A veteran QB with a TRUE FRESHMAN and 2 WALKONS backing him up. If Mertz gets dinged up, we're in deep poop! And unless our OL play improves drastically, I'm quite sure he will!
Is this really a thread? The strength of the 2024 schedule is only outpaced by being young for mentions on this forum.
There are other things to keep you up at night or hiding under your bed than the schedule and getting an QB injured. This year GM had his best season ever and didn’t get injured as a direct result of an OL breakdown. GM’s injury was a result of leadership and will to win. Just returning everyone next year on the OL would be a coup, our C and young OTs would have the experience of 2023 and potentially being able to play kids at their natural positions would also be much more helpful.
This is the schedule that would make Ohio St and Michigan skip the season. Insane schedule and I'd bet good money no one would run the table, not even Georgia.
Not keeping me up at night, but just pointing out we are one tweaked ankle/broken collar bone away from having to play a QB with ZERO D1 snaps. Even with DJ and Mertz, our QB room is a mess. We should have 1-2 more quality QB's, available, preferably one with game experience. Honestly, I was super impressed by GM. But I was even more impressed/shocked that he didn't get hurt earlier in the season. He is a tough kid. But he is relatively slight framed and spent a LOT of time on the turf.
If our goal is to play in lots of awesome match ups and enjoy the ride, this schedule rocks! I for one can't wait to travel to Austin (I live in Texas) to play UT and back to the Swamp to play aTM. But if our goal is to make the post season...shoot, there are some NFL teams that might have 3 losses with that schedule.
Bring it on. Walk that aisle. Stylin' and profilin'. To be the man, you got to beat the man. And if you don't like it, learn to love it, cause whether you like it or not, it is the best there is today. It's Great To Be A Florida Gator!
But that's my point. I get the feeling Napier was doomed to fail with 3 straight seasons of brutal scheduling. I have us going 1-11 or 2-10 unless something clicks like we get an offensive line and the defense becomes like Miss St (at least).
For the sake of argument could you produce a short list of programs with 1-2 quality backup QBs with experience? GM isn’t slight of frame for his size (the Blackmon kid fsu trotted out years ago was an example of slight of frame if not downright skinny). GM took some shots and with improved line play especially by the C, will hopefully reduce those. Better get used to the unsettling idea of 1 snap away from disaster going forward. No quality players are transferring in to sit, meaning that at best the understudy will be a frosh or RS frosh. It is the way of college football in the 2020s
Mertz DJ (about as certain as you can be about a recruit, I'd say) ??? I assume we try to grab one from the portal. Maybe a lesser HS QB, although that seems like a hard sell. But there is no way we go into the season with TWO scholly QBs, one of which is a true freshmen. That'd be coaching suicide. Our "misses" on HS QB recruits in the last 4 years have been uncanny. Seems like we've been QB cursed almost every year since Tebow left (Trask and Mertz this year being the lone exceptions).
Just saying. You’re already declaring that we’re one injury away from having to play someone with “ZERO” D1 snaps. You don’t have any way of knowing that. You don’t know what we’ll pick up between now and then. You don’t even know if Miller is staying or leaving.
Not an exhaustive list, but off the top of my head... Aggies (finished season with 3rd string QB after Max Johnson, who was talented and had some game experience also got hurt after Weigman went down) FSU (2 QBs with game experience and both outplayed our QB2) Bama (QB2 and QB3 are both 5 stars...and another 5 star coming this year). Of course backup QBs don't usually have a LOT of experience. But I'm talking about a situation where we have ZERO snaps behind Mertz currently and next fall, unless something changes. That's a very bad QB room, regardless of how good QB1 is and how potentially good QB2 is.
Which is precisely my point. I like Mertz. And have not been more excited about a QB recruit since Timmy T than I am with DJ. BUT WE NEED MORE QBs. Two is not a QB room. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Which is why I think we'll try to get someone from the portal. I agree with your point, though, that it is harder and harder for quality backups to wait their turn in the portal era. And maybe the day of 4 stud QB's on the roster (other than at Bama and Georgia) is dead.
My point was that you’re making declarative statements about something which you don’t even know will be true 8 months from now.
That is true. I'm stating what is true TODAY. You are correct that is very likely not to be the case in August. I assume we will portal another signal caller. Or maybe resurrect Miller?
Please keep in mind the playoff is expanding to 12 teams. The old rubric of 0-1 loss teams only need apply is on its way out
