I'M AN OPTIMISTIC GATOR FAN

Yep, clueless

 

Trying to make sense to him? Good luck with that

 

Playing (even starting) a true freshman QB is not unheard of. I say feed him (DJL) the offense slow and steady. Build this young team with and around him.
IMO this scenario gives us the best chance to move back to the top 15 in 2025. If DJL is as advertised he'll be fine.

If Mertz is a true team-first guy, he'll understand and mentor DJL while giving us security in knowing we have a backup ready to roll.

There is NO way we make it past 6 wins next year, so let's rebuild around DJL.

 

The moderation on this site the past year has been WAY too strict.

 

I’m kinda

Meh.

 

Miami signed nearly as many 3 star recruits (16) as we did total recruits (18). That was an apples to spoon comparison.

 

It's not fair to expect a true freshman to be our savior as a true freshman, but if Napier is on the hot seat going into next season, DJ Lagway is his only hope at this point. He is the sole source of any optimism I have surrounding Gator Football right now.

I really like Mertz as a QB. I don't care what anybody says, he's excellent. But you can't ask him to carry the team every week. You can ask him to do that maybe once or twice per season, but nowhere close to every game. He simply cannot overcome a bad defense, bad special teams, and a bad running game; most QBs can't. Lagway may or may not, but is it really a risk if we're going to lose anyways albeit at no fault of Mertz?

The biggest reasons to sit Lagway IMO are:
1. to give Mertz credit for what he's earned (and he HAS earned his position, I really don't think it's fair to ask much more from him)
2. To protect Lagway's confidence and development.

Neither of these reasons are material to winning games next season. And if I'm right, I feel terrible for Mertz because if you inserted him on any Florida team between 2012 and 2016, it would have been not just a good match, but a perfect one. Veteran QB who takes what the defense gives him and barely makes any mistakes. Perfect QB for a team whose strength is the Defense. Unfortunately, that's not us right now.

However, the calculus changes completely for me if the Florida program sees Napier's make or break period as a two-year plan or more starting 2024. Another thing that would change my opinion is if we see a completely different defense next season.

 

If we expect recruiting to reflect where we are rather than where we want to be, we're never going to get better.

It's okay to say Napier isn't meeting a championship standard right now, even if we're rooting for him. It's different recruiting in the SEC, but I think Florida should shoot for being at least 4th in the conference in recruiting every year. I know the additions of Texas and Oklahoma make it a lot tougher, but we're not going to compete with Alabama or Georgia by recruiting 8th in the conference out of 16 teams.

 

We are far from 16th in the nation yet we have the 16th rated class. From where we ended this year, would finishing #16 next year not be a significant improvement? In what world does 5-7 UF deserve the top 5 class just because our alumni demand it from Napier? We got the guys where it counts. If DJ becomes what his potential is, we are going to be a problem. Elite QB play fixes a lot of problems.

Arguably, our class ranking is much higher than #16, because our average rating is much higher. Some other teams are ahead of us because they took more quantity. Regardless, we are recruiting where we need to be (for now) and we can build upon it with more success. It's more important for us right now to land proven transfers than high school recruits, anyway.

 

Mertz will in all likelihood be a better QB as a senior than DJ as a true freshman. But hey, maybe they do like suggested above and work in DJ like they did Tebow as a true freshman

 

I agree with the initial point, and it seems quite unlikely that Lagway will be starting right away. When it comes to recruiting Gators who truly bleed orange and blue, I've noticed that at least 5 of his recruits transferred out this season. I do appreciate the recruits he brought in this year, and I'm optimistic about their future. The question remains: do the recruits, this time, genuinely bleed orange and blue?

 

Those that bleed for a team have always been few and far between. With NIL and free agancy (calling it what is) the only kids that will bleed are legacies and even then, some won't.

 

They bleed green.

 

Why, did you give up drinking on this site?

However, if you're talking about the moderators... you'll find out that they are more willing to let you spew more dissent than usual... softer moderating.

 

We could be the 20th best team and still not be ranked due to losses to 6 of 7 teams ranked higher than 20th. Can’t have one of the worst ranked defenses next year if want to improve ranking and win-loss record. Also need fo average more than 28 per game on offense, which may happen if we can stop more teams on D or score more TDs rather than field goals