this is something a lot of people missed on – as a pre-Draft high injury risk because he was a run guy, and the NFL is just not that kind to running quarterbacks. I’ve never remotely understood the pick. This is one of the biggest reaches in NFL Draft history. There was absolutely nothing whatsoever on his game film at Florida that remotely suggested he should go first round.
Then you look at what happened last off-season with the throwing shoulder surgery that just compels the problems. He plummeted from 59.5% completion percentage in his rookie season all the way down to 44.4% this season. Last week it was 31.3%, it just gets worse and worse.
This guy has never been an actual passer. This is an epiphany. This was one of the easiest evaluations I’ve ever done. This was a guy in high school, IN HIGH SCHOOL, that completed 53.2% of his passes. In college, 54.7%, in the NFL he’s at 50.2% right now. This has never been a natural passer, and I’ve never understood all the hype and comparisons to Josh Allen, Andrew Luck, and Peyton Manning. It’s just absurd to me and I’ve never understood why we’re even in this situation. I put a fifth-round grade on him pre-Draft, and labeled him as a pre-Draft bust if he went in the first four rounds.”
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