Panthers already ‘all in’ on Florida QB Anthony Richardson?

Are the Carolina Panthers already sold on Anthony Richardson? Well, a draft insider over at the worldwide leader thinks that may be the case.

On a recent episode of NFL Live, ESPN NFL draft analyst Matt Miller suggested that the Panthers are smitten with the University of Florida quarterback.

“You definitely get the sense that they’re all in on Anthony Richardson. I know it’s gonna make Dan [Orlovsky] very happy,” he said. “The athleticism is there, the arm strength is there. And you hear—this offensive staff, led by Frank Reich, they believe that they can develop a quarterback with guys like Jim Caldwell, Thomas Brown they bring in from the L.A. Rams, there’s gonna be a lot of vertical things he can do down the field.

I think this is a good situation for Richardson. A top-10 pick, which we’re all expecting. They can bring back Sam Darnold, who can really hold the door for a year, then let someone like Richardson develop.”

While it’s easy to see why teams—especially in today’s game—can fall head over heels for Richardson, it still seems relatively early for any “all in” talk. But, hey, this would make a ton of sense.

General manager Scott Fitterer, after his media availability at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, even gave us some of his own perspective on the potent prospect.

“So, we met with him last night, and he was really good,” Fitterer said on Wednesday’s edition of The Clubhouse with Kyle Bailey. “Much further ahead mentally in terms of the football processing and what he knows about the game. He was really good.

“Obviously, the physical talent’s off the charts. It’s about, ‘How do we develop guys like him?’ And that’s why you bring in a Frank Reich. That’s why you bring in Parks Frazier and Josh McCown and Jim Caldwell—for guys like him.

“They can benefit anyone. They can benefit Derek Carr. They can benefit Sam Darnold or Matt Corral or PJ [Walker] or anyone that we have on our roster. There’s a reason why we went after these guys and paid the guys like we did—to develop our quarterbacks and that’s what we wanna do.”

And if that’s really what the Panthers want to do (it is), then there is probably no quarterback in this class worth the development like the dual-threat, 6-foot-4, 231-pound Richardson is.