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Post by Mojave Gator on Aug 11, 2023 22:54:01 GMT -5
...and we can all sleep better tonight. Napier Tabs Mertz as Gators Starting QB"We've seen enough,'' Napier said Friday prior to informing Mertz and his teammates of the decision. "I think the big thing I've been impressed with is just his ability to come in and learn the system, translate what he knows and apply that to our system. Probably's worked as hard as any player on our team."So we're going from an NFL first round draft pick to a guy who had a hand in getting his last head coach fired. What could go wrong? |
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Post by wahhappen on Aug 12, 2023 18:50:30 GMT -5
...and we can all sleep better tonight. Napier Tabs Mertz as Gators Starting QB"We've seen enough,'' Napier said Friday prior to informing Mertz and his teammates of the decision. "I think the big thing I've been impressed with is just his ability to come in and learn the system, translate what he knows and apply that to our system. Probably's worked as hard as any player on our team."So we're going from an NFL first round draft pick to a guy who had a hand in getting his last head coach fired. What could go wrong? He could have stopped at “We’ve seen enough.” |
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Post by Rock Gator on Aug 14, 2023 6:20:33 GMT -5
Game manager
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 14, 2023 7:52:55 GMT -5
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 14, 2023 8:25:33 GMT -5
But seriously, and I'm being serious, speaking on a serious level with a somber tone, Graham Mertz has sucked so far in his career including his public outings as a Gator most notably the Spring game where RDB shot straight and told Gator Nation that we weren't done getting QBs and going to hit the portal hard. For the record I've never heard of a college QB with a 1.4:1 TD to interception ratio referred to as a "game manager," but I guess they didn't say he was any good at managing games so it's technically accurate.
That said, if we score points against legit defenses (currently I'd say you're looking at Utah, UGA, Kentucky, LSU, FSU, maybe Tennessee) and garbage time doesn't count, you kinda have to give Napier his flowers. And praise him. With compliments.
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Post by Mojave Gator on Aug 15, 2023 22:24:26 GMT -5
Considering that we only scored seven points playing ourselves with nobody allowed to hit the quarterback...
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Post by wahhappen on Aug 16, 2023 7:43:40 GMT -5
Considering that we only scored seven points playing ourselves with nobody allowed to hit the quarterback... I believe what you are trying to say is our new and vastly improved defense under Armstrong only gave up a mere 7 points and would have been worse if they were allowed to hit the QB. That’s why we’ll only need a game manager in there with all of the turnovers and pressure the defense will be placing on those offenses. |
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Aug 16, 2023 10:32:33 GMT -5
Side line to side line coverage with the new Stretch Armstrong defense.  We may bend, but we will not break!  |
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Post by Mojave Gator on Aug 19, 2023 20:11:49 GMT -5
Mertz from a Wisconsin viewpoint. This was made while he was still playing for the Badgers.
Of course, he has been given Tim Tebow's old number, so we can expect great things.
I just noticed the Las Vegas Bowl patch on his jersey in the photo. That means that I was watching our future QB in the 2021 game for Wisconsin, along with future LSU starter Jayden Daniels for Arizona State. Mertz was 11/15 for 137 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. In fairness, he didn't have to throw much because Wisconsin was pretty much running the ball at will, especially in the first half. Ricky Pearsall was one of Daniels' targets, which means that he played in the Las Vegas Bowl two years in a row for different teams.
