Thank you I Boy! Napier is a good man. He is not deserving of all this crap. He is trying to build something with class and integrity and it seems fate is against him. I have resigned mmyself to 6 - 6 or even worse for 23, However, if Gator Nation is patient, I believe we will have a winner, but Billy is not structuring for a one year turnaround via the portal like say FSU. Billy will sink or swim with his success at the H.S. recruiting level. (IMO). Thats what we all were professing at the end of the Mullen era. I say we stick with the plan, at least for 2 more seasons. Win the state of Florida in recruiting and the hardware will begin to accumulate again.
Any? Slow your roll, good Gator. Come on now. “Wes Chandler was Percy Harvin before Percy Harvin was born.”
A completely new offensive line is what worries me. We have a couple transfers and young guys that played sparingly last year. I’m not sure where they will stack up talent wise but they have not yet taken the first snap in practice together. That alone gives me pause for tge offense as a whole. Hopefully they throw it together and they gel really quick. It could be really ugly.
And Lagway will be a true freshman. The team could be ready for a decent run by then if we have a player behind center.
Dead on the money, my brother. We will be better next year and "INFINITELY" better in 2024. Pain is weakness leaving the program. Last year was our 1979, and next year is our 1980.
IMO it will be hard for Mertz or whoever starts to put up less passing yards or throw more interceptions.
Rumor of Waites injury requiring him to miss all or large part of next season. Anyone heard anything to confirm?
I don't agree that "it can be really ugly". We have 2 new players on the OL - that is all. All others are on their 2nd year in the program....and thus one year better from a development standpoint and from a familiarity standpoint. We don't have to replace Big O, per se....Our top 7-8 in 2023 need to replace the top 7-8 from 2022. Some advanced stats have Mazz as the 2nd best Guard in the country behind Big O. I am not saying he's an all American, I am saying he can be very good-to-great for us. Here is the way I see it...Try to rank the top 7-8 OL from 2022 and 2023 from 1-16, and that'll help illustrate that we'll be ok. 1 - 2022 Big O! 2 - 2023 Barber (bonafide All SEC candidate) 3/4 - 2022 White and 2023 Mazz (tied) 5 - 2022 Barber etc etc 2023 Eguakun >> 2022 Eguakun I am not basing my analysis on this, but keep in mind that Barber came out of nowhere in 2022...he didn't even start at the beginning of the season. We don't know (one way or another) if someone like that is on our roster right now. Just my opinion...
Actually, UGA signed 7 …and we signed 5 if going by 247 composite. And we need to remember that the player rankings will recalibrate again now that all star games have concluded. EWlll, Jackson, Kearney and Collins are sure to see big bumps. But understand your intent …yes, we need to close that gap with UGA. Unfortunately, they have built up a lot of equity over the last 5 years. It won’t be easy.
Do we have an updated roster? How many scholarship players on the roster including the 2023 early signees and transfers?
79 as of this very moment. My guess it that a few more (not many) leave after spring, so we'll have more open slots.
At this point, I can't say that 2023 roster is more talented than a 2022 roster that had the talent to beat #4 Utah in the opening game... It kind of went sour after that high point-- 5-7 thereafter, including losses to every rival and you can throw in Vandy and the thrashing in Vegas, for good measure. Top recruits see that and run the other way. The Rashada debacle needs no further comment at this point. The Gators rank about #13 in HS recruits with not one 5-star commit and I believe about #61 on transfer portal balance sheet... that my friends does not bode well for a winning football team in the SEC. They have missed out on the top players in the state of Florida and there is a reason... Players will "buy in" (as many of you seem to harp on) when they see winning football and dynamic, daring coaching, schemes and play calling not some nebulous "culture" thing that some folks here go on about.
