Whispers Late Night Whispers in the Hall (8/18/24)

[JasonHigdon]

I'm going over a few quick things tonight at 4:00 AM, and we could have this discussion until the cows come home.

• Coaching or Talent
• Great Offense or Bad Defense
• Chicken or the Egg
• Pancakes or Waffles
• Hot Dog or Hamburgers

You get the point.

Everyone's opinions will vary based on what type of person you are—glass half empty or glass half full. I think you all know me well enough to understand that I will always be more of a glass-half-full guy because that is how I want to live my life. Does that mean I am right? Nope. It sure doesn't mean my opinion could be different from yours, which is okay.

I want you all to take away ONE IMPORTANT note from this report, and I will get to that in a moment.

In the first scrimmage, the Offense won the day - any offensive/defensive player you speak with would have told you the same thing. Today was a different story as it appears the Defense won the day. I am going to stick with saying "appears" because I did not see it with "MY" own eyes, and regardless of what anyone tells you, we all need to SEE it with our own eyes before passing judgment. That makes sense, right? How can anyone have such strong opinions based on something we have been unable to watch?

Each side of the ball won the day in the only two scrimmages they will have before hosting the Miami Hurricanes in less than two weeks from today.

I have heard great things about Ron Roberts's impact on the entire Defense and defensive staff. This could turn out to be one of the single most important hires of the Billy Napier era. There is a long way to go, but I have heard nothing but rave reviews about Coach Roberts and his impact on players, staff, etc.

Notice I once again said "could" because we have not been able to see it with our own eyes. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it is vitally essential that you all keep that in mind as we discuss these things.

Now, back to the most important note for everyone to soak in. In the next week, conversations will be held about players, depth charts, and the part everyone needs to play for this team to be successful. There are a lot of dynamics at play when making these decisions, in particular on the offensive line, which is what I am going to focus on because I believe for this team to reach bowl eligibility, it will come down to the offensive line being able to efficiently run and pass block.

Various injury bugs hit Florida, and the guys up front, Fletcher Westphal, Bryce Lovett, Caden Jones, Kamryn Waites, Austin Barber, and others, have been limited in some capacity through the camp to this point. Every position group must have chemistry to be on the field together, none more critical than those five offensive linemen. Multiple players returned to practice today and participated. