Anthony Richardson needs to do better. But what does Anthony Richardson need to do better, specifically? It’s a number of things—a lot of rookie mistakes. Anthony Richardson’s age has shown a lot. Additionally, it’s apparent that he has lost a lot of confidence. Some of the playcalling seems to make Richardson uncomfortable as well.
Play Calling Needs To Be Better
First off, Billy Napier runs a good-looking offense. If he ran it from under center, it would look similar to a pro-style offense. His run designs are innovative. To illustrate, look at the big holes the Gator tailbacks are running through. However, Napier’s passing plays are rudimentary. The route combinations don’t manipulate defenders. The route combos get one person, and one person only, wide open on each play. It’s a very conservative system.
In addition, there are also some little quirks in the offense that keep Anthony Richardson from doing better. On many of the play-action passes, Richardson is forced to turn his back to the field. This makes picking up receivers and defenders much harder. Having a young quarterback like Anthony Richardson turn his back to the field is just a bad idea.
Furthermore, another scheme quirk is that Anthony Richardson is being given a lot of half-field reads. The receivers are running a lot of routes that flood one side of the field. For example, the offense is using a lot of tight formations with bunched receiver sets. this often results in a flood to one side of the field. This gives Anthony Richardson a lot to look at. The young quarterback is, of course, clearly overwhelmed by the quick reads necessary in those formations. Will Napier adjust and tailor the offense to Anthony Richardson in an attempt to help him do better?
What Anthony Richardson Himself Needs To Do Better
Anthony Richardson’s Struggles have not been only on the coaching staff. It’s a mix of poor execution by Richardson and additionally poor playcalling by the coaching staff. Richardson has lost nearly all of his confidence. He’s doing things wrong mechanically that he had no trouble with in week 1.
I mentioned above that Anthony Richardson is being given a lot of play to run where he is only reading half of the field. I suspect this may be more on Richardson rather than Napier and the coaching staff. When Anthony Richardson is given plays to run where he can scan the entire field, he just doesn’t do it.
If you watch a good NFL quarterback in the pocket, you can watch their helmet snap from their first read to the second, all the way through the progression. Anthony Richardson Is too slow making his reads to read the entire field. He stays on the first read forever, then gives the second receiver a look and if it’s not wide open, he takes off.
This is more frustrating given the fact that Anthony Richardson is consistently provided with great protection by his offensive line. Richardson is bailing on clean pockets after his second read. He has to trust his guys up front. Anthony refuses to step up in the pocket as well, and additionally, his feet have been an absolute mess. Especially out of those tight bunch sets.
Positives
If you’re losing hope on the season, just remind yourself that the Gator offensive line is solid as a rock. The offensive line and the running backs are the two deepest and best-performing position groups so far. the running game has been explosive.
It’s not just that the big guys up front have been opening up holes for the tailbacks to run through. In addition, they’ve been giving Anthony Richardson plenty of time and keeping him safe from any big hits. An Offensive line that can pass protect and a good running game are a young quarterback’s best friends. The foundation is there, We just have to wait for Anthony Richardson to do better.
For More Great Football Content
Follow me on Twitter @HotGarbageTake and follow us on Twitter @GridironHeroics for more great football content. To read more of our articles and keep up with the latest in football news, click here!
For More Great Football Content
Follow us on Twitter at @GridironHeroics for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Football news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
