John Schneider reacts to Anthony Richardson’s ‘really impressive’ Pro Day

The former Florida quarterback is one of many the Seahawks face watched in their pre-draft process.

The Seattle Seahawks have been on a Pro Day tour over the past couple of weeks, watching the top quarterbacks in this year’s NFL Draft showcase their skills. This latest stop was in Florida to watch Anthony Richardson, a quarterback often linked to the Seahawks with the 5th overall pick and whose performance at the NFL combine was awe-inspiring.

One of Richardson’s highlights wasn’t even a completed pass. He just threw the ball so high that it hit the ceiling at the practice facility.

Ever the showman, Richardson wrapped up his Pro Day with a completed deep ball and then some gymnastics to highlight his outstanding athleticism.

There are question marks over the lack of productivity in college, starting just one full season with the Florida Gators and only completing 53.8% of his passes en route to a 6-6 record. Granted, Florida wasn’t a particularly talented team, such is the same argument made for the struggles that Kentucky’s Will Levis had in 2022.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll were among the attendees at Richardson’s Pro Day, and in his weekly radio appearance on Seattle Sports 710 Schneider reacted to Richardson’s workout.

“He was really impressive,” Schneider said (via The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar). “Great athlete, great young man. He turns 21 on May 22nd. He has a ton of physical talent, no question about it. There’s definitely questions there, like there are with all these guys. He’s 6-6 as a starter. New staff this past year with Coach [Billy] Napier. But yeah, really impressive workout. He did a great job. He had fun; he was loose, and he had a good time with his teammates.”

Schneider and/or Carroll attending Pro Days looking at top quarterbacks while having a clear QB1 is nothing new. Seattle got a first-hand view of Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and others but obviously didn’t draft them. At 5th overall, the dynamic obviously changes a bit, and Schneider made Geno Smith and Drew Lock aware of that even before they were given new contracts.

“You know, our exit interviews with Geno and with Drew (after the 2022 season), we told both of those guys, ‘Hey, look, we haven’t picked up here (in the top five) in a long, long time, and there’s a chance – we can’t say we will or we won’t (draft a QB). But, you know, we’d love to have you guys both back, but we don’t know if we are going to take a quarterback or we’re not – we just don’t know yet,’” Schneider said (via Seattle Sports 710). “So those guys were in the loop in terms of everything that we have going on with all these quarterback studies this year.”

Let’s wrap this article up with yet another Seahawks selfie with a quarterback prospect. They’ve taken photos with Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, and Will Levis to complete the quartet of projected Round 1 talents. Evidently this is all the idea of new Seahawks QB coach Greg Olson, per Schneider.