Still, Richmond will need to transition to the spread offense. In Tennessee, Richmond played in a run-heavy, SEC offense which leaned on his physicality and power blocking. Richmond is a willing blocker in space, but struggles with speed rushes. Especially when defenders anticipate the snap, they can easily get past him and shoot the gap. It’s almost impossible to go through Richmond with his power and physicality. Even in the elite SEC, he was almost never beat with a straight bull rush. But he will need to work on his lateral quickness to make sure defenders cannot blow by him. He will need to eliminate his occasional false step at the snap. This is especially important in
Graham Harrell’s spread offense, as offensive lineman spaced apart from one another, with larger gaps for defenders to try to shoot.
Richmond has the talent and experience to contribute immediately at right tackle. Though in order to truly flourish, he must clean up his game and improve his lateral quickness. He will be making a dramatic transition from Tennessee’s offense to the spread, and must adjust accordingly. How he adjusts will delineate boom or bust.
