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Post by Mojave Gator on Oct 31, 2023 14:11:30 GMT -5
I fully expect Trevor Etienne to hit the transfer portal following this season after being played behind Montrell Johnson - a good back, but certainly not an elite one.
It would not surprise me one bit to see Etienne on the other sideline when we play Georgia in Jacksonville next year.
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Post by soflaisgatorcountry on Nov 1, 2023 17:42:50 GMT -5
It will be interesting to see what TEtiene does or doesn't portal wise, but there have been talks on various boards and shows that cover Gator football that say hes been playing through injuries this year and that he does struggle with pass blocking. The blocking part can be confirmed on film and when combined with Fla's poor OL, it can make sense why hes not on the field as often as we'd like.
Im surprised at TEtien's lack of being a good pass catching RB. With his vision and shiftiness you'd think hed be a natural at it. But i hope he stays at Fla no matter what happens.
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Post by tapsgator on Nov 2, 2023 13:16:48 GMT -5
I've heard the blocking thing, but he threw a helluva block in the South Carolina game and probably saved Napier's job for the time being. Johnson also doesn't block for shit so it kind of reeks of a company line to me. Here's the only objective thing I found on pass blocking between the two and Johnson actually graded out considerably worse: "The four lowest graded Gators in pass block were RB Trevor Etienne (38.9) TE Jonathan Odom (36.0), RB Montrell Johnson (22.8), and TE Dante Zanders (21.8). This group combined for 29 pass block snaps, while Jonathan Odom and Trevor Etienne were directly involved on a sack play. Zanders also allowed two pressures and two hurries in five snaps pass block snaps, according to PFF." source www.gatorcountry.com/feature/all-positions-contributed-to-pass-protection-woes-against-utah/#:~:text=While%20only%20one%20offensive%20lineman,TE%20Dante%20Zanders%20(21.8). I don't have access to PFF to check game by game for blocking. Their YPC gap has actually shrunk based if not exclusively on Johnson getting to play against Vanderbilt (the worst rushing defense in the SEC and the 105th ranked rushing defense in the country) plus garbage time against UGA. That said, Etienne is at 5.9 (to last years 6.1) and Johnson is at 5.4 (same as last year). On receiving: kind of mirrors rushing numbers with Johnson getting more opportunities and doing less: 2022: Johnson- 12 catches for 58 yards, 4.3 average with a TD; Etienne 9 catches for 66 yards, 7.3 average 0 TaDs 2023: Johnson- 20 catches for 142 yards, 7.1 average and a TD (includes 6 for 48 between Vandy and Cocks and that TD); Etienne 13 for 88, 6.8 average (1 catch for 3 yards against South Carolina and Vandy) Short story long Etienne is the better player, arguably in every facet of the game and indisputably overall. If you take out the two worst Defenses in the SEC where Etienne played one game and was hurt the numbers are once again pretty staggering. I like Johnson, think he's one of our top 5 offensive players, but Etienne is #1 and it's not particularly close. He's probably playing at about 75-80% and he's still our best player. If Etienne leaves it will be because a guy who is not (nearly) as good gets more snaps, targets, and carries. It may also be because Napier does things like allow criticism of his blocking to justify his Sunbelt fetish based rotation. Blaming execution for one of the worst play calls in Gator history when your best player was asked to do the impossible is a strange strategy to say the least. Gotta be honest, objectively he should leave. He would start at LSU. Miami, FSU, Colorado, or Clemson next year and be used as the primary back. He'd probably be the lead back at UGA or Alabama. All of those schools have better players than Montrell Johnson on top of their depth chart, but they'll play the best player regardless of their lack of Sunbelt pedigree. Kind of like how they hire coordinators who never even worked in the Sunbelt once. If he stays next year he's going to be catching passes from either Graham Mertz or a true Freshman. Historical conduct being the best predictor of future behavior in all likelihood it will be Graham Mertz and he'll stay 2nd string because Johnson isn't good enough to leave early. I'm sure his mom likes her two boys playing in close proximity to each other, but they're both going to be making enough money to afford plane tickets. There's also this: www.on3.com/db/trevor-etienne-115713/nil/his NIL value has dropped 34% since the start of the season. In this day and age money talks. I hope he stays, I really do. Anybody giving objective advice tells him to leave sooner than later.
