The Detroit Lions have been a team rumored to potentially draft Anthony Richardson (Quarterback Out Of Florida) after recent draft hype due to the combine. This is an odd rumor since the Lions saw great play out of Jared Goff last season. However, due to Goff’s contract, an argument can be made. Let’s take a look at both sides of the argument and then ultimately if it makes sense or not.
Reasons Why The Lions Shouldn’t Draft Anthony Richardson
There are many reasons you can name as to why it doesn’t make sense for the Lions to draft Richardson, but the biggest one has to be his game tape. Prior to the combine, it wasn’t even a discussion for Detroit to draft Richardson because he was inconsistent and inaccurate all season long. Dan Campbell said himself that he doesn’t care what guys can do in pajamas (The NFL Combine) and that they only look at players’ tape and how they interview privately with the team. While his high points in his tape were very good, he was in lows more often and they were very low. His play was so lackluster for how good his tools were, everyone believed he should’ve returned to school to become more NFL-ready, but because he didn’t it could cause problems at the next level.
The second reason the Lions should not consider him is that it would prevent them from being able to select someone who could impact the team right now and contribute to them trying to compete next year. With the hype he is getting, the Lions would likely have to select Richardson with pick 6 or 18 and those picks could be used on players like Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez, Myles Murphy, Brian Branch, Bryan Bresee, Bijan Robinson, O’Cyrus Torrence, or even Joey Porter Jr. Each One of those players are a position of need for the Lions and would be instant starters, making an instant impact on a team that should be the favorite to win the NFC North next season. If you take a quarterback at this moment you are setting your team back by not maximizing the starting talent and showing you want to make a drastic roster change in a year or two.
The final reason why Detroit shouldn’t draft Richardson is due to the emergence of Jared Goff this past year. Once his weapons developed Goff has shown he can be a good enough Quarterback to lead Detroit to success. Drafting Richardson just shows you are looking to get rid of Goff even though he has played like a top-ten quarterback under Ben Johnson, having the sixth most passing yards and touchdowns and led the league in touchdown to interception ratio. If you think that Detroit’s biggest need is to get a quarterback on a rookie contract that has “ Potential” to be better than Goff but is extremely raw, then you need to take another look at the defense.
Reasons The Lions Should Draft Richardson
The main reason you could argue that the Lions should draft Richardson is that he is a “Unicorn” of a prospect athletically. Anthony Richardson is 6’4, 244 lbs, and ran a 4.43 40-yard dash, along with breaking the record for QB broad jump and vertical jump at the NFL combine. On top of that, Richardson has a monster arm and can throw 60 yards almost effortlessly, and can hit the deep ball somewhat consistently.
The only other reason for Detroit to look at Richardson is that he has the potential to be a great player in the NFL. Even though he is an extremely raw prospect, his athletic ability and big arm make him very desirable because teams believe if they can fix his accuracy issues then he can be one of the most talented players in the league. So if the Lions take him you have to think they believe they can fix his issues and have the next Cam Newton on their roster.
Should Detroit Draft Richardson?
Ultimately even though he has great potential, at this point in the Lions’ rebuild, it would only set them back as a team. The Lions are a few moves away from being legit contenders in the NFC and drafting Richardson would take away from one of those pieces needed for being contenders. Then a year or two of sitting him, you would have to start him, and going through a complete QB change is tough for a team to adjust to, especially if their current QB is playing well enough to make them contenders. So while there is a slight chance he can be great, I don’t believe it’s worth it for Detroit to take the risk on him
