Sources Reveal Seahawks Interest Level in QB Anthony Richardson; No NFL Draft Smokescreen
With the 2023 NFL Draft just around the corner, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider have been having a blast flying cross country to attend college pro days with several assistant coaches and personnel members in tow.
And multiple sources tell AllSeahawks.com that Seattle has experienced another level of “blast” when it comes to one particular prospect.
We’re told Schneider spent extensive time with quarterback Anthony Richardson’s agent in Gainesville on Thursday, while Carroll held a private meeting with Florida coach Billy Napier to continue digging on the quarterback.
In the span of a week, while racking up the miles on owner Jody Allen's private jet, Carroll, Schneider, and company have visited Ohio State, Alabama, Kentucky, and Florida with one specific objective in mind. Despite having a quality veteran in Geno Smith now under contract through 2025, they have been doing their due diligence evaluating a quartet of top signal callers from the 2023 class.
Wrapping up the tour on Thursday, the crew watched attentively as Florida quarterback Richardson showed off his cannon arm and incredible athleticism in Gainesville. As has been the case in every stop they have made, Carroll, Schneider, quarterback coach Greg Olson, and the rest of the group took a selfie with the rising prospect, adding to their collection alongside selfies with C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, and Will Levis.
None of these developments should come as a surprise, as Carroll and Schneider have reiterated multiple times this offseason that the Seahawks would consider drafting a quarterback early. Holding the No. 5 overall pick, their highest selection since 2009, the organization has been presented with a rare chance to potentially land a future franchise signal caller.
Suffice to say, Carroll and Schneider have gleefully seized the opportunity and ran with it so far.
"It has been a freakin' blast," Carroll said at Tuesday's NFL annual meeting. "It was so much fun to get out there ... It reminded me of old times, spring recruiting. We used to travel around and do the same kind of thing. And it was great to be on the road with the staff and all, but most of all it was the guys. They were really impressive under the most scrutiny and the most tension of having to come through, in the moment, everybody's on you, cameras are everywhere. Different than a game. It's not the same as a game. And to see them come through so well, so impressively. I thought it was really amazing. It was great."
Whether or not Seattle actually drafts a quarterback remains to be seen, but at this stage, the perceived interest doesn't look like simple posturing or a typical pre-draft smokescreen. The franchise appears to be most infatuated by one prospect in particular.
Throughout the pre-draft process, the Seahawks have been most connected to Richardson, who oozes with the type of rare physical tools that Carroll and Schneider covet. At the NFL combine, he weighed in at 244 pounds and proceeded to run the 40-yard dash in a blazing 4.43 seconds while setting a new event record for quarterbacks with a 40 1/2-inch vertical.
In the aftermath of the combine, Richardson told Stephen Holder of ESPN that his time with Carroll and the Seahawks stood out amongst his many visits in Indianapolis, which he reportedly aced with flying colors.
"[Carroll] had this big smile on his face," Richardson said in the report. "We shook hands, and something about it was just different. You only see these guys on TV. And now I'm in their presence and they're right there talking to me. And they're interested in me. That makes you feel good."
Since then, the Seahawks interest in Richardson has only grown and become more public.
On the field, Richardson also impressed, firing the pigskin around the field and hitting the ceiling - literally - with one pass before ending the workout by landing on his feet after a backflip. With tons of pressure on his shoulders and the football world watching, Schneider felt the 20-year old met expectations and then some.
“He was really impressive,” Schneider said Thursday on his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710. “Great athlete, great young man. He has a ton of physical talent, no question about it. ... He did a great job. He had fun, he was loose and he had a good time with his teammates.”
Of course, Richardson doesn't enter the NFL without legitimate question marks. He only started one full season for the Gators and completed just 54 percent of his pass attempts while posting a .500 record. He still has a ton of room for improvement processing defenses and working through his reads along with adjusting footwork and fundamentals to address accuracy inconsistencies.
Such an incomplete resume would normally preclude an NFL team from drafting a player in the first round, let alone with a top-five selection.
And yet, as Schneider noted, every one of the four top quarterback prospects has a set of question marks of their own. There isn't a perfect consensus can't-miss player like an Andrew Luck headlining the group, which further explains why Seattle has not left a stone unturned evaluating each and every one of them leading up to the draft, including Richardson.
Keeping that in mind, depending how the first few picks unfold, Schneider could take one of the other top quarterback prospects if that player remains on the board and nobody would bat an eye. If four quarterbacks went in the first four picks, the top defender would fall right into Seattle's lap, which would be an ideal consolation prize.
But considering his rare blend of size, athleticism, and physical traits along with him hitting a home run in interviews, Richardson appears to be the preferred target and looks the part of a prospect worth the risk to invest long-term with a top selection. After being viewed as a fringe first-round prospect coming out of an up-and-down 2022 season, there's a strong likelihood he isn't even on the board now when Seattle is on the clock at No. 5 with his stock skyrocketing.
After doing all of their homework on him learning about everything from his personal background to football IQ, with their genuine interest in him far from a secret, it will fascinating to see whether or not the Seahawks try moving up to acquire Richardson as a franchise quarterback in waiting to learn under Smith.
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