By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:
THREE REASONS TO LIKE FLORIDA’S OFFENSE IN 2022
1. The Obvious, Anthony Richardson: Everybody talks about what might happen if Anthony Richardson ever gets all that talent under control. We’ve seen him get outside the tackles and turn on the jets like he did against Florida Atlantic and South Florida, plus we’ve seen him roll out to his left and with a flick of the wrist throw an absolute dart 40 yards down the field, the kind of throw most NFL QBs can’t make. So, we know he’s got it in him to do magnificent things. The question is can he harness it all and go from wildly inconsistent to someone who can play under control? Can he make all the right decisions or at least enough of them to be a difference maker? The thought here is that Billy Napier is just the right coach at just the right time to bring out the best in Anthony. Sometimes it just takes the right person believing in you. If Anthony is a true difference-maker, then Florida’s offense will be dynamic. Of course, he has to stay healthy but this is a contract year and it’s amazing how many players go injury free when they know they’re on the NFL clock.
2. The offensive line, Montrell Johnson and Lorenzo Lingard: For all the complaints about Florida’s offensive line last year, the Gators did average 5.48 yards per rushing attempt which was best in the SEC and fourth best in the entire country. The Gators also allowed only 14 sacks, also the best in the SEC and tied for fifth in the country. Actually, that should be third since No. 1 Army and No. 3 Air Force combined to throw just 222 passes. Now, some of the success of the O-line has to do with having a mobile quarterback, but the numbers are impressive just the same and indicative of the fact UF’s offensive line wasn’t nearly as bad as some folks claimed it to be. Yet, the offensive line will be BETTER this year, perhaps substantially because the coaching from Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton is a step up. Also, from all reports coming out of strength and conditioning, this UF O-line is going to be physically stronger and have more mobility than it had last year. O’Cyrus Torrence at right guard is going to be an All-American. Etch that in stone. We shouldn’t be shocked if a leaner (345, down 20 pounds), meaner Josh Braun is quick enough to move out to right tackle. Now, add Anthony Richardson at QB with pile driver Montrell Johnson and a finally healthy Lorenzo Lingard at running back and that UF running game will be improved, not to mention the fact it will serve a dual purpose. First, it will mean the Gators can keep the defense off the field by grinding when they need to. Secondly, because the running game will be improved and more explosive, defenses will be forced to choose which is their poison. Do they load the box to stop the run? Do they risk UF going over the top for big gains in the passing game to take advantage of one-high safety when the box is loaded up?
3. Underestimate the Florida receivers at your own risk: Every preseason magazine and pundit has said Florida’s receivers don’t have a lot of speed, that there isn’t a single deep threat in the entire group. They base that on Jacob Copeland leaving for Maryland and the fact the UF receivers averaged a very pedestrian 12.47 per catch and that was with Copeland. Here are a couple of things to think about. Emory Jones was famous for an inconsistent trigger finger throwing the ball. Too often he unloaded too quickly or waited too late, but it was rare that he hit a receiver on the break. He also completed 13 passes to the other team. If you watch the film closely, you’ll notice Justin Shorter, for example, spent the 2021 season open. I joked with him a month of so ago that I was happy he was over COVID. He raised his eyebrows as if to wonder where I came up with that. Before he could speak, I said, “You must have had COVID because you ran wide open in the secondary and no one would cover you plus the quarterback wouldn’t throw you the ball … they thought you were contagious.” He laughed and shook his head in agreement. He does not have blazing speed but he is plenty fast enough and if gets the ball on the break, he’s got the size and power to make very big plays. Xzavier Henderson had to be frustrated as well. He runs well, but it seems the only time he got the ball last year was on bubble screens. We haven’t seen him run a lot of those 14-17-yard routes that were the staple of the Spurrier offenses way back when. That’s straight out of the Sid Gillman playbook and they are devastating. Just so everybody knows, Napier loves those routes. Don’t forget the tight ends, either. Dante Zanders may wind up as Florida’s shock the world guy and Nick Elksnis is going to be really, really good.
