The Indianapolis Colts will start rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson in Saturday's preseason opener at Buffalo, coach Shane Steichen announced Thursday. Richardson, the fourth overall pick in April's draft, has been working primarily with the starters over the past week and has shown glimpses of the raw talent that intrigued the team.
The Southeastern Conference is leaning on help from high-profile transfers to replace some of the departed star power at quarterback. The league must replace a pair of top-5 draft picks and a two-time national champion. It makes for some intriguing preseason camps around the league. Two-time national champion Georgia must replace Stetson Bennett. Perennial contender Alabama is seeking a successor to No. 1 pick Bryce Young, and Florida moves on without fourth overall selection Anthony Richardson. Plus Kentucky is replacing Will Levis and Tennessee is replacing Hendon Hooker.
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Of the thousands of emotions — trepidation among them — running through Damar Hamlin’s head Monday while he pulled on his pads for practice for the first time at training camp, the one that ultimately won out was joy.
Florida coach Billy Napier opened fall practice talking to his team about expectations — internal ones, anyway. The once-mighty Gators are mostly an afterthought in the Southeastern Conference these days. Coming off consecutive 6-7 seasons — one in former coach Dan Mullen's final season and the other in Napier's inaugural campaign — Florida was picked to finish fifth in the Eastern Division in the league's annual preseason media poll. It was the lowest preseason prognostication for the Gators since also coming in fifth in 2015. Florida responding by winning the East that year. Could it happen again?
Rookie quarterbacks will get much of the attention this week when most NFL teams hit the field for non-contact practices. Twenty teams kicked off their voluntary organized team activities on Monday and 10 more will do so on Tuesday. Only the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and the AFC runner-up Cincinnati Bengals aren’t holding workouts this week.
The Indianapolis Colts want other NFL teams to know they consider contacting former quarterback Andrew Luck to be tampering. Team owner Jim Irsay made that clear late Sunday night in a Twitter post. Luck abruptly retired in August 2019 at age 29 with three years left on his contract. He's shown no indication he wants to return and appears to have slimmed down significantly from his listed playing weight of 240 pounds.
Bryce Young was walking to an interview after being picked first in the NFL draft when he heard C.J. Stroud was selected second. Young celebrated with a loud scream and a big smile. The two childhood friends from Southern California became the ninth pair of quarterbacks picked 1-2 overall since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 and the first Black signal-callers.
Quarterbacks dominated the first part of the NFL draft. Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson were among the top four picks Thursday night, an expected result in a league where teams know finding a franchise QB is the quickest path to success. The Carolina Panthers selected Young, the slender and dynamic Alabama quarterback, with the No. 1 pick, seven weeks after making a blockbuster trade with Chicago to move up to get their choice of potential franchise players.
Southeastern Conference teams must replace a Heisman Trophy-winner, a two-time national champion and several potential first-round draft picks at quarterback. There’s still plenty of star power in the league heading into next season, just not much of it at the game’s most important position.
Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich says he and general manager Scott Fitterer have reached an agreement on which quarterback the team will take with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. But Reich says the team won't say who that is until Thursday night, when the draft begins. The Panthers are choosing between Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Kentucky's Will Levis and Florida's Anthony Richardson in an effort to upgrade a quarterback position that has been in transition for the last five seasons.
Quarterbacks are back on top in the NFL draft. A year after the first 19 picks were non-QBs and Kenny Pickett was the only signal-caller selected in the first round, this draft class is loaded with potential franchise players. Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud have been the center of attention since before last year’s draft even took place.
Tired of spending years in the quarterback wilderness, the Carolina Panthers made a bold move that has been all too common in recent years. The Panthers packaged two first-round picks, two second-round picks and star receiver D.J. Moore to move up from No. 9 in the draft to the top overall pick. Moving up in the draft for quarterbacks has become a common occurrence of late, with 17 teams moving up in the first round to draft a QB in the past 12 drafts after that happened only four times in the first 34 years of the common draft.
Former University of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker is putting aside concerns about his surgically repaired knee, the offense he ran in college and his age as he visits with teams ahead of the April 27 NFL draft. Hooker figures to join Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson as potential franchise quarterbacks in this year's crop of college prospects.
The process of sorting out this year's No. 1 overall draft pick began at the NFL's annual scouting combine. It's far from over. After seeing Anthony Richardson of Florida wow scouts with an impressive workout and Bryce Young of Alabama measure in shorter than expected, the next step for teams will be attending pro days and even more testing. Richardson and Young were just two examples of players who did well in Indianapolis. Many others weren't as fortunate.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers.
Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is going to the NFL.
The redshirt sophomore announced Monday on Twitter that he will not play in the Gators' Las Vegas Bowl vs. No. 17 Oregon State and will declare for the 2023 NFL Draft.
Attaining bowl eligibility under first-year coach Billy Napier is Florida's focus on Saturday when the Gators host South Carolina in Gainesville, Fla.
When it comes to Southeastern Conference play, the Texas A&M Aggies and Florida Gators are generally expected to be near the top of the standings, perhaps behind Alabama and Georgia, respectively.
Daijun Edwards and Kenny McIntosh each ran for two scores and Stetson Bennett added two touchdowns passes as top-ranked Georgia pulled away for a 42-20 win over Florida in the Southeastern Conference rivals' annual clash in Jacksonville, Fla.
No. 1 Georgia carries upper hand in matchup vs. Florida
No. 20 Florida treks to No. 11 Tennessee in early SEC test
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