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Post by wahhappen on Nov 2, 2023 14:30:24 GMT -5
If you follow the NIL value chart, his peak was before the season began. It takes a huge nosedive when we give him 7 carries in the opener while showcasing Mertz’s ability to throw 31 completions and still put up half the QBR of the opposing QB who passes for 159 yards. Then he sees a spike after the TennuhC game where he has a career day, in which he is rewarded with receiving half the touches of Johnson in the next game. Despite not getting more involvement in the offense, his stock continues to gradually rise until we get another nationally relevant game where we allow 280 yards and 4 scores to one guy. It has been in a gradual decline ever since.
I mean, how do you justify the business decision of sticking it out with a program that is not winning (real games) and does not value your talent?
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Post by g8rfan on Nov 2, 2023 16:09:43 GMT -5
If he’s playing through injuries why the F would he be returning punts and kickoffs? That seems not smart. And when it comes to a RB I’ll take subpar blocking if a guy has the potential to go the distance anytime he touches the ball. We have 2 oline coaches it seems like pass blocking is their problem to solve.
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Post by tapsgator on Nov 3, 2023 11:26:34 GMT -5
If you follow the NIL value chart, his peak was before the season began. It takes a huge nosedive when we give him 7 carries in the opener while showcasing Mertz’s ability to throw 31 completions and still put up half the QBR of the opposing QB who passes for 159 yards. Then he sees a spike after the TennuhC game where he has a career day, in which he is rewarded with receiving half the touches of Johnson in the next game. Despite not getting more involvement in the offense, his stock continues to gradually rise until we get another nationally relevant game where we allow 280 yards and 4 scores to one guy. It has been in a gradual decline ever since. I mean, how do you justify the business decision of sticking it out with a program that is not winning (real games) and does not value your talent? It's also worth pointing out that his one NIL deal of significance is Zaxby's with his brother. The same brother that keeps telling him publicly (and I would assume privately) to enter the portal. That's okay though, RDB is really sticking it to the man by showing that Montrell Johnson is a good player. I don't think anybody ever thought Montrell was bad, he's a legit SEC back and may find a role on Sundays, Etienne is a superstar waiting to happen but it's gonna be a long ass wait if he stays in Gainesville. If he’s playing through injuries why the F would he be returning punts and kickoffs? That seems not smart. And when it comes to a RB I’ll take subpar blocking if a guy has the potential to go the distance anytime he touches the ball. We have 2 oline coaches it seems like pass blocking is their problem to solve. He's gotta work on his executing and there's only so many opportunities when you are duty bound to play the kid that followed you from the Sunbelt at least 60% of the time. If he had practiced more harder and fielded more kicks he would have totally executed the nutmeg snap halfback pass to a guy motioning across the formation or the TE running through traffic play call that our fearless leader was (and still is) very confident in and felt very good about. It's pretty much all Etienne's fault and I think he should be accountable and admit it and tell everybody that Napier is the single greatest football mind this world has ever seen. I haven't seen him do that yet and it makes me think that he doesn't know the first thing about meticulous attention to detail, unwavering confidence, sustainability and/or repeatability, or even infrastructure. For shame.
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Post by Mojave Gator on Nov 3, 2023 14:31:24 GMT -5
It's pretty much all Etienne's fault and I think he should be accountable and admit it and tell everybody that Napier is the single greatest football mind this world has ever seen. I haven't seen him do that yet and it makes me think that he doesn't know the first thing about meticulous attention to detail, unwavering confidence, sustainability and/or repeatability, or even infrastructure. For shame. Now that's a deal, right there. Because, you know.
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