Can you name a single team or player that Malik Willis played against without googling it? I sure couldn't. Regardless of who you like better they are not comparable as prospects with very different backgrounds and play styles. I didn't have Willis on my board last year and Richardson is currently in my top 5.
Willis was a mobile QB who was always looking for an excuse to leave the pocket. That's where he felt comfortable making plays off script and picking up yards with his legs. There was no indication in college of Willis working through progressions or even having to go to a second read. If his first option wasn't wide open then he was scrambling.
Richardson wants to be a pocket passer and doesn't scramble as much as he could or probably should. When he feels pressure his first instinct is to move around within the pocket and buy time for somebody to get open. He regularly worked through progressions, including looking off safeties and coming back underneath to easier targets if the big play wasn't there. His deep ball and intermediate accuracy are good when he has his feet set. The age matters a lot to me too - three years younger than Willis or Levis so you should expect much more room to grow.
There's definitely risk with Richardson but that's true of everybody. Stroud and Anderson are safer picks but who else is? Mayer, Bijan, and Branch maybe but the positional values there are way lower.
Burrow was developed on the college dime and will deliver 4.5 years of rookie deal value.
Richardson would be developed on the Seahawks dime and deliver, at best, three years of rookie deal value and at worst, Jordan Love/Trey Lance value. In other words, three years later they still don't know what they truly have. That isn't just a bust. That is a delayed bust that screws up roster planning for a full extra three extra seasons. The team passing on future potentially drafted quarterbacks because they still have to save face for drafting a QB bust three years ago. It can set you back on the position for a half decade. And to top it off, Richardson isn't in the same stratosphere as Burrow and never will be.
An earlier post is right. It is about development. Let the colleges do the developing for you. Teams are on a five-year timer with quarterbacks and then it is fifty million per year QB salary time. Because of that, the days of developing top five drafted quarterbacks are over. There are two proven methods. 1) Throw your youngish college sophomore, early draft declaring, rookie QB into the fire, sink or swim. Fully knowing that the bust chance is greatly increased as you potentially destroy his confidence with repeated rookie mistakes from lack of game experience. 2) Let the college develop their senior, four-year starter QB for you, but at least the rookie starter has loads of game experience. Either way, as a pro, it is the FIVE-YEAR TIMER that drives the process. Trust me. The Green Bay Packers are thoroughly regretting not following that process. Perhaps the Jets will bail them out with a desperate trade for an old, habitually disgruntled, nearly washed up QB. Guess what the Packers will ultimately end up doing with that Jets draft capital? They will DRAFT ANOTHER QB. Why? Because they wasted Jordan Love's rookie deal.
To make the drafting of Richardson work, you just about HAVE to start him over Geno to get your money's worth. Otherwise, you get the Jordan Love situation. This is why I am extremely confident that Seattle will PASS on Richardson.
