Panthers’ Frank Reich praises Florida’s Anthony Richardson before last QB pro day stop

The Panthers have just one more stop on their heavily publicized quarterback pro day tour.

After watching Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Alabama’s Bryce Young, and Kentucky’s Will Levis sling the ball last week, head coach Frank Reich, GM Scott Fitterer and the rest of the Panthers’ traveling brain trust will attend Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson’s pro day in Gainesville, Florida on Thursday.

Richardson was a one-year starter at Florida, so his projection will largely be about his upside. As a redshirt sophomore, Richardson threw for 2,549 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions on a 54.7% completion percentage. He also ran for 654 yards and nine touchdowns, showing off his versatility as a mobile quarterback.

“He’s an exciting player,” Reich said Tuesday at the NFL’s Annual Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. “Even before the combine — watching his tape — there are plays and throws all over the tape that scream top pick — top of the draft pick. And that’s a credit to him.”

With any draft pick, there’s discussion about potential, but Richardson might have the most room to grow out of any quarterback in the class.

Potential is a dangerous word in the NFL, and the obsession with upside can lead a franchise astray, especially at quarterback. The draft’s history is littered with poor evaluations of quarterback prospects.

The Panthers need to be careful with their monumental first overall pick, which they acquired in a potential franchise-altering blockbuster trade with the Chicago Bears earlier this month. Reich has said publicly that all four top quarterbacks are worthy of the discussion for the No. 1 pick, and through various avenues, the team has figure out who it wants to make the next face of the franchise.

Richardson impressed at the NFL Combine in February. His 4.43-second 40-yard dash time ranks third all-time at the position. His 40.5-inch vertical jump and 10-foot-9 broad jump are position records at quarterback, dating back to 2003.

But he wasn’t just an athlete in Indianapolis. The Gators quarterback threw with impressive downfield touch during passing drills, as well.

“I think he has upper-body mechanics that are really solid,” Reich said. “Obviously, his completion percentage is lower than you’d want at this level, but I don’t get too discouraged at things like that. I see a lot of upside. Talking to him a little bit at the combine, you could tell how smart of a guy he is. And a guy like that — without getting totally into it — the experience he gets, he’s a guy that you feel like is going to get better fast.”

Reich pointing out Richardson’s intelligence is important. The Panthers head coach is heavily influenced by his former Buffalo Bills head coach, Marv Levy, who focused on character and football IQ when evaluating players.

“Marv Levy, when I played for him, (he) used to always say, ‘Give me high character players, who have good football intelligence, and they’re always going to figure out how to get better.’ So that’s just going to be part of our formula — high-character players,” Reich said. “And we’re going to want guys that have high football intelligence. And because of our experiences, they (will) figure it out.”

Reich has been in a similar situation with a top pick before. When he was the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016, the franchise traded up to the No. 2 overall pick well before the draft. That year’s class had two top quarterback prospects: Wentz and Jared Goff. The Los Angeles Rams — who also traded up — selected Goff with the first overall pick, and the Eagles chose Wentz.

Reich said lessons learned in 2016 have helped him with the process this offseason.

“It’s tweaked a little bit,” Reich said. “But just going through that process, and knowing to be patient — you might see a throw or you might sit down with a guy, and say, ‘Wow, I love this guy,’ and you could be tempted to say, ‘This is our guy’ — just finish the process, be patient. You’ve got time — we don’t have to make this decision today. Stay true to the process.”

Following the pro day tour, the Panthers are expected to host “top 30” visits with the top four quarterbacks.

They’ve met with all four prospects at the combine and, after Thursday, will have seen all of them toss the rock at their pro days. But the visits to Bank of America Stadium will be the final major test for the prospects.

Reich is looking for a coachable leader with a high football character to go along with an impressive on-field prowess.

“You’ve got to be a problem-solver — you’re going to come up against things that are harder than you thought,” Reich said. “And we’ve got to figure this out together.”

Once the evaluation process is done, Reich and Fitterer will sit down and make a decision on the pick. The head coach, who compared that discussion to an HGTV house-hunting show reveal, said the decision will ultimately come down to both decision-makers — with some insight from owner David Tepper.

“At the end of the day the decision comes down to Scott and myself,” Reich said. “Mr. Tepper is heavily involved in the process. He’s been on record saying, ‘This is Scott and Frank making this decision.’ He’s intimately involved. This quarterback that we pick will be the face of our franchise. And so he obviously has to be comfortable with that. Scott and I want him comfortable with that.”