3 pros and cons of Seattle Seahawks drafting Anthony Richardson

Con No. 2: Seahawks have greater needs than a quarterback

Con 1 for Anthony Richardson leads me to con 2. While Anthony Richardson might end up being a Hall of Famer one day and win multiple Super Bowls (Note: I am only writing that as I don’t think the Seahawks should choose Richardson and am trying to jinx Richardson in some odd way, though he seems like a good guy and so I wish him the best wherever he turns up), Seattle simply has other needs they can address in the 2023 draft other than at quarterback. Seattle needs to, and I believe they are, build up the talent on the entire roster and not just at one position.

The way the draft is shaping up, at least three of the teams ahead of the Seahawks in the draft – the Colts, the Panthers, and the Texans – are likely to take quarterbacks. Richardson could even be gone before pick number 5, though I feel like Kentucky’s Will Levis will be chosen before Richardson. But because three teams currently ahead of Seattle are going to take a quarterback then Seattle should have a choice of a player like Jalen Carter, Tyree Wilson, or Will Anderson. Wilson and Anderson, especially, should be too much to pass on.

Think about a Seahawks defense in 2023 that will have newly added Dre’Mont Jones and Jarran Reed to go along with edge rushers Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor (perhaps an even more productive Boye Mafe in his second season) and then add Wilson or Anderson to that mix? Seattle would be getting a bit closer to a mid-2010s level instead of the awfulness of the last several seasons. But add Richardson only to backup Smith for a year or two and the team misses out on Wilson or Anderson.