The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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COMMITMENT PROFILE of the defense under coordinator D.J. Durkin, and Richardson brings the ability to be left on an island with- out letting receivers get off the line against him. "I'm a 6-0, 170-pound cornerback," he said. "I love pressing, I'm aggres- sive, love to tackle. I can jump up for the ball and catch it. I don't like any- body to catch the ball on me. Basi- cally you're going to get a lockdown corner. Now, since Michigan plays a shuffle technique [in the defensive backfield], I would love to improve that. I'm good at it right now, but I want to be great at it. I would love to improve that. "The camp was good. I came in there competing. During the drills, when we did the shuttle drill, we were going against the DB group, and nobody could beat me out there in the shuttle drill. Working hard throughout every drill, I was asking questions, and once it came to posi- tion drills, I did good too." Richardson was a sleeper head- ing into his junior year — and in a lot of ways the three-star prospect, who is unranked at his position or within the state of Florida, still is — but managed to rack up offers from several middle-tier programs, plus the likes of Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Now, he'll try to show off with production on the field, after helping the Atlantic Eagles to a 9-3 record and the second round of the Class 7A (second-largest in Florida) state playoffs. He expects to play both running back and defen- sive back as a senior, before heading to Ann Arbor. — Tim Sullivan FILM EVALUATION Strengths: Despite a thinner stat- ure, Richardson is comfortable bul- lying opposing receivers at the line and coming up to lay big hits on passes to underneath coverage. He plays with a physical edge in both man-press and off-coverage that will make Jim Harbaugh smile. He has good instincts and athleti- cism to break on passes in the air, or to read run/pass and come up to make a stop. Areas of Improvement: Richard- son is prone to taking false-steps in coverage, and while he's able to compensate with his athleticism, he'll have to clean those up in or- der to find the same level of success against the better athletes he'll face in college. He's also very undersized, again something that he can get away with in high school, but will have to work on for the next level. He has plenty of height, and simply needs to get into the weight room. Michigan Player Comparison: Morgan Trent (2004-08) came in as a thin cornerback who still managed to be physical at the line despite his size. He had more top-end speed than Richardson, but they possess similar instincts and athletic abil- ity to be difference-makers in the secondary. — Analysis from TheWolverine.com