The title says it all. We had elite speed, how well do you think we utilized it? https://247sports.com/article/nfl-c...multiple-texas-florida-stars-shine-246360926/
Yes and no. Mertz had issues with deep balls. Lagway is a very good deep ball passer, but was a true Fr. and injured in 2024. UF still has a lot of speed at WR, if not more than last year, and Lagway isn't a freshman anymore. The deep ball will be a big part of the offense in 2025. On Dike. As a UF/UW fan, I saw a lot of Dike. I knew he was athletic, but didn't see him as a sub 4.4 guy. I don't think he plays that fast. Still damn good.
I thought a couple of our guys were timed faster in the combine then I ever saw them run on the field in a game. Some people are workout warriors others are gamers.
Both players were gamers, not workout warriors. I never heard mention of our elite speed at receiver once last year. A great coach would a have pointed it out just to give opponents something to think about. Keep defending this coach, but if it wasn't for a generational player, our season would have been toast. Losing quality coaches and not hiring an offensive coordinator doesn't bode well for long term improvement, not does it provide any real hope for excellence.
Didn’t realize Badger was that fast. I seem to remember Shane repeatedly saying on his podcast that Badger wasn’t a “burner” and shouldn’t be running deep ball routes.
Those that watched film were aware Dike often got open, particularly on the intermediate routes. Our WRs can only do so much with hitches and slants.
Baffles me that Percy ran a 4.39 in his pro day and we have these guys out here running faster than him. But even in Percy's own words, he likely was stoned - and did not care about his measurables. He knew how good he was regardless of his clocked numbers.
These guys running faster than Percy probably aren’t benching over 400 pounds either. Percy’s upper body strength was a big part of why he could do what he did
As much of a great game leader and reliable short-game player as Mertz was, any downfield speed advantages we had were negated when he was on the field. Bottom line, route running is probably more important than speed if your passer can't consistently hit an open guy downfield. And, I think we did use our speed better when DJ was on the field. Just highlights how QB strengths and weaknesses determine the size of the available play palette.
I was watching his Vikings highlights, he showed off his strength often! Check out his catch at 3:10, Ike Hilliard all over again Catch at 3:50 is a display of strength 13:35 is the only time I've ever seen Percy run down from behind
2024 - Badger was 4th in the SEC with 20.7 YPC and Dike was 8th with 18.6 YPC. Having 2 receivers in the top 10 YPC leads me to easily conclude we did utilize their speed in 2024
Fair, I was thinking more about creating advantageous matchups. Getting burners matched up vs LBs and Safeties.
