Anthony Richardson Taking Josh Allen's Approach to Get Year Three Jump

After two lackluster seasons in the NFL, the former Gator is turning to a coach that helped launch the career of a current NFL star

The former Gator is turning to a notable coach to help get his career on track | Christine Tannous/USA Today Network via Imagn Images

Former Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson looks to follow in the steps of a superstar gunslinger for year three in the NFL. Perhaps, he can follow these steps to turn his young career around. 

This offseason, Richardson will work with biometrics coach Chris Hess, someone Bills star quarterback Josh Allen gives credit for his uptick in accuracy from the start of his career to now.

Richardson told ESPN reporter Stephen Holder he plans to attempt to improve his throws on short and intermediate routes, as well as throwing with more touch.

Out of college, Richardson was often compared to Allen as a prospect. They both entered the draft as under-developed projects with elite mobility and arm strength, having an exceptional size for the position but a lack of accuracy. While Richardson only started 13 career collegiate games compared to 28 for Allen(excluding JUCO starts), both had career completion percentages under 57% at the NCAA level.

In his first full season this year, Richardson’s 47.7% completion percentage ranked 39th out of 39 quarterbacks with over 200 attempts. His career completion percentage through 15 total games ranks 222nd amongst 225 quarterbacks with 250+ dropbacks since 2000.

Though his struggles have been extreme, they are not far off from what Allen faced early on in his career. In his rookie season, Allen finished with a 52.8% completion percentage, ranking 34 out of 34 quarterbacks with over 200 attempts that season. He received a PFF passing grade of 58.0, lower than Richardson's 59.8 grade this year, while Richardson also had a higher drop rate, 11.3 compared to Allen’s 10.6.

It wasn’t until his third season, a full season after working with Hess, that Allen completely flipped the switch. His 10.4% increase in completion percentage from year two to year three was one of the most drastic improvements ever seen at the NFL level. As well, his PFF passer grade went up an insane 26.5 points.

While Allen’s improvements may be hard to replicate, working with Hess culd help Richardson reach the potential that he possesses. The Colts signal-caller is still just 22 years old and has only made 37 starts since High school. At the college and NFL levels combined, he has only attempted 743 passes. To compare, Allen attempted more passes in just his first two seasons in the NFL.

The similarities between Allen and Richardson are plentiful, and if he wants to remain a starter at the NFL level, Richardson will have to make similar strides to those Allen did after working with Hess.