Mel Kiper Jr. predicts Tennessee Titans to trade up for Anthony Richardson in latest mock draft

Mel Kiper Jr. seems to have changed his tune on Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, moving him up to the No. 3 pick in his latest mock draft. Not only that, but the ESPN analyst has a new team trading up to take him.

Kiper believes the Tennessee Titans are in the perfect position to allow Richardson to develop on their roster. He cited the fact that they already have a veteran quarterback in Ryan Tannehill, so there would be no need to Richardson to step in as the starter right away.

That’s why he believes they will move up from pick No. 11 to grab the former Gators QB.

“I listen to (Chris Mortensen) and Mort directs me in this way to say, ‘hey, they have Ryan Tannehill,'” Kiper explained Tuesday in a SportsCenter special. “That’s why I thought Seattle at five was the perfect spot because they have Geno Smith. We know Anthony Richardson needs a year to settle in. He isn’t expected to be the guy right away. When you have Ryan Tannehill there for the Tennessee Titans, you can develop Anthony Richardson, who’s a better version of Malik Willis. So I think with Anthony Richardson, time is on his side in Tennessee.”

Fellow ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay, who has been high on Anthony Richardson since the NFL Combine, was happy to see Kiper come around. He agreed that Tennessee is a potential candidate to trade up into a spot to get him, adding that Tannehill’s contract is set to expire after this season, setting up a path for Richardson to take over in 2024.

“I think this would be a great trade,” he said. “Moving up from 11 to 3, it’s not an unheard of kind of move. Look at Ryan Tannehill. 35 years old he turns. So now you’ve got a 35-year-old quarterback who was 24th in the NFL last year in QBR. He is second in the league in terms of his salary cap coming up at $36.6 million. To me, it makes all the sense in the world. You’ve got to have a young quarterback you’re developing. You’ve gotta have a future. Even if Tannehill is there next year, which we expect him to be, you take the one-year cap hit.

“Look, 2024 and 2025, they’re voidable years. So it’s a perfect bridge for one year. Then moving forward, you’ve got four more years — because of that fifth-year option for first round players — with Anthony Richardson on the cheap. So now if you’re the Titans, you can go in free agency and trades and spend a lot more money to get better around that quarterback when you reach Anthony Richardson as your starter in 2024.”

Richardson set a modern era record for quarterbacks with a 40.5-inch vertical jump at the NFL Combine. He also tied for the record in the broad jump at 10 feet, nine inches and led all of this year’s QB participants with a 4.43-second 40-yard dash time.

But despite his physical abilities, he started just one season at Florida. Many experts think he needs at least one season to develop before he is starter-ready in the NFL. That’s why the Titans, who finished 7-10 last season to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018, seem like a great fit.