In the bottom 10 for completion percentage in D1 football. That is not Billy. Had difficulty going through progressions, checking down to open RB, TE, or even throwing to open space in the zone. Had a great running game so in theory, should have had more time to throw
Off the charts athletically but not a good qb as of yet. I hope he makes that jump because he has a long way to go.
Well, at least we have improved from .538 to .572. We may have the worst qb room that I've ever seen as a Florida Gator. I'm trying to buy into Mertz, but just can't get it done until I see it. Fortunately, he has experience because starting at Utah will be a challenge.
How come his personal qb coach doesn't get any blame? How do we know he wasn't undoing things Napier/Mullen were trying to teach, and I bet AR spent a lot more time with him over the years.
Yeah I haven't been a fan of his QB coach from what I have seen. I wonder what kind of rapport of any he has with the program.
I'm glad you mentioned this. I have wondered the same. From an outsider's perspective, it sure doesn't seem like his personal coach helped much, if it all, and it's fair to wonder if his personal coach actually did more harm than good. AR's footwork and overall mechanics were poor, and we all know he was way too inconsistent with his accuracy, especially the short/intermediate stuff. You would think his personal coach would have focused on improving that.
Well, let me ask you a question . . . if his footwork and mechanics were poor, and he received training from a personal coach and from the UF staff, where is the most likely place that the blame will lie? Maybe AR? Maybe the student hasn't "gotten" it yet. It takes different people different lengths of time to learn things. I mean, the teacher showed you how to do calculus, you practiced and studied, but damn you still got a 50. For me, I don't care if he has a personal coach or not. It is the staff's job to teach him. Unless you are suggesting that the personal coach is teaching him things that conflict with what the staff is teaching him? I watched him play. He is not being taught to do the things he does wrong. A LOT of what I saw with him appeared to be mental. But, hey, everyone seems to have someone else to blame for AR not meeting his potential. He blames his receivers. Posters here blame (in no particular order): the coaches, no can't be the coaches so it is his OL and receivers, no can't blame players so it is his personal coach. We all know that he is uber physically talented. I personally think he just didn't have enough time to grow into the QB his physical skills say he could be. But, he certainly wouldn't be the first uber talented athlete to not make it at QB. I'm sure the NFL believes that its coaching can overcome his deficiencies and I hope that is correct.
I hope so as well. Florida finally is getting an infusion of offensive talent into the NFL for visibility. Nothing more visible than a starting QB. Selfishly, Florida needs him to live up to his talent and expectations which the football program will benefit from the hometown kid tearing it up in the pros.
Shane Matthews is a pretty straight shooter and I've heard him say several times on the radio that he's seen AR play since youth football and he doesn't think he'll ever be a winning QB. He says he's a great kid with unbelievable athleticism, but he's had the same fundamental problems for as long as he's watched him play. Inconsistent with his accuracy, takes too long to make reads, not a good decision-maker while a play is going on and just not reliable enough to be a consistent winner. I wish the best for the kid, but think whichever NFL team drafts him is taking a real risk, especially if it's a 1st round pick.
Exactly what I see also and it doesn’t mean I’m hating on the kid. He’s a gator and I’ll root for him always but my fandom doesn’t change the reality of what I see. Sure, he could surprise me and be a top 5 qb in the league. No team spends a top 10 pick if they aren’t looking for a guy that is too 5 in his position. Taking flyers and high risk players with your first round picks is a recipe for disaster for a franchise. Sure they could get lucky and I’d rather be lucky than good but I don’t play the lottery as a plan for my financial future.
As I mentioned in the other thread, throughout the last season I'd put you at #1 AR defender and myself at the #2 spot on that list. I think he was trying hard, but I don't think we got 100% AR. And the reasons are multifold. First, it became clear this wasn't a championship caliber team, no matter what AR did. Second, he got injured fairly often last season and this season. At a certain point, it would only be smart to save yourself for the bigger goal. It's the hardest part of being a college football fan, but it's a transitory thing for kids with pro potential. It's not going to get any better. So ultimately I think AR was trying hard within a certain threshold. He wasn't going to put himself at risk to take this 6-6 team to 7-5 and frankly ... I don't blame him. If he were my son we would have frank discussions about business decisions.
Well, if AR had a personal QB coach, it's reasonable to think the majority of their time together was spent focusing on mechanics. I doubt they are sitting around looking at film all day. I'm sure the UF staff worked with him on his mechanics too, but when there's too many cooks in the kitchen and they aren't working together, that's a "recipe" for disaster. Cooks...recipe...get it? Har har har
People on this board think that the will have seen more film on AR than the NFL team that’s going to pick him. Get real folks. There are risks to every draft pick. But if an NFL team picks him in the first round, they think he can develop into an adequate passer. As it is now, doesn’t look like he will drop out of the top 10 picks.
Imo, Shane has become a first class jerk blaming players & never coaches in every way possible last year. He incorrectly bragged that his surrounding cast did not play in the NFL (WR Ernie Mills played 9 years and the great Errict Rhett to name a couple) or that his college coach developed him. He has also said after watching Mertz “Florida does not have a QB this year”. To which Spurrier replied “That’s what they told me about you, Shane.” If Shane is a “straight shooter” (WTH? lol) he would not be the Gators radio announcer.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. I wish all his runs looked like that fsu run where he hit half the players on their defense but it’s not for me to expect him to sacrifice his future and health for my enjoyment. I’d love to see it but that’s just me wanted to be entertained.
I think he gives his opinion honestly without sugarcoating it for others. Just spit it out if that’s what he thinks, it’s only an honest opinion.
Because Travis seems more like a leader that can inspire and rally his guys to play harder for him. Talent or no, I never saw AR taking on that role on the team. No knock on AR, maybe just his personality but that attitude does show and will rub off on others.
Just to develop. So he can see the field better, have a better grasp of the speed of the game and just become a more inherent QB.