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Post by g8rfan on Aug 20, 2023 12:08:13 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that video. I saw an interview with him the other day and he seems like a smart kid. If he can get the int’s cleaned up he could be decent I think. He’ll have some talent around him so hopefully that will help his confidence out.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 22, 2023 10:11:29 GMT -5
Mertz seems like a nice enough and hard working kid, he's just been pretty damn bad at football and killed a coach (two if you count the interim) and an OC or two. Wisconsin fans were not sad to see him go. He was the 12-20th ranked transfer so it wasn't exactly an arms race to get him, objective analysts have him at 14th out of 14 SEC QBs, so even whoever the Hell Vandy is rolling out is considered better, and after the Spring game Napier said he was going to get someone in the portal at QB. I saw something on SDS saying "what if Napier is right about Graham Mertz?" like it was some kind of good thing. That conveniently omits the whole Spring Game and post Spring Game comments. Nothing has happened that I've seen since then other than striking out in the portal so now we're putting lipstick on a pig like he's our guy. If he excels it will be far and away the most successful QB/OC job RDB has ever pulled off.
Here's what I see as the real problem as Mertz Mania attempts to run wild against the toughest schedule in the nation, Mertz by the numbers against top 25 opponents:
2022: 11-20, 55%, 94 yards, 1TD/1INT, 5 carries for 15 yards and a TD; Wisconsin's schedule was hot garbage last year and Mertz managed to get his coach fired
2021: 64-123, 52%, 696 yards, 3TD/6INT, 21 carries for -46 yards and 2TDs, that side of the big 10 was better although I think way overrated, closest comp
2020: 63-113, 56%, 601 yards, 1TD/5INTs, 20 carries for 11 yards
So there's Graham by the numbers. Bad news: he has not been very good at playing QB in college against real competition.
Good news: maybe I'm grasping at straws, but it feels like there's not a real downside here, if Napier can turn him around it really will be a feather in his cap, an authentic one not a made up one like "coaching" Anthony Richardson to the #4 pick. If he makes Mertz an actual NFL prospect (and based on is recruiting ranking in high school he at least had the physical skills to be on that track at one point) it justifies his decision to be the OC/QB Coach/Playcaller especially if he outperforms more highly regarded transfers. If Graham Mertz is what he's been to date, maybe it would serve as a nudge towards bringing in someone with a track record of developing NFL prospects. That's fine by me as long as he can hold onto a top 5 class (it's going to take multiple top 5 classes for us to realistically compete for the playoffs that's just where we're at). The doomsday scenario would be a rough year, no changes, and the class falls apart. Even that wouldn't be the worst thing because I think it would force changes and hopefully that would include the dynamic duo running the UAA
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Post by wahhappen on Aug 22, 2023 11:05:49 GMT -5
I have never been more concerned about the start of a new season. I hope RDB has some kind of magic miracle in the works.
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Post by g8rfan on Aug 22, 2023 14:58:40 GMT -5
I feel like AR was #4 in spite of Napier. The staff seemed to not have any idea how to use all of that talent. He looked like different QB every week. I don’t think Mertz is super awesome believe me. I just hope he doesn’t turn the ball over 3-4 times a game. I don’t think he’s going to win a bunch of games by himself but he can damn sure lose a bunch if he goes brain dead with the ball in his hands.
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Post by soflaisgatorcountry on Aug 22, 2023 18:02:53 GMT -5
You know what else is odd about the 2022 season and how AR was used. MJohnson and Etienne were so good and even LLingaard was healthy all year (for some reason Napier decided to play an unrecovered NWright the first few games) yet Fla did not utilize the ground n pound enough. The OL was actually very good last season and games like KY, USF and Vandy would of had Fla in a better position for a win than the game plan Napier went with.
