*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
2023 NFL Combine Results - Weigh-Ins and 40 Times
QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | LB | DB
2023 NFL Combine Stock Report:
QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | LB | DB
Teams Feel Levis Is More Pro-Ready Than Richardson
Updated March 2, 2023
By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud are the top quarterback prospects for the 2023 NFL Draft. After them, there is a debate over who will be the third quarterback off the board; whether it will be Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis. In speaking to team sources from some quarterback needy teams, they told WalterFootball.com believe Levis is more ready to play in the NFL while Richardson has more upside. That mean it could come down the a specific team’s situation dictating which quarterback they prefer and who ends up as the third-signal caller taken in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Team sources say they feel Levis is more pro-ready after being a 2-year starter at Kentucky and essentially operating the Los Angeles Rams offense while there. Levis is smart and a hard worker who team people believe will learn his offense quickly.
Richardson is known to be smart and a hard worker as well, but he only started one year in college and enters the next level with significantly less experience. Team sources shared they feel that Richardson is not ready to start right away and should sit behind a veteran. They said they believe the backup role would help Richardson to develop and buy his pro coaching staff time to work with him on improving on things, such as his streaky accuracy.
Some sources said they think that if a coaching staff has been assured by franchise ownership that they have time to develop the quarterback and are not expected to win for a few years, then Richardson would make sense because of his huge upside. Those sources told WalterFootball.com they believe that if the rookie is expected to play quickly and the staff is under pressure to start winning, then Levis would make more sense in such a situation. Given the general impatience of NFL ownership, it could be risky to trust that Richardson will received the necessary developmental time and not get forced on the field quickly. The calculus of which signal-caller to take will vary by team, but NFL sources said they feel Levis is more pro-ready and Richardson should sit behind a veteran as a rookie.