THREE REASONS TO LIKE FLORIDA’S DEFENSE IN 2022
1. The linebackers will be very, very good: Start with Ventrell Miller back in the middle and healthy. A healthy Miller and I believe the Gators would have beaten Alabama, Kentucky and LSU. He meant that much to the defense, both in terms of on the field productivity and the ability to get everybody in the right place. He is a difference-maker. Put him on the field with Brenton Cox Jr., Derek Wingo, Amari Burney and Diwun Black, then throw in kids like Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Chief Borders and the Gators are going to show vast improvement. Freshman Shemar James didn’t come here to sit. Brenton Cox Jr. is healthy for the first time in two years. He knows this is a contract year. No one should be shocked if he’s first team All-SEC and gets some All-America consideration. He has that kind of raw talent.
2. There is plenty of talent in the secondary: Jason Marshall Jr. at one corner is a lock. The other corner will be Avery Helm, Jaydon Hill or Jalen Kimber. They all have exceptional cover skills and they will be better coached by Corey Raymond, the guy who put the DB in the LSU DBU for years. What a concept. Well-coached corners. We haven’t seen that in awhile. Don’t laugh but Trey Dean III could wind up being one of the truly surprising players in the SEC. He has responded well to the coaching by Patrick Toney. It has never been a lack of talent on his part. There is speed and depth at safety. Kamar Wilcoxson is one to watch now that he’s healthy and well-coached. Kids Devin Moore (CB) and Kamar Wilson (S) are too talented to ride the pine. The talent is there and so is the coaching. Dan Mullen was plagued by poor coaching in the secondary his entire tenure at UF. Billy Napier has remedied the coaching situation.
3. Better scheme will get better results: It’s called The Creeper, the brainchild of Ron Roberts, who is now Dave Aranda’s defensive coordinator at Baylor. Roberts taught The Creeper to Patrick Toney. To break down a creeper defense in simplistic terms, the concept involves getting four pass rushers on every throwing situation only not from traditional spots on the field. The idea is to bring people from different spots and angles, rarely from the same spot twice. If executed properly it can be devastating since the QB never knows who to read. The second concept is to have seven capable of dropping into coverage, even though it often means a quick defensive end or traditional edge rusher playing out in space to guard the flat or drop into a crossing lane. How effective is the creeper against the pass? In the final three years Napier was at Louisiana, the Ragin Cajuns held opponents to fewer than 200 yards and 6.9 or fewer yards per pass attempt (5.8 in 2020).
THE BIG LIE: THE BIG TEN WAS WORKING ON EXPANSION FOR MONTHS
Surely you haven’t bought into that sorry explanation by the Big Ten that Southern Cal and UCLA sort of dropped right into their laps and they had no choice but to accept them as new members.
Read this from ESPN, describing that this move was months in planning: “Unbeknownst to nearly everyone in attendance [at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention in Las Vegas], Bohn (Southern Cal athletic director) and others had been working quietly for months on a move that would throw the future of the college sports landscape into flux. USC, which joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1922 and had been in the league that would become the Pac-12ever since was set to uproot and join the Big Ten. The Trojans would leave with crosstown rival UCLA, a Pac-12 member since 1928.”
Here is what college football writer Matt Hayes wrote in his Monday column regarding how the Big Ten used it’s Alliance with the ACC and Pac-12 to hide its true intentions: “It took merely 7 months for the Big Ten to reveal the purpose of the Alliance all along: a simple diversion tactic … So the Big Ten, desperate to slow the behemoth SEC, came up with a plan and somehow sold it to the Pac-12 and ACC: The Big Ten was a pauper, just like the Pac-12 and ACC … They, too, were pushed into a position of weakness by the big, bad SEC – nevermind the fact that the Big Ten’s media rights deal was worth as much or more as the ACC. They had to form an ‘Alliance’ to keep the SEC bully at bay – and keep it from gaining multiple at-large spots in the expanded Playoff. And everyone bought it.”
