I only want one thing out of NFL talking heads before the upcoming draft, and that is to go and watch the entire Florida-Kentucky game from Sept. 10 before they ever talk about Will Levis and Anthony Richardson again. It was the bizarro version of the Baker Mayfield-Patrick Mahomes shootout. No one will be able to convince me that a Levis-Richardson rivalry is going to continue on Sundays.
The Gator and Wildcat QBs combined for 345 yards passing, one touchdown, and three interceptions — one of which got returned to the house. The teams were 8-29 on third down leading to 10 punts. I remember being excited for the matchup because of the guys under center, and could not have been more offended by the product.
Kentucky won, 26-16, and the key play was the pick-six that Richardson threw. The fan bases that get stuck rooting for these two should lower their expectations right away because the blueprint for early success with Levis and Richardson is a poor man’s Jalen Hurts. The best asset of each prospect is their physical talent, and when you mix that with inexperience, they’re going to have a hard time staying patient and in the pocket.
Levis was a full-time starter for two years. Richardson had just one year. I guarantee organizations are convincing themselves that they can chisel an all-pro QB out of either or both guys because they’re blank slates. That’s just not true. There’s barely enough footage to know each QBs’ tendencies, and there could be bad habits that we don’t know about yet.
I hear really smart journalists talk to really smart college football experts, who voice plenty of valid concerns, and then like a week later, the “smart” journalists are talking about Levis and Richardson in the top 10 again.
It’s like when a diner asks a waiter which dish is the best between two options, hears the advice, and then goes against it anyway. If you were going to order shitty fettuccine alfredo all along, do it and don’t ask for my opinion because you don’t value it.
The discussion around Levis and Richardson should be about which teams are idiotic enough to gamble a top 10 pick on them. If we want to have a debate about whether a team should take risks on QBs, I can abide. You miss every shot you don’t take, blah, blah, blah.
The point of sports media isn’t to just be right anymore. You have to be right when everybody else is wrong so you look like a genius. That’s what’s going on with Levis and Richardson. The sole reason for optimism is a pre-planned workout, but it’s more than enough for NFL guy to overlook the flashing red lights.
Don’t do that. Watch the Florida-Kentucky games, and afterward, settle for trying to decide between Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud.
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