To this day you'll hear how they were scared to use AR's running on designed plays due to a lack of QB depth, yet feeding the RBs and using Play Action would have been a far better approach than what we saw in many games. The 3rd qtr of the FSU game alone showed how Fla was shooting themselves in the fott by trying to pass rather than just mauling people.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 23, 2023 13:46:28 GMT -5
You know what else is odd about the 2022 season and how AR was used. MJohnson and Etienne were so good and even LLingaard was healthy all year (for some reason Napier decided to play an unrecovered NWright the first few games) yet Fla did not utilize the ground n pound enough. The OL was actually very good last season and games like KY, USF and Vandy would of had Fla in a better position for a win than the game plan Napier went with. To this day you'll hear how they were scared to use AR's running on designed plays due to a lack of QB depth, yet feeding the RBs and using Play Action would have been a far better approach than what we saw in many games. The 3rd qtr of the FSU game alone showed how Fla was shooting themselves in the fott by trying to pass rather than just mauling people. This. After some PTSD flashbacks this led to a realization of why I have so many misgivings with RDB as an OC/QB Coach/game planner/play caller. As bad as the play calling was on TV and in the video below it was infinitely worse in person. If you have more of a life or are quick tempered skip the video, cliffs are the throws and runs in quarters 1, 2, and 4 reminded me of Utah and Texas A&M as they emphasized AR's and the offense's strengths with even the incompletions being largely drops with a couple errant throws due to bad footwork (which may come back to the QB coach), while the whole 3rd quarter play calls really had almost no chance of success and were very reminiscent of the Georgia and Kentucky games. What is really odd to me is that of all the quarters to go into a hole why the 3rd? I'm sure FSU made some adjustments (they definitely doubled Pearsall and left the other guys who couldn't separate or catch on an island), but it's like we went to a controlled short passing/West Coast offense like you would with a QB who you want to get it out of his hands quickly to better athletes in space and away away from play action and longer throws. In other words the exact opposite of what you should do with the biggest, strongest, fastest QB in the country who also happens to have the best arm and is more accurate at 50+ yards than he is at 5-10. Combine that with the Defense making Jordan Travis look like Michael Vick/Anthony Richardson, blowing assignments, and not getting lined up 5-6 times including on the most important 4th and 4 of the season which followed a 3 minute review and 2 minute commercial break, and I am going to say that the 2022 FSU game might have been the single worst coached football game I have ever seen. At any level. And I've watched a lot of bad football and coaches. Joys of being a dad and a Gator fan in other than under Spurrier and Meyer. Anyway, right now let's assume last season was a learning curve/character builder, the recruiting has absolutely picked up so it looks like RDB and his steady hairstyle is capable of learning from past mistakes, let's hope that happens on the field as well. Go Gators. |
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Post by wahhappen on Aug 23, 2023 15:56:35 GMT -5
You know what else is odd about the 2022 season and how AR was used. MJohnson and Etienne were so good and even LLingaard was healthy all year (for some reason Napier decided to play an unrecovered NWright the first few games) yet Fla did not utilize the ground n pound enough. The OL was actually very good last season and games like KY, USF and Vandy would of had Fla in a better position for a win than the game plan Napier went with. To this day you'll hear how they were scared to use AR's running on designed plays due to a lack of QB depth, yet feeding the RBs and using Play Action would have been a far better approach than what we saw in many games. The 3rd qtr of the FSU game alone showed how Fla was shooting themselves in the fott by trying to pass rather than just mauling people. This. After some PTSD flashbacks this led to a realization of why I have so many misgivings with RDB as an OC/QB Coach/game planner/play caller. As bad as the play calling was on TV and in the video below it was infinitely worse in person. If you have more of a life or are quick tempered skip the video, cliffs are the throws and runs in quarters 1, 2, and 4 reminded me of Utah and Texas A&M as they emphasized AR's and the offense's strengths with even the incompletions being largely drops with a couple errant throws due to bad footwork (which may come back to the QB coach), while the whole 3rd quarter play calls really had almost no chance of success and were very reminiscent of the Georgia and Kentucky games. What is really odd to me is that of all the quarters to go into a hole why the 3rd? I'm sure FSU made some adjustments (they definitely doubled Pearsall and left the other guys who couldn't separate or catch on an island), but it's like we went to a