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: If you can get past the however many pages Phil Steele uses of his annual college football magazine to tout how marvelous he is – perhaps Phil feels that if he doesn’t tell everyone then how will they know? – then there is a lot of information that you won’t find anywhere else. His new magazine is out and the Florida Gators hold down the No. 32 ranking. Steele’s opinion is right there with those of the prognosticators at Lindy’s (No. 31) and Athlon (No. 33).
Here is Steele’s top 40: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Georgia; 4. Clemson; 5. Michigan; 6. Utah; 7. Notre Dame; 8. Oklahoma; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Oregon; 11. Pittsburgh; 12. Miami; 13. North Carolina State; 14. Baylor; 15. Oklahoma State; 16. Southern Cal; 17. UCF; 18. Texas; 19. Wisconsin; 20. Iowa; 21. UAB; 22. Penn State; 23. Michigan State; 24. Wake Forest; 25. Cincinnati; 26. BYU; 27. Tennessee; 28. UCLA; 29. Air Force; 30. Ole Miss; 31. Boise State; 32. FLORIDA; 33. Louisville; 34. Houston; 35. Kentucky; 36. Arkansas; 37. Minnesota; 38. Kansas State; 39. Appalachian State; 40. Fresno State.
The Gators are probably where they should be, particularly when you consider they finished 6-7 last year and Billy Napier is rebuilding the program from the ground up. Napier will probably sell the lower expectations as an insult and use play the disrespect card as often as he can. Of course, if the Gators open the season by whacking No. 6 Utah then following it up with a win over Kentucky, perceptions will change and that will play into Napier’s hands when it comes to recruiting. When you’re trying to rebuild the recruiting base, there is nothing like the momentum of a couple of good wins to get kids excited about the possibility of making a commitment.
A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:
THREE REASONS TO LIKE FLORIDA’S OFFENSE IN 2022
1. The Obvious, Anthony Richardson: Everybody talks about what might happen if Anthony Richardson ever gets all that talent under control. We’ve seen him get outside the tackles and turn on the jets like he did against Florida Atlantic and South Florida, plus we’ve seen him roll out to his left and with a flick of the wrist throw an absolute dart 40 yards down the field, the kind of throw most NFL QBs can’t make. So, we know he’s got it in him to do magnificent things. The question is can he harness it all and go from wildly inconsistent to someone who can play under control? Can he make all the right decisions or at least enough of them to be a difference maker? The thought here is that Billy Napier is just the right coach at just the right time to bring out the best in Anthony. Sometimes it just takes the right person believing in you. If Anthony is a true difference-maker, then Florida’s offense will be dynamic. Of course, he has to stay healthy but this is a contract year and it’s amazing how many players go injury free when they know they’re on the NFL clock.
2. The offensive line, Montrell Johnson and Lorenzo Lingard: For all the complaints about Florida’s offensive line last year, the Gators did average 5.48 yards per rushing attempt which was best in the SEC and fourth best in the entire country. The Gators also allowed only 14 sacks, also the best in the SEC and tied for fifth in the country. Actually, that should be third since No. 1 Army and No. 3 Air Force combined to throw just 222 passes. Now, some of the success of the O-line has to do with having a mobile quarterback, but the numbers are impressive just the same and indicative of the fact UF’s offensive line wasn’t nearly as bad as some folks claimed it to be. Yet, the offensive line will be BETTER this year, perhaps substantially because the coaching from Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton is a step up. Also, from all reports coming out of strength and conditioning, this UF O-line is going to be physically stronger and have more mobility than it had last year. O’Cyrus Torrence at right guard is going to be an All-American. Etch that in stone. We shouldn’t be shocked if a leaner (345, down 20 pounds), meaner Josh Braun is quick enough to move out to right tackle. Now, add Anthony Richardson at QB with pile driver Montrell Johnson and a finally healthy Lorenzo Lingard at running back and that UF running game will be improved, not to mention the fact it will serve a dual purpose. First, it will mean the Gators can keep the defense off the field by grinding when they need to. Secondly, because the running game will be improved and more explosive, defenses will be forced to choose which is their poison. Do they load the box to stop the run? Do they risk UF going over the top for big gains in the passing game to take advantage of one-high safety when the box is loaded up?
