Is Anthony Richardson to the Minnesota Vikings a real possibility? With the NFL Draft now just two days away, there are now at least three reputable reporters who are mock drafting the Florida quarterback to the Vikings.
Chad Reuter of NFL.com was the first to do it last week, with Peter King following suit on Monday, predicting Richardson falls to the Vikings with the 23rd pick. Now a local insider is going the Richardson route, as Ben Goessling’s mock for the Star Tribune envisions the Vikings trading with the Titans for the 11th pick to snag the heir to Kirk Cousins.
“This would be a bold move. Richardson comes in as a bit of a project, and the Vikings wouldn’t hand him the starting job without at least a year for the 20-year-old to develop as a passer, the conductor of the offense and a leader of the franchise. But if he makes it past the top several picks, the prospect of letting coach Kevin O’Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and QB coach Chris O’Hara develop Richardson before pairing his spellbinding athletic ability with that of Justin Jefferson could be too tempting to pass up, for a team that doesn’t plan to be picking this high very often.”
What nobody knows is if King, Goessling and Reuter are making their picks based on logic or intel. Do they know something others don’t?
Another insider linking the Vikings to Richardson or Kentucky QB Will Levis is Benjamin Allbright: “The Minnesota Vikings are another team lurking on quarterbacks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a move up from 23 if either Levis or Anthony Richardson is within striking distance,” he reported April 21.
The Vikings have been silent publicly about their plans, with the only specific comment about Richardson coming from head coach Kevin O’Connell during the NFL scouting combine.
“We had a few of those guys in. I always try to meet them as they come in the room because it gives everybody good bearing on hey, I’m a little over 6’5”, so as players come in… I’ll tell you what, I wanted to get back to my seat in a hurry when [Richardson] came in,” O’Connell said.
“But what a presence. I thought he did a great job, not only seeing him throw today but seeing him go through this whole process all the way through the pro day and the rest of it. He seems like a great kid.”
