Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson has a big fan in Paul Finebaum

Anthony Richardson always possessed the talent to become a star at Florida, but his performance against Utah in Week 1 has gained him a bevy of new fans, along with some immense hype.

To illustrate, Richardson made multiple highlight reel plays while passing for 168 yards, completing 17 of 24 attempts. He did the most damage with his legs, rushing for 106 yards and three touchdowns on eleven carries.

Afterwards, everyone from Billy Napier to Paul Finebaum has praised the Gators star, with the latter joining Stephen A. Smith and Michael Irvin on ESPN’s First Take on Monday to continue the talk.

“Anthony Richardson is that good,” responded Finebaum, when Irvin questioned whether the hype is real. “He could right now be a top ten pick next year, and he could go higher. A lot of comparisons, you can take your pick. If you want to go back to another Florida quarterback, briefly I might add, you could say Cam Newton. Some are going back to Vince Young. Some are throwing Lamar Jackson in there. He’s got talent coming from everyone. Last year, he was supposed to be a big star but Dan Mullen decided to go with Emory Jones, who’s now out in Arizona.

“Ultimately, he could be the difference in getting Florida back to competition on a serious level, but standalone — if he had the talent that Georgia and Alabama have around them — he’d be a Heisman candidate right now.”

Additionally, Finebaum’s comment echo his earlier comments from the weekend, where he stated Richardson could lead Florida to an SEC title if he’s truly the real deal.

“I think he can do it, ultimately they have to get by Georgia in October but forget about Georgia for a second,” Finebaum said. “Right now, Florida has Kentucky next. Kentucky is a team a lot of us could be 3rd or 4th in the SEC. They’re a little short-handed.

“A few weeks from now, Richardson and company have to go to Knoxville to take on the ‘it team’ this year. We will find out very quickly but I think he’s capable. .. He is outstanding.”

Nevertheless, Anthony Richardson deserves the hype from all sources following his tremendous performance on Saturday. If he can somehow lead the Gators to an SEC title like Finebaum theorized, the Heisman will likely be his, as well.

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this article.