As Graham Mertz Takes Over, Did the Florida Gators Waste Anthony Richardson’s Talent?

Graham Mertz is the future of Florida Gators football following Anthony Richardson’s selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. The former Wisconsin quarterback arrives in Gainesville with plenty to prove, but is he at a disadvantage in a program that already squandered the talent of his predecessor?

Graham Mertz Inherits a Florida Gators Offense That Wasted Anthony Richardson

“Mertz Magic” never really materialized into something more in Madison, with the quarterback’s 2020 breakout game, where he threw for five touchdowns while completing 95.2% of his passes against Illinois, remaining as the highlight of a career with multiple question marks.

A transfer to the SEC with Florida has the potential to reinvigorate the former four-star’s college football career, but will the program’s failure to maximize the talent of his predecessor loom large over Mertz’s long-term development?

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Richardson is now an NFL player, with the Indianapolis Colts using the fourth selection of the 2023 NFL Draft to secure their franchise face. However, his usage by the Gators during his time in Gainesville made him something of an enigma in this QB class. He has been praised, but he has also been ridiculed to the point of being described as a potential “tight end convert.”

Floundering to just five conference wins in two seasons, Florida had a playmaker that the Colts deemed worthy of the fourth pick but failed to maximize his true potential, develop his areas of weakness, and routinely utilize his considerable strengths.

Dan Mullen’s Mismanagement of Richardson in 2021

To understand the mismanagement and missed opportunity that resulted in Richardson being one of the most polarizing draft prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft, you have to go back to the 2021 college football season—the campaign that spelled the end of the Dan Mullen era for Gators football.

Throughout that season, Mullen grappled with the quarterback competition that pitted Richardson against Emory Jones. Both QBs were four-stars in their respective classes prior to their arrival in Gainesville, both dual threats with high school production on the ground in addition to passing prowess.

Jones’ experience — a 2018 class quarterback compared to Richardson’s arrival in 2020 — gave him the upper hand in the eyes of the head coach, anointing and maintaining him as the starter when healthy.

However, it was clear to see from the outside that Richardson possessed something different than Jones. In his hands, the Florida offense possessed pizzazz and showcased some spark. In the season opener, he rushed for 160 yards at a ludicrous 22.9 yards per carry with one touchdown. The following game against USF, he out-rushed and out-threw his quarterback competition.

Mullen’s steadfastness—you could call it stubbornness—in sticking with Jones ultimately led to his departure from the program. Mere months later, Jones had left the program too.

It became apparent that he would drop behind Richardson on the depth chart under new head coach Billy Napier. He transferred to Arizona State, where he played eight games, threw for just 1,533 yards, and seven touchdowns while adding only 31 rushing yards.

While Richardson will be playing in the NFL in 2023, the man who Mullen deemed more appropriate to lead his offense is on to his third team in three years after transferring to Cincinnati.

The decision to persevere with Jones deprived Richardson of a year where he could have developed his ability to read a defense while working on his mechanics to weaponize his natural talent.

Under-utilization of Richardson in the 2022 Florida Offense

While Mullen’s inability to make Richardson the clear starter despite his obvious explosiveness was a mistake, Napier’s usage of the enigmatic, electric, and hyper-athletic quarterback is almost as neglectful.

Richardson broke the internet at the 2023 NFL Combine, measuring in at 6’4″ and 244 pounds, with eye-popping and mind-blowing measurements that defined the quarterback position.

His 4.43-second 40-yard dash time was one of the fastest ever recorded by a quarterback, achieved while weighing more than some edge players. His 40.5″ vertical and 10’9″ broad jump were not only considered elite by Relative Athletic Score standards but also realistically demonstrated the explosion that he showcases on tape.

“I think he’s the closest thing we’ve seen to Cam [Newton], and his combine numbers were obviously better,” gushed one coach to the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso described Richardson as a “more explosive Cam Newton” before adding, “He is truly one of a kind. In the history of football, we have never seen a quarterback, at his size, with his explosiveness, long speed, running talent and bazooka arm.”

Florida had a player whom a significant section of the football world compared to Heisman Trophy winner and first overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton, but did not use him to his potential.

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In that season when Newton led Auburn to a national title while earning the highest individual accolade that college football has to offer, he ran the ball 264 times. When Lamar Jackson was the Heisman Trophy winner in 2016, he carried the rock 260 times.

Jackson surpassed 1,500 rushing yards with 21 touchdowns in 2016, while Newton tallied just under and broke the plane 20 times on the ground in his final college football season. Richardson registered just 103 carries during the 2022 college football campaign, his only one as a starter for the Gators.

Newton averaged 5.6 yards per carry in his college career, with Jackson averaging 6.3 yards. Richardson? 6.9 yards per carry. During their Heisman Trophy winning seasons, Jackson found the end zone on 8.07% of his carries, while Newton’s touchdowns came on 7.57% of his carries. Richardson? 8.73% of his carries in the 2022 college campaign went for touchdowns.

Football isn’t played on testing times and statistics. Comparisons often are fatally flawed, especially with a 12-year gap such as the one between Newton and Richardson’s final college campaigns.

Yet, it demonstrates genuine negligence that Florida didn’t utilize their greatest offensive weapon to its most devastating potential. It’s a contributing factor to Napier already being considered one of the most under-pressure coaches ahead of the 2023 college football season.

Since Mertz arrived in Gainesville as Richardson’s replacement, there has been mutual praise between head coach and quarterback. There’s the potential that the reinvigoration of one career can enhance the security of the other. It remains to be seen whether that potential translates to on-field results.