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4 teams that could trade up for Anthony Richardson in the 2023 NFL Draft

By Sayre Bedinger

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 04: Quarterback Anthony Richardson of Florida participates in a drill during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 04, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 04: Quarterback Anthony Richardson of Florida participates in a drill during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 04, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Anthony Richardson
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 12: Anthony Richardson #15 of the Florida Gators throws a pass during the first half of a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /

3. Atlanta Falcons

The time has almost come for Atlanta Falcons GM Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith to make a bold move at the quarterback position. The Falcons took Desmond Ridder in the 2022 NFL Draft, and we saw some decent things from him at the end of the 2022 season, but would what we saw from Ridder prevent the Falcons from potentially taking a shot on a guy like Anthony Richardson?

I’m not so sure about that.

Atlanta is in a unique position to potentially move up to get Anthony Richardson because they have an offense that is already really set up for him to have early success. Arthur Smith put together an offense last year for Marcus Mariota to succeed. Although that didn’t end up working out, the Falcons had a top-10 offense at certain points in the season and certainly overachieved based on our expectations going into last year, especially offensively.

Atlanta has to get into a position where they are committed to the development of a quarterback. They aren’t in on the Derek Carr sweepstakes. You don’t hear anything about the Falcons trying to make a play for Aaron Rodgers. They aren’t connected to really any free agent quarterback out there.

Well, I take that back. They are often connected to Lamar Jackson. But is that a pipe dream or is that actually realistic?

I think everyone understands that Terry Fontenot is going to set his sights on one of the QBs in this year’s class if he can’t get Lamar, which is honestly going to be super risky. He may wish he was in a position this year to actually punt to 2024 where he might have a great shot at Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. Should Fontenot trade prime 2024 and 2025 NFL Draft real estate so he can get Richardson when his team might land a high enough pick to get one of those guys?

Again, it’s very risky, but Richardson is a wildly talented player. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to attach your name to him as your QB of the future. Given their situation, though, Richardson would have to play right away for the Falcons. Is this the best fit for him? The tough part about that question is that the answer might be yes, but for the Falcons, the timing might not be right.

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