Anthony Richardson Player's Tribune article: "Dear NFL GM's"

Beating Utah and uscw but losing yo Vandy and Kentucky is just bs. We were average but Vandy sucks and we still lost. That falls on players.

 

We were a painfully mediocre team, mediocre teams might catch a team slipping one week (Utah) but can also lose to anyone on any given Saturday. The players always take the brunt of the blame in the first year of a coaching regime change, so I agree with that.

 

Losing to Vandy was inexcusable, we weren’t bad enough for that to happen. I’m so glad those responsible are gone and hopefully have a new culture developing.

 

The week before they beat us, Vandy beat a ranked Kentucky team on the road. Vandy was a bad team, but we weren’t that much better. A bad Vandy team beating Bama or Georgia isn’t supposed to happen…a bad Vandy team beating a mediocre UF team is definitely realistic.

And it remains to be seen if those responsible are gone, if we lose another 5-6 games in 2023 and manage to lose to Kentucky and/or Vandy or another bad team, then it will be obvious that those responsible are still present.

 

We will easily lose 5 games this year. If we won 8 , that would mean we have some surprises. True freshmen don’t win sec games very often.

 

The people who invoked their names absolutely did it to defend AR. Look at Matthuff06's comment about Tebow and gatorborn's comment about Trask.

So, if you're tired of being reminded, don't bring up their names and don't make dumb comparisons.

 

Wrong. Matthuff06 mentioned Tebow in post #62. The first time Tebow’s name is mentioned is back on page 1, post #18, and it’s by someone gushing over how great Tebow was in running over defenses and wishing AR could be more like him and former Gator great Danny Wuerffel. So it looks like you should be addressing the person who brought Tebow’s name into the discussion out of nowhere, instead of wilding out on the folks defending AR from unnecessary comparisons to past QBs.

 

So you’ve already set the bar pretty low (albeit a realistic prediction) for the 2023 team. Out of curiosity, how many losses did you have the 2022 Gators down for before the season started

 

You didn't ask me but I agree with Wanne that our baseline is 7-5 or 6-6 in 23. I won't be shocked if we are 5-7.
We were 6-6 last year and were lucky to beat Utah and had a little luck to beat Mizzou. USCe imploded and you can't count on that again.
And yes- I think I predicted 7-5 as BEST case last year. (I had us losing to Utah, beating Uk and Vandy.)

My calculation is that AR was our best player last year, and we won't replace him. Other parts of the team should be better but the SEC is a minefield. There's just not any easy wins any longer.

But even though we are looking at back to back 6-6 seasons I am on board with Napier.
Why? I think the model is Dabo's rebuild of Clemson, and it took Dabo many years to do so.

 

Sorry to continue the off-topic remarks, but I think it’s important to remember that Dabo led with recruiting for several years before the serious victories followed. In fact, it was mockworthy how strong his classes were year in and out without anything to show for it on the field. It is very early, but so far we have not even seen anything near the improvement in recruiting it would take to make a comparison to Dabo at the same stage of tenure at Clemson.

No one has to like it or agree with me, but Napier does not have as much time as Dabo to turn things around. Another season as bad as last year or worse, and another underwhelming recruiting class, and he’s a dead man walking in 2025. I don’t want that. And don’t hope for it. But it’s true.

 

So it's hard to remember I know, but 2 of my kids went to Clemson and I follow them closely.

You are not at all correct about Dabo's recruiting.
He was hired on an interim basis in 2008.
His first class was ranked 37th. 37th!!
His bump class- 2010- was a little better. It was 27th.
His recruiting didn't get good until 2011, when it was 10th.
Of course his 12 class was much worse- ranked 20th.
To say he was some kind of ace recruiter is not accurate. Not even close.

To compare CBN's classes...
His first class ranked 18th. (Not good, but better than 37th!!)
His 2nd class ranked 14th. Again, not that great, but better than 27th of Clemson.
His 3rd class is still being put together, but it certainly looks like it will be better than 10th.

So actually looking at recruiting, CBN is far ahead of Dabo at the same point.
Now- Dabo had an easier schedule, yada yada.
Don't say it- I've heard it 100 times when someone like yourself gets these facts wrong. (They move the goalpost.)

But the point is that CBN is undertaking a years-long rebuild, not a quick one. He's not Meyer, Spurrier, or Saban.
Fans should be patient and understand this.

And maybe start getting some facts straight.

 

I find it interesting that there seems to be a consensus that (1) AR was UF's best player in 2022, (2) whichever QB plays this year won't be as good as AR, but (3) UF will have about the same W-L in 2023 as they had in 2022.

There are a lot of possible reasons for that, I suppose. But, to me, it doesn't add up.

 

There is only one explanation:

addition by subtraction. Otherwise...

 

AR can’t do a Danny but I firmly believe if he really wanted to, he could do a fair Tebow impression with break away ability that Tim never had. Tim was more developed as a passer but AR has better legs. AR decided not to use his legs at times and that frustrates people because we know what we have seen him do. Maybe he was hurt at times or maybe he was preserving his health. It’s all speculation.

 

And I wasn’t comparing AR to Tebow. I was pointing out the differing amounts of personal attacks. Sorry I don’t believe in attacking Gators who tried their best, were good teammates, and didn’t get in trouble. How good they were on the field is not relevant to that

 

That is easy. We were below average (to put it kindly) at many positions across the board. We also had a DC that lasted 1 year. If our D goes from awful to average and our O goes from good to average…the team improves

 

I was talking floor here. I like Hooker a lot but he has a lower ceiling than AR. Teams draft for ceilings

 

The 40th best D1 QB usually doesn’t get drafted in the NFL regardless of placement

 

Drafting on imagination. I’d take Will Anderson. I know he can contribute.

 

But he can run fast and throw far. That’s never been used in a hof induction ceremony. I’d take him in the second or third but first is like playing the lottery as a career path.