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Surprise pick at number one in this 2023 NFL mock draft

By Ronnie Eastham

2023 NFL Mock Draft: Bryce Young #9 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
2023 NFL Mock Draft: Bryce Young #9 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) /
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2023 NFL Mock Draft
2023 NFL Mock Draft – (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /

1. Quarterback. . Anthony Richardson. player. 840. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis

1. Carolina Panthers: Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida

The Carolina Panthers will likely go quarterback here and they will have their choice of any in the draft.  It’s no secret that the Panthers’ head coach, Frank Reich loves Richardson and is a former quarterback himself, is confident he’ll be able to develop him into a franchise quarterback in this league.

There is little doubt that Richardson is the most athletic of all the quarterbacks in the NFL draft and is considered to have the strongest arm too.  Many question his accuracy and ability to play at this level though, which sounds an awful lot like another player that was equally divisive in the 2018 NFL Draft, Josh Allen.

I’m not going to sit here and say that Richardson is the next Josh Allen, but the Panthers will try to do what Coach McDermott and OC Brian Daboll did for Allen.  If they can, they’ll have themselves a phenomenal franchise quarterback.  If they can’t, it’ll probably cost Reich and general manager Scott Fitterer their jobs within three years.

Richardson’s final season with the Florida Gators left a lot to be desired in terms of production, amassing only 2,553 yards and 17 touchdowns; however, he added an impressive 713 yards on the ground on just 97 runs.

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