Warning: Jason Licht And Todd Bowles Meet With Anthony Richardson
March 3rd, 2023
Florida QB Anthony Richardson.
An air raid siren is going off in Joe’s head today at the Indiana Convention Center.
Late this morning, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson took the podium to address #NFLMedia at the combine in Indianapolis. There, he said he met with both Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
Yes, both of them.
Look, at the combine, it is an annoying waste of time when reporters ask a prospect if he’s met with a representative of a team. They meet with ALL TEAMS. Who they speak with is another matter. The shot-callers aren’t going to waste their time with dudes they have zero interest in.
So for Licht and Bowles to meet with AR-15 means they have more than a passing intrigue about AR-15. And this should scare the hell out of Bucs fans.
Look, Joe was on the AR-15 train before the 2022 season started. Then, after a strong game in an upset of Utah, Richardson proceeded to play the rest of the season like the second coming of Jerry Golsteyn.
Joe jumped off that train, that’s all you need to know. Here are some examples.
Joe likes to go by Bill Parcells’ requirements of a college quarterback to become a solid pro. They might be a bit outdated (like graduating), but generally, they are spot on. Here they are:
Be a three-year starter. AR-15 was a starter for just one full season, 2022.
Be a senior in college. Nope.
Graduate from college. Nope.
Start 30 games. AR-15 has only played in 22 games.
Win 23 games. Nope.
Post a 2-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. AR-15 has 24 touchdowns thrown, 15 picks.
Complete at least 60% of passes thrown. AR-15 has a 54 percent completion percentage.
Joe was speaking with a former NFL starting quarterback at the combine today and he compared AR-15 to Mitch Trubisky due to so few starts in college.
Now would Joe draft the guy? Sure, as a project. With the No. 19 pick of the draft? Are you s(p)itting Joe? Third-round talent. Maybe.
Joe knows people love runaround quarterbacks. Yeah, they’re fun to watch. But as NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell constantly preaches, the quarterback position is about one thing and one thing only: Completing passes. Everything else is icing.
If the guy is not accurate, if the guy cannot squeeze the ball into windows, if the guy cannot read defenses, all his other attributes cannot and do not matter.
In a 45-38 loss to Florida State back in November, AR-15 had a grand total of four completions in the second half — four! He finished the game throwing 9 of 27. Joe has a hunch NFL defenses are just a wee bit better than Florida State. And people think AR-15 is an NFL starter? Unless Bowles plans to install a wishbone this is just wild!
There is just no way in hell Joe would spend the 19th overall pick on AR-15. Yes, Joe would draft him. Just not in the first round and certainly not before Hendon Hooker of Tennessee.
Anthony Richardson's @GatorsFB highlights are electric ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/2eZ4zV598Y
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 24, 2023
March 3rd, 2023 at 1:53 pm
He had a terrible 2021 and bad 2022. He’s another overly hyped “athletic” running playing quarterback, like Feleipe Franks before him.
March 3rd, 2023 at 1:55 pm
* running back playing quarterback
March 3rd, 2023 at 1:56 pm
PLEASE GOD NO
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:05 pm
Trask was a lot better on the Parcell method than ar 15 or whatever they call him now.
It’s a risky pick but you gotta kick the tires
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:05 pm
I would not be thrilled w this guy in rounds 1,2 or 3.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Just install a reverse wishbone, like the Packers did back in the day (under M. McCarthy, I think?).
In all seriousness, I’d like to see the I-formation used more often in the league, and with the Bucs if they are serious about running the ball. Save for where the TE lines up, it’s a very neutral formation and there’s not a lot for defenses to key on.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:07 pm
I Give the guy credit he’s has a quick twitch. I like what I saw in that reel.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:09 pm
Big old NOPE!!!
Nothing to see here Mr. Licht….
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:13 pm
someone make a lowlight video, i’m sure ya’ll will love it.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:14 pm
BIG mistake if they draft him!!!
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:21 pm
Please NOOOOOO
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:23 pm
Lots of wide open receivers and “rainbows” – calling Rod Munch! 😛
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:26 pm
Hopefully, this is just smoke and mirrors, to grease the wheels for a trade back scenario.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:26 pm
Seems like a smart move. Sit your already drafted 2nd round QB and bring in an equally untested QB in the first round when you have glaring other needs. Sounds like it could be a Licht move.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:27 pm
They also have been on Will Levis who is a Burrows clone! would love to see this kid in Tampa too.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Bucs are doing due diligence scouting the most important position in the game. They need to know for sure if they want or don’t want AR15 if he falls to 19… But also what if he starts to fall like Malik Willis did last year? Would they want to draft him in the 2nd round? 3rd round? They are doing their homework and I appreciate that. I don’t anticipate AR15 being a Name that gets called for the Bucs during the draft.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:30 pm
He’s a gadget QB and a project. This meeting is to throw other teams off that might want to draft him.
