Sheldon Richardson has not forgotten. He remembers the pre-draft talk, the rankings and all of the talk.
Richardson, the Jets rookie defensive tackle, remembers being ranked below Florida’s Sharif Floyd and Utah’s Star Lotulelei by ESPN’s draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. and he could not believe he was considered the No. 3 player at his position. In Richardson’s mind, he was the No. 1 player overall.
“[I was] a little bit irritated, felt a little unappreciated,” Richardson said Wednesday. “If you compare numbers, they didn’t match up. I got over it and kept working. That was what the [NFL] combine and private workouts were for — make sure I put myself over the hump and I think I did that.”
Richardson will see Lotulelei on Sunday when the Jets face the Panthers. The Jets took Richardson with the 13th overall pick and the Panters grabbed Lotulelei with the 14th. Both are candidates for Defensive Rookie of the Year, but most NFL observers believe Richardson will win the award.
The 23-year-old has been everything the Jets could have asked for when they took him with the draft pick they received from the Buccaneers in the Darrelle Revis trade. He has been a force against the run and disruptive for opposing quarterbacks. Richardson has the confidence of a 10-time Pro Bowler even though he’s only been in the NFL for a few months.
Asked if the Jets made the right decision by making him the first defensive tackle drafted, Richardson’s confidence showed. He said he should have gone No. 1 overall.
“I think 13 was 12 picks late actually, if you ask me,” Richardson said.
Richardson has 85 tackles this season, third most on the team. He has just 3 ½ sacks, but is credited with 27 quarterback hits, third highest on the team. His play is remarkably consistent for a rookie with him rarely having a bad game or even a bad play.
“I just think it’s his mind-set,” veteran linebacker Calvin Pace said. “In Sheldon’s mind, he’s second to nobody, which is a good way to think. Sometimes as a rookie you’re trying to feel your way, find your way, but I think in his mind he’s been here for 10 years. He plays with a lot of confidence. … I think that every single play he thinks he’s going to win.”
Richardson was shocked when he heard the experts pick his game apart prior to the draft.
“[They said] I didn’t hold the point of attack in the run game. I was weak in the run game,” Richardson said, shaking his head. “That was one of my red flags and I had character issues.”
Richardson believes those “character issues” stem from the comments he made at Missouri before the Tigers played Georgia and he said the Bulldogs played “old man football.”
The comments drew a lot of attention in the SEC, and his coaches were not thrilled with them, but it hardly qualifies as a red flag in a draft process that has players who must explain arrests and problems at home.
“There’s a lot of worse things in this world that have been said on camera,” Richardson said.
Richardson believes Floyd, who eventually went No. 23 to the Vikings, and Lotulelei were rated ahead of him because of the success their college teams had while Missouri went 5-7. Richardson used the slights as motivation and Ben Dogra, his agent, told him “film doesn’t lie” and teams would notice him before the draft.
“I got noticed,” Richardson said with a smile. “I was the first D tackle taken off the board.”
The Jets have not regretted the decision to draft Richardson, who has teamed with Muhammad Wilkerson and Damon Harrison to give the Jets one of the best defensive lines in football.
“He’s had a tremendous year and I think he has a great future here,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said.
Ryan believes Richardson should win Rookie of the Year.
“I just look at the film, base it on production,” he said. “The production is a huge part of it and the way he plays. He’s got that relentless motor. For a defensive tackle and being as productive as he is … the tape doesn’t lie.”