Some rumors with McClain supposedly not signing with Miami today that he may be switching to Bama or us. I doubt we get him but if we did I would love to see the look on Ruiz's face.
Gators to Hire Ron Roberts as LB Coach, Co-Defensive Coordinator ?
- Thread starter Jeff from Jax
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Not sure if they know what they are talking about but after the fact they are claiming we went after Pratt and he decided to stay put so we then went and got Mertz. I am starting to doubt we ever made a realistic offer to McCall NIL wise.
If he (Rashada)doesn’t think he beat Leary out then we probably don’t need him.
Some Thoughts on Mertz
https://hailfloridahail.com/2022/12/21/florida-football-graham-mertz-massive-whiff-billy-napier/
And while we also dismiss the Las Vegas Bowl as a game that doesn’t matter because Florida football was missing half its roster, the half of the roster that did play are the guys that will be playing in 2023 for the Gators.
That’s why landing a big-name QB out of the portal was going to be vital for Napier.
Yet Sam Hartman is probably going to the NFL,
Devin Leary is off to be the next actual Will Levis in Kentucky, and it turns out
Grayson McCall attends a school whose academics are worthless and has credits that won’t transfer to UF.
So, we are left with Graham Mertz. He did a great job padding his stats against Northwestern, Illinois State, and New Mexico State.
He also threw for under 100 yards against Ohio State, Maryland, and Nebraska.
He had the 17th most interceptions in the country,
his completion percentage wasn’t in the top 100,
he offers nothing in the running game, and
his QBR was 82nd in the country.
Jack Miller had a chance to be him. He wasn’t.
Graham Mertz is not him either.
Buckle up Gator fans, because if Jaden Rashada isn’t him (assuming he doesn’t flip to Oregon), it’s going to be a long season for Florida football.
https://hailfloridahail.com/2022/12/21/florida-football-graham-mertz-massive-whiff-billy-napier/
And while we also dismiss the Las Vegas Bowl as a game that doesn’t matter because Florida football was missing half its roster, the half of the roster that did play are the guys that will be playing in 2023 for the Gators.
That’s why landing a big-name QB out of the portal was going to be vital for Napier.
Yet Sam Hartman is probably going to the NFL,
Devin Leary is off to be the next actual Will Levis in Kentucky, and it turns out
Grayson McCall attends a school whose academics are worthless and has credits that won’t transfer to UF.
So, we are left with Graham Mertz. He did a great job padding his stats against Northwestern, Illinois State, and New Mexico State.
He also threw for under 100 yards against Ohio State, Maryland, and Nebraska.
He had the 17th most interceptions in the country,
his completion percentage wasn’t in the top 100,
he offers nothing in the running game, and
his QBR was 82nd in the country.
Jack Miller had a chance to be him. He wasn’t.
Graham Mertz is not him either.
Buckle up Gator fans, because if Jaden Rashada isn’t him (assuming he doesn’t flip to Oregon), it’s going to be a long season for Florida football.
Mertz is pretty “meh” but I do think he is likely better than Miller. Leary is a better QB than Mertz but Leary is injury prone and can’t even throw a football right now and likely may not even be ready for spring football. His injury was pretty severe for a QB so he’s high risk.
Miller and Mertz are just gap fillers until Rashada is ready.
Miller and Mertz are just gap fillers until Rashada is ready.
Paco,
Agree !
But this way Rashada gets to beat out two upperclassmen QBs in Spring Practice - good for his Morale !
You serious about Rashada possibly flipping to Oregon? I figured the noise was Ruiz maybe pulling some mess in the background to try and screw UF. Hopefully he signs today.
No telling what happens with McClain as there are Bama. Colorado and Florida rumors now. Would love to see him screw Ruiz over though.
Rashada isn’t flipping. McClain isnt coming to Florida and is just trying to stir up more attention for himself. He may flip to Bama though.
Cooper was supposedly the best of them all but had a back problem I believe. Had to quit the game.
Yes. He did not receive an LOI from us.
Agree - We're limping to the finish line with no surprise reinforcements likely headed our way.Lol…Napier‘s army is having a rough week…
Surprised he didnt end up at a lower power 5 school somewhere or in the Sunbelt conference. He has size and crazy top end speed but just didn't have the moves to be a top RB in college. I can see him getting some long TD runs in that conference though.