Maybe someone trades to the number 19 draft slot and we get a couple extra picks.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:31 pm
Kid has serious talent, coupled with scant starting experience. Surprised he didn’t go back to school for another year, think he would’ve really benefitted from the extra reps. All in all, I’d skip on drafting a QB this year. Rather see how Trask performs. We can draft a QB next year if we need to.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:32 pm
The Trent Richardson of QBs lol or a less decorated more athletic Eric Crouch
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:33 pm
As a lifelong Gators fan and alum I am lukewarm on this.
Guy has UNBELIEVABLE God given talent.
His ceiling is almost immeasurable! All I know is that he should have stayed at school for another yr. He is Definitely going in the first round. Too much potential to pass up on. I don’t think it is smart to take him in the first for us.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:39 pm
Atlbuc28 Says: “They also have been on Will Levis who is a Burrows clone”
LOL. Nobody is a Burrows clone.
That said, in 2019, when LSU went undefeated and won the national championship, Trask, playing on an inferior UF team, played toe-to-toe with Burrows in their game in Baton Rouge: Trask 94.3 QBR – Burrow 98.4 QBR.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:42 pm
Yes!! This kid can make all of the throws! And has a huge arm. With a good qb coach this kid could be a top 5 QB.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:42 pm
Richardson and Levis will likely be long gone before we pick.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:43 pm
last year FSU’s D got lit up by every offense with a pulse that they faced. You draft this guy if you have Lamar or Jalen Hurts, he comes in and plays 4-5 snaps a game and he’s the back up since you can’t have a conventional QB backing those guys up since the whole offense has to change. I know the cult of the mobile QB pushes these guys and Jalen Hurts is the current standard bearer but Cam Newton was washed up by age 28, Kaepernick was younger than that, Mariotta never got good enough to be considered washed up by 28.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:45 pm
Same joe that was clamoring to draft Johnny football so…..yeah grain of salt
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:50 pm
Beggars can’t be choosey guys
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:51 pm
This year’s Malik Willis, but since he was with actual competition and had a few good games he’ll go higher, which is a mistake. Guy should’ve gone back to college and shouldn’t even sniff a starting NFL qb position for at least 2 years… And I’m a Gators fan
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:58 pm
As a USF fan I would say – No…
This guy struggled against one of the worst defenses in the entire NCAA.
My pitiful Bulls almost beat the Gators.
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:58 pm
I find myself scratching my head at all the talk this winter of Richardson as a first round pick. I just don’t see it. I don’t know why he came out for the draft either. He just does not play like an NFL quarterback should play.
Running around is nice, but only to a limited degree, and mainly just to avoid the pass rush when the pocket breaks down … and not to be a major part of the planned running game. Quarterbacks who do that in the NFL tend to miss a lot of starts due to injury, and have relatively short careers. Quarterbacks who are good scramblers, but always prefer to throw accurately from the pocket are best, and have the most reliability and most longevity in the league.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:00 pm
Man I hope not.
He’s athletic and can run. That’s it.
Very inaccurate. Very slow processing, reading a defense, and making a decision. All that stuff could come to fruition over years except accuracy. It is extremely rare that accuracy ever gets that much better.
No thanks. Go with Trask and then get a quarterback next year, if need be.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:01 pm
Thanks for sharing the bill parcels list nice to watch
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:04 pm
A.J. McCarron and Cooper Rush would give Kyle Trask plenty of quality competition, and can be had at a very minimal price.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:05 pm
@Bucboy… Simmer down now…I already have my Trask jersey. The fact is Bucs have been on Will Levis since last year. Go to Youtube and just watch his highlight reel. He battle some second half of the year injuries otherwise he would be a top 5 draft pick. He has a cannon for a arm and Josh Allen speed and power running.. I would Love to see him on the Bucs for competition for Trask…
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:08 pm
No thank you. Unless it’s in the 4th rd
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:10 pm
Go to Youtube and watch two Gators fighting……it’s quite a sight…
Joe has never seen a gator and the thought of seeing two as Buc QB must keep him up at night.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:26 pm
Hey, aren’t we supposed to be running the ball more this year? Who do you think is the better runner Richardson or Trask? Oh, by running more, you don’t mean the QB. Never mind.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:28 pm
Watch the FSU/UF game from last fall. If you are a Gator fan it’s maddening and very representative of his brief career in Gainesville. First, Gators were running right through the Noles (as they were on Gators) yet Napier went away from the run in 2nd half and put the ball in AR’s hands. Needless to say, he couldn’t hit the ocean standing in front of it and UF lost game. Yet I do remember Richardson throwing like a 30 yard laser seam pass.
