Florida legend Steve Spurrier praises Anthony Richardson in Gators spring game

Florida legend Steve Spurrier has never met a microphone that he didn’t like. On Thursday evening, he was kind enough to be up in the booth with the commentators on the ESPN plus television broadcast for Florida’s spring game.

The commentators asked him a few questions about Gators’ quarterback Anthony Richardson and the skill set he brings to the table for their offense. Spurrier knows a thing or two about great quarterback play and he had plenty of praise for Florida’s trigger man.

“Tell you what, Chris, I think we all know, Anthony Richardson is a talented player. And he can be big time for us,” Spurrier said. “Hopefully he can stay very healthy this year. He can throw the ball, he can run, hopefully we will use him occasionally run him, not dominantly, because he’s an excellent passer. He’s a natural quarterback.”

Richardson has impressed early in the spring game on Thursday evening, looking smooth and decisive with his reads. Richardson hit Ja’Markis Weston on a 19-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to put the Blue team up on the Orange, 7-0 with 4:19 remaining in the first quarter. At halftime, Richardson had completed 13 of 15 passes for 167 yards through the air, while tossing two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

At halftime, the Blue team leads the Orange team 21-0. The game is being televised on ESPN plus.

Anthony Richardson earned All-SEC Freshman honors in 2021

Last season, Anthony Richardson was flat out electrifying for the Gators offense en route to earning All-SEC freshman honors. He served as the backup to Emory Jones. Richardson completed 59.4% of his passes for 529 passing yards, while tossing in six touchdowns and five interceptions through the air. As a runner, he flashed the ability to be one of the most electrifying dual-threat quarterbacks in all of college football. In just 51 rushing attempts, he ran for 401 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while averaging 7.9 yards per attempt.

As a high school prospect, Richardson was one of the nation’s elite signal-callers and was an Elite 11 finalist in 2019. According to the On3 Consensus Rankings for the 2020 class, he was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 15 quarterback in America.