3. Underestimate the Florida receivers at your own risk: Every preseason magazine and pundit has said Florida’s receivers don’t have a lot of speed, that there isn’t a single deep threat in the entire group. They base that on Jacob Copeland leaving for Maryland and the fact the UF receivers averaged a very pedestrian 12.47 per catch and that was with Copeland. Here are a couple of things to think about. Emory Jones was famous for an inconsistent trigger finger throwing the ball. Too often he unloaded too quickly or waited too late, but it was rare that he hit a receiver on the break. He also completed 13 passes to the other team. If you watch the film closely, you’ll notice Justin Shorter, for example, spent the 2021 season open. I joked with him a month of so ago that I was happy he was over COVID. He raised his eyebrows as if to wonder where I came up with that. Before he could speak, I said, “You must have had COVID because you ran wide open in the secondary and no one would cover you plus the quarterback wouldn’t throw you the ball … they thought you were contagious.” He laughed and shook his head in agreement. He does not have blazing speed but he is plenty fast enough and if gets the ball on the break, he’s got the size and power to make very big plays. Xzavier Henderson had to be frustrated as well. He runs well, but it seems the only time he got the ball last year was on bubble screens. We haven’t seen him run a lot of those 14-17-yard routes that were the staple of the Spurrier offenses way back when. That’s straight out of the Sid Gillman playbook and they are devastating. Just so everybody knows, Napier loves those routes. Don’t forget the tight ends, either. Dante Zanders may wind up as Florida’s shock the world guy and Nick Elksnis is going to be really, really good.
THREE REASONS TO LIKE FLORIDA’S DEFENSE IN 2022
1. The linebackers will be very, very good: Start with Ventrell Miller back in the middle and healthy. A healthy Miller and I believe the Gators would have beaten Alabama, Kentucky and LSU. He meant that much to the defense, both in terms of on the field productivity and the ability to get everybody in the right place. He is a difference-maker. Put him on the field with Brenton Cox Jr., Derek Wingo, Amari Burney and Diwun Black, then throw in kids like Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Chief Borders and the Gators are going to show vast improvement. Freshman Shemar James didn’t come here to sit. Brenton Cox Jr. is healthy for the first time in two years. He knows this is a contract year. No one should be shocked if he’s first team All-SEC and gets some All-America consideration. He has that kind of raw talent.
2. There is plenty of talent in the secondary: Jason Marshall Jr. at one corner is a lock. The other corner will be Avery Helm, Jaydon Hill or Jalen Kimber. They all have exceptional cover skills and they will be better coached by Corey Raymond, the guy who put the DB in the LSU DBU for years. What a concept. Well-coached corners. We haven’t seen that in awhile. Don’t laugh but Trey Dean III could wind up being one of the truly surprising players in the SEC. He has responded well to the coaching by Patrick Toney. It has never been a lack of talent on his part. There is speed and depth at safety. Kamar Wilcoxson is one to watch now that he’s healthy and well-coached. Kids Devin Moore (CB) and Kamar Wilson (S) are too talented to ride the pine. The talent is there and so is the coaching. Dan Mullen was plagued by poor coaching in the secondary his entire tenure at UF. Billy Napier has remedied the coaching situation.