It’s a good to very good recruiting class. Tons of blue chippers and in-state kids. Average rating per player is very high.
It is not an elite class. Not in the SEC anyways. If we were in just about any other conference you could maybe say it was “elite”.
It is not an elite class. Not in the SEC anyways. If we were in just about any other conference you could maybe say it was “elite”.
247Sports is showing WR Andy Jean signed with Florida this morning. That's good news because recent reports had him possibly flipping to FSU. Some concern that Dijon Johnson's LOI hasn't been received, as he was supposed to sign at 7:30 am.
Dijon Johnson’s LOI is in
Yep its not bad but you need a little portal help with proven players to be able to get to 10 wins in the new + OK and TX SEC with classes like this probably and that is in addition to being pretty good in your evaluations and developing the players.
With NIL and portal we are driving to a future where signing day classes don't matter as half the kids will bolt after a year or two...with their pockets full of cash.
I still think high school signing classes are still the lifeblood of a program. Portal isn’t sustainable over a long period of time. It is good for filling in gaps and rebuilding but the top programs in the country are not heavily reliant on the portal.
It does create a situation where you better pay those kids that over achieve early or they will bolt on you and you also have to keep the top recruits that did pan out taken care of through year 3.
Agree completely....not yet anyway. Still need the top class, but this thing is rapidly changing sadly.
Country,
Not so sure of that.
Our CPA (LG89) has mentioned that most NIL contracts are "back Loaded."
They receive less money in the first years; more in the last years to (hopefully) keep players from bolting.
So they WILL receive money, but not as much as they think in the 1st 2 years.
Of course, not all NIL deals will be written that way & some exceptions will obviously be made for "exceptional" players.
Wonder how Texas structured Arch Manning's NIL deal ?
Phil Knight must have opened the checkbook as Oregon is moving up the charts fast taking other teams recruits.
Regarding transfers, I’d be interested to see how many kids leave for better NIL deals vs. how many leave because they think they have a better opportunity to play. Seems like the transfer kids are largely backups or kids from smaller programs. A lot of them are probably the kids who, pre-portal, would get “processed” out of the big time programs.
There are some pretty good ones out there. Michigan seems to be using them as a strategy this season. Not sure if USC plans another big hit there like this past season but my guess is they will get quite a few seeing that there recruiting class isn't old USC standards. I am hoping we will finally grab a few good proven ones to help us this season since we are so young. Not counting ones that followed Napier Pearsall was about our only decent portal guy last season.
Another thread reporting that he's coming to UF as a preferred walk-on.
247Sports LIve Updates run by Blake Alderman shows the following players have signed: Lovett, Mizell, Webb, Robinson, Thornton, Harris, Searcy, Jackson, Castell, Kearney, Collins, James, Denson, Hill, Jean, Wilson, Norman. Still unsigned but expected to sign today: Johnson, Gates, Rashada. Others signing today, but probably not with us, though UF is hopeful: Russaw & Smith at 2 pm on ESPN2. Ricks and Hall sign tomorrow and Jones on 1/7
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Russaw & Smith just put their Alabama hats on - ESPN2. Too bad - The rich just get richer.
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Mitchell at least was getting real playing time at Ohio State in 2021 so it wouldn't surprise me if he was to win a starting job here. Both him and Wingo haven't lived up to their billing out of high school but Wingo hasn't got on the field much at all short of players in front of him being out. Mitchell should be a decent depth piece in the worst case scenario.
Don’t worry, Toney will ensure they are out of position regularly
QBpp Graham Mertz 6-3 225 5.03/40 - 5th Yr-Sr (2 Yrs Eligibility)
Wis 3 Yr Career - 5,405 yds, 59.5%, 38 TD's to 26 Ints.
Career Rushing // -21 rushing yards (sacks) with 8 TD's
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2022 - 2,136 yds, 57.3%, 19 TD's, 10 Ints, finished 6-6
And that's called being a GREAT RECRUITER? -- WTF???
Wis 3 Yr Career - 5,405 yds, 59.5%, 38 TD's to 26 Ints.
Career Rushing // -21 rushing yards (sacks) with 8 TD's
-----
2022 - 2,136 yds, 57.3%, 19 TD's, 10 Ints, finished 6-6
And that's called being a GREAT RECRUITER? -- WTF???
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