Like I said above, watching him is so frustrating because you can see the immense talent he has but he is NO WHERE NEAR NFL ready. He needs at least another year of college ball, maybe even two. Yet someone will draft him inside the top 10 and that GM and head coach will likely be fired in two years. Only way he succeeds is being drafted by the right team, with the right fit, the right coaches with the right scheme, have lots of patience and create a 2-3 year plan to ease him in. And that rarely happens in today’s NFL. I will say this, one year ago, everyone was mocking Malik Willis in the first rd to someone and he fell to the Titans in round 3. And I have said since mid-season that AR=Willis. But because he went to UF and has teased everyone with his arm, size and upside, there will be a team that takes the plunge.
Bucs have too many needs to use one of their first three (RD) picks on him. Besides, with Trask at the helm in ’23 we will be in position to take far better quarterbacks in 2024.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:28 pm
Richardson is inaccurate.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:36 pm
Our cupboard is rather bare at QB, so nothing wrong with taking a look.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:37 pm
Losers always double down.
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:37 pm
QUESTION: Assuming Gabbert doesn’t return will Trask be wear number 11?
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:38 pm
Late second day at best!
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:45 pm
What’s the Warren Sapp quote “You don’t do bench press on the 50 yard line”? Feels right for Richardson. Dude would be a monster in Madden with his physical traits. But that alone doesn’t win football games. Dudes got more gifts than Cam had and performed much worse in college. HARD PASS
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:54 pm
How many kickers are we interviewing?
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:57 pm
No thanks. Maybe Licht was getting fell for other players on the Gators.
March 3rd, 2023 at 4:00 pm
They also met with every other projected first round quarterback.
March 3rd, 2023 at 4:12 pm
Hard pass. Drake Maye 2024
March 3rd, 2023 at 4:29 pm
No. We have Trask, and AR can’t throw the ball! He could learn so if we drafted him in the 2 or 3 round that would still be pushing it but ok
March 3rd, 2023 at 4:34 pm
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
March 3rd, 2023 at 4:38 pm
Gator fan here…and no thanks.
March 3rd, 2023 at 5:02 pm
I bet Tom is jealous. He wanted a strong running game. He didn’t want to throw the ball 50x a game, especially with a depleted OL that was less than stellar in pass pro. I like Canales’ vision. He needs to sequence his play calls effectively. That’s where BL suffered. It was run up the gut on first down all the time. We also need to try something different than duo blocking. I like some wide zone scheming.
March 3rd, 2023 at 5:15 pm
Aaaaaahhhh! That explains a lot!
March 3rd, 2023 at 5:28 pm
If he made it to round 3, yes. He’s too much of a project to take before that. He’d be perfect for a team with fewer needs and a QB winding down his career… but starting him as a rookie sounds like a nightmare. And if you can’t start the QB in year 1 or 2, drafting him in the first is retarded unless you’ve got a solid team top to bottom.
March 3rd, 2023 at 5:48 pm
What’s worse than over-drafting a Gator QB?
Over-drafting two of them.
Let’s not double down on dumb here…in the name of EJ Manuel. Let another desperate team pin their hopes on this fella.
March 3rd, 2023 at 6:25 pm
Never agreed with Joe more. If he can only complete 54 % in college, he’ll really struggle in the pros.
March 3rd, 2023 at 7:14 pm
I watched him this year. Richardson has mad skills, but makes stupid decisions. Kind like Jameis 2.0. Drafting him would be a big mistake, but drafting any UF QB is a mistake. Yeah Grossman went to the SB because of a great defense, but he still lost. Every single UF QB that I can think of was pretty much an NFL journeyman at the very best. Trask will go down in flames if he starts.
March 3rd, 2023 at 8:15 pm
There is nothing to the idea that UF can’t produce a good QB. It’s true that they haven’t, but it’s dumb to avoid a QB from UF because he’s from there. Of course, there’s one good reason to avoid him — low completion percentage. That should drop him to the 3rd round, but it won’t. Somebody will accept the risk on him in round 1, probably.