3. Better scheme will get better results: It’s called The Creeper, the brainchild of Ron Roberts, who is now Dave Aranda’s defensive coordinator at Baylor. Roberts taught The Creeper to Patrick Toney. To break down a creeper defense in simplistic terms, the concept involves getting four pass rushers on every throwing situation only not from traditional spots on the field. The idea is to bring people from different spots and angles, rarely from the same spot twice. If executed properly it can be devastating since the QB never knows who to read. The second concept is to have seven capable of dropping into coverage, even though it often means a quick defensive end or traditional edge rusher playing out in space to guard the flat or drop into a crossing lane. How effective is the creeper against the pass? In the final three years Napier was at Louisiana, the Ragin Cajuns held opponents to fewer than 200 yards and 6.9 or fewer yards per pass attempt (5.8 in 2020).
THE BIG LIE: THE BIG TEN WAS WORKING ON EXPANSION FOR MONTHS
Surely you haven’t bought into that sorry explanation by the Big Ten that Southern Cal and UCLA sort of dropped right into their laps and they had no choice but to accept them as new members.
Read this from ESPN, describing that this move was months in planning: “Unbeknownst to nearly everyone in attendance [at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention in Las Vegas], Bohn (Southern Cal athletic director) and others had been working quietly for months on a move that would throw the future of the college sports landscape into flux. USC, which joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1922 and had been in the league that would become the Pac-12ever since was set to uproot and join the Big Ten. The Trojans would leave with crosstown rival UCLA, a Pac-12 member since 1928.”
Here is what college football writer Matt Hayes wrote in his Monday column regarding how the Big Ten used it’s Alliance with the ACC and Pac-12 to hide its true intentions: “It took merely 7 months for the Big Ten to reveal the purpose of the Alliance all along: a simple diversion tactic … So the Big Ten, desperate to slow the behemoth SEC, came up with a plan and somehow sold it to the Pac-12 and ACC: The Big Ten was a pauper, just like the Pac-12 and ACC … They, too, were pushed into a position of weakness by the big, bad SEC – nevermind the fact that the Big Ten’s media rights deal was worth as much or more as the ACC. They had to form an ‘Alliance’ to keep the SEC bully at bay – and keep it from gaining multiple at-large spots in the expanded Playoff. And everyone bought it.”
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: If you can get past the however many pages Phil Steele uses of his annual college football magazine to tout how marvelous he is – perhaps Phil feels that if he doesn’t tell everyone then how will they know? – then there is a lot of information that you won’t find anywhere else. His new magazine is out and the Florida Gators hold down the No. 32 ranking. Steele’s opinion is right there with those of the prognosticators at Lindy’s (No. 31) and Athlon (No. 33).
Here is Steele’s top 40: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Georgia; 4. Clemson; 5. Michigan; 6. Utah; 7. Notre Dame; 8. Oklahoma; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Oregon; 11. Pittsburgh; 12. Miami; 13. North Carolina State; 14. Baylor; 15. Oklahoma State; 16. Southern Cal; 17. UCF; 18. Texas; 19. Wisconsin; 20. Iowa; 21. UAB; 22. Penn State; 23. Michigan State; 24. Wake Forest; 25. Cincinnati; 26. BYU; 27. Tennessee; 28. UCLA; 29. Air Force; 30. Ole Miss; 31. Boise State; 32. FLORIDA; 33. Louisville; 34. Houston; 35. Kentucky; 36. Arkansas; 37. Minnesota; 38. Kansas State; 39. Appalachian State; 40. Fresno State.
The Gators are probably where they should be, particularly when you consider they finished 6-7 last year and Billy Napier is rebuilding the program from the ground up. Napier will probably sell the lower expectations as an insult and use play the disrespect card as often as he can. Of course, if the Gators open the season by whacking No. 6 Utah then following it up with a win over Kentucky, perceptions will change and that will play into Napier’s hands when it comes to recruiting. When you’re trying to rebuild the recruiting base, there is nothing like the momentum of a couple of good wins to get kids excited about the possibility of making a commitment.
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