controlled short passing/West Coast offense like you would with a QB who you want to get it out of his hands quickly to better athletes in space and away away from play action and longer throws. In other words the exact opposite of what you should do with the biggest, strongest, fastest QB in the country who also happens to have the best arm and is more accurate at 50+ yards than he is at 5-10. Combine that with the Defense making Jordan Travis look like Michael Vick/Anthony Richardson, blowing assignments, and not getting lined up 5-6 times including on the most important 4th and 4 of the season which followed a 3 minute review and 2 minute commercial break, and I am going to say that the 2022 FSU game might have been the single worst coached football game I have ever seen. At any level. And I've watched a lot of bad football and coaches. Joys of being a dad and a Gator fan in other than under Spurrier and Meyer. Anyway, right now let's assume last season was a learning curve/character builder, the recruiting has absolutely picked up so it looks like RDB and his steady hairstyle is capable of learning from past mistakes, let's hope that happens on the field as well. Go Gators. Play calling and game plans were bi-polar for sure in 2022. The FSU game is probably one of the best examples of a game that was easily win-able with better coaching. What doesn’t show up in this video is the drive where Etienne dominated on a scoring drive and was rewarded by being immediately removed from the offensive game plan the rest of the way. Spurrier was notorious for feeling a game and calling plays based on what was available. If a play was successful, he would turn around and run the exact same play to the opposite side of the field. He would continue to run the plays that worked until the other team stopped it or at least changed their approach. Last year, we had the exact opposite approach. If something worked, our philosophy was to try some different shit out and see what happens. Also, note that we had one timeout left to start the 4th quarter. Might have come in handy to have one or two more at the one-minute mark… I wouldn’t mention it if it hadn’t been a consistent theme throughout the season. |
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Post by g8rfan on Aug 23, 2023 22:01:16 GMT -5
The internet has made everything insufferable. Now that we all know everything there’s nothing to experience. Can’t we just watch some fucking football? Maybe we win. Maybe we don’t. But the truth is no one knows. If we did we wouldn’t be here telling everyone about it.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 24, 2023 10:22:01 GMT -5
Play calling and game plans were bi-polar for sure in 2022. The FSU game is probably one of the best examples of a game that was easily win-able with better coaching. What doesn’t show up in this video is the drive where Etienne dominated on a scoring drive and was rewarded by being immediately removed from the offensive game plan the rest of the way. Spurrier was notorious for feeling a game and calling plays based on what was available. If a play was successful, he would turn around and run the exact same play to the opposite side of the field. He would continue to run the plays that worked until the other team stopped it or at least changed their approach. Last year, we had the exact opposite approach. If something worked, our philosophy was to try some different shit out and see what happens. Also, note that we had one timeout left to start the 4th quarter. Might have come in handy to have one or two more at the one-minute mark… I wouldn’t mention it if it hadn’t been a consistent theme throughout the season. Yeah, it was all over the place and made more confusing because it's a pretty stark contrast to RDB's reputation coming in and his go to cliches. It was the antithesis of the Saban/Smart model that RDB supposedly majored in as an up and coming young coach albeit with the same hair style. Hopefully it was a year of adjusting to being the head guy at a major university. It seems like he should go full scale CEO mode like Saban and Smart from a distance but he likes his processes consistent and his impelementation consistency in the process, so I don't know. If I was giving him advice I'd say pick a lane CEO or play sheet guy guy, stay in it, and sink or swim. The internet has made everything insufferable. Now that we all know everything there’s nothing to experience. Can’t we just watch some fucking football? Maybe we win. Maybe we don’t. But the truth is no one knows. If we did we wouldn’t be here telling everyone about it. Meh. I'll watch every game and damn near every play although the McNeese and Charlotte games will be a grind. You never know, even though they're pros at this point, they're still 18-24, and crazier shit has happened. Napier had a bad year 1, it was disappointing on every level, he earned his C-/D+ grade for first year coaches, doesn't close the book on him just means he needs to be better. I have no idea if he can or not, I'll be cheering for him because he's the head coach of UF and he's not an asshole, and I even cheer for the assholes as long as they don't go full potato. |
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