AJ Richardson
WR / Age 27 / 6-0 / 212 / Boise State
The Michigan Panthers have been staying busy this offseason, adding a third WR to the roster. AJ Richardson is a difference maker on offense and here's the proof. Richardson was a three star prospect coming out of High School and redshirted his first season (2014). At first his presence was overshadowed by the all-time great Boise WR's, Thomas Sperbeck and Cedrick Wilson. After their departure to the NFL, it was time for Richardson to take the reins. In 2018 AJ produced an impressive stat line of 54rec / 825yds / 8tds. The most important statistic is this, the year before Boise was 36th in points per game, but with Richardson as WR1, they improved to 20th in FBS. Their high explosive offense led to a 10-3 finish and a First Responder Bowl appearance that was sadly canceled.
In 2019 AJ Richardson was signed to the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent. He spent 2 years on the practice squad where he did see some good playing time in the NFL preseason. One of the standout performances was against the Denver Broncos. He caught 5 passes for 67 yards and a 24 yard touchdown. After that he was placed on IR and finally waived on August 30, 2021. Now he has signed with the Panthers and is looking to start his upward trend.
Now for his skill set. I think a very good comparison for this WR is Deebo Samuel. They are about the same size, but they do not play the exact same. Richardson can take a 5 yard pass and take it the distance and can be lethal on screens. I see the Panthers using him like Samuel, but it will be interesting to see if he ever gets some reps at RB like Deebo. He is a big bodied WR that uses his size to make big plays on jump balls and has incredible hands. He is the type of WR that you can throw a 5 yard pass and he can turn it into 60 yards and 6 points. The only thing lacking is his speed. He ran a 4.62 40-yard dash at the combine. This is definitely not slow, but is not elite speed. As long as his route running is still up to par, then the Panther's have nothing to worry about.
What do you guys think about AJ? Comment on discord and let me know!
https://discord.gg/usfl
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