March 3rd, 2023 at 8:27 pm
Every year a player or two and a coaching candidate become hot commodities bc their names get thrown around. This kid is the love child of Jamarcus Russell and Jameis Winston. Nothing to see here. He’s so not ready! He regressed badly last year.
March 3rd, 2023 at 10:04 pm
Even if he was available in the fourth round, I would not do it. They need lineman, O and D… DB, WR, LB.
Build the team with youth, see what Trask has.. If he’s not it, which I don’t think he will be, get a quarterback next year.
March 3rd, 2023 at 10:52 pm
Trask is the man! The next Aaron Rodgers. Just wait and see
March 3rd, 2023 at 10:58 pm
They’re back! Stupid Bucs fans (above) saying that because a school has never produced a great quarterback then it never can. These geniuses would have missed:
Southern Miss – Brett Favre
Wyoming – Josh Allen
Miami of Ohio – Ben Rothlisberger
Louisiana Tech – Terry Bradshaw
Delaware – Joe Flacco
Eastern Illinois – Tony Romo
Moorehead State – Phil Simms
Northern Iowa – Kurt Warner
Eastern Illinois – Jimmy Garoppolo
And many more. What dunces.
March 3rd, 2023 at 11:32 pm
Here’s hoping BucBoi…secretary of The Trask Force…gets his wish and the Bucs finish 4-13. He will continue to compare his boi Kyle to the all time greats ( favorably ) while the rest of us dunce cappers “just don’t see it”.
March 3rd, 2023 at 11:40 pm
I’m a hard NO on Richardson. The dude just isn’t accurate. But the fact that the Bucs brass met with Levis. That tells me they are at least thinking about trying to move up if one of the top 3 qb’s fall a few spots. I could see the Bucs trying to move up in the top 6 picks for a guy.
March 4th, 2023 at 12:05 am
Richardson can’t hit the broad side of a barn. I know coaches and GMs are only doing their due diligence but i’ll stay far away from Richardson.
March 4th, 2023 at 4:05 am
Gator fans are glad this guy is gone. That says it all.
March 4th, 2023 at 4:56 am
Drafting this guy would be just pouring more gas on the dumpster fire on Dale Mabry.
It would be a A first class running over a cliff “lemming offense”.
Please Jason, do not let a QB like this, any QB like this be drafted.
March 4th, 2023 at 4:57 am
Clarification…..QB Drafted by the Bucs, I am not talking about what any other team does.
March 4th, 2023 at 5:01 am
That highlight reel was electric though wow! That’s some CRAZY raw talent. Can’t teach speed. I don’t have an opinion on drafting him or not. All I know is I trust Jason Licht and hope he isn’t giving Bowles equal say as to who he is drafting
March 4th, 2023 at 6:41 am
No, no, no!!!
March 4th, 2023 at 7:23 am
Another overhyped doomed for failure QB. Would not even consider him until the 5th round at the earliest.
March 4th, 2023 at 8:01 am
Anthony Richardson is Feleipe Franks and Emory Jones. All had guns. All could run. All were hyped out of high school. None could hit the Atlantic Ocean standing on Daytona Beach.
March 4th, 2023 at 9:56 am
Every year teams drool over these freak athlete QB’s. This is the biggest bust reach every year. Even if you draft one that turns out good, you need to build an entire offense around them. Even then you get maybe 5-7 years out of them.
March 4th, 2023 at 10:12 am
A) Just another Cam Newton clone, that would be traded after 3 to 4 years. The 2 teams he would definitely go to…, because they bring in hopeful losers like him all the time…, Vegas, Baltimore.
B) He’s not a team leader…., much like Newton…, he’s about himself.
Get him some pimp clothes like Newton, and he can be the 2nd coming of Newton.
Pass……
March 4th, 2023 at 10:50 am
Hard pass on Richardson. He is a thrower and not a passer. There is no evidence outside of his physical ability that would convince a rational person Richardson would be a successful NFL quarterback. The Bucs do not have the luxury to draft a project in the first round. We need players who can contribute now. If Richardson falls to the third round, well….that is a different set of facts.
March 4th, 2023 at 1:20 pm
Jamarcus Russell had a heck of an arm too.
March 4th, 2023 at 3:04 pm
He’s Justin Fields, only less accurate.
March 4th, 2023 at 4:02 pm
Didn’t he say last summer that he wanted to stop using the AR-15 nickname?
He was pretty chill about it too, if I remember correctly.
March 4th, 2023 at 7:37 pm
The only thing worse than a UF QB is 2 UF QBs
March 8th, 2023 at 11:03 am
Nailed it Joe…Only fifth round…maybe…