#90 Johnny Richardson
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Class: RS Junior
Ht/Wt: 6-3/322
Position: Defensive End
Hometown: Jacksonville, FL
Twitter: None
Thoughts: When I profiled Richardson last year I was excited about the prospect of him stepping into the #2 spot at the all important nose tackle position. (Go back and read DeAngelo’s Brown’s post if you forgot how much emphasis I like to place on a good nose tackle). Unfortunately for Richardson a fall camp knee injury sidelined him for most of year, and he didn’t really get an opportunity to get valuable reps until the last few games of the season. I had Richardson pegged as one of my favorite non-starters last year because I loved his size and quickness in the middle. Well, not much has changed for me in the last 365 days and the coaches are jumping on the bandwagon as well (I’m sure they read the countdown religiously). LD Scott confirmed in April that Richardson was playing well and improving, and that he would get the start for the ‘White Team’ in the Spring Game. As we saw last year, DeAngelo Brown can’t be expected to go full throttle all four quarters week in and week out and Johnny can fill that void. One thing’s for certain relating to Richardson, he will be pushed, as Shortridge and Williams have also shown flashes of greatness in the spring. In my opinion, I think as the year rolls along it will be tough to keep Johnny off the field, which will eventually include him getting some reps at defensive end, providing relief for those starters as well.
Sweet Tweet: Since Richardson is the first player in this year’s Countdown who is lacking a twitter account (not always a bad thing, See: Tunsil, Laremy) I’ll use this opportunity to try and get a pulse on the 2016 expectations. I did something similar last year around this time and then again with about a week or two before kickoff to see how the perception of the team and the teams we’re playing might have changed. From what I’ve seen, Vegas and ESPN have pegged the Over/Under for the Cards at 9 wins (regular season). With 90 days until we kick this thing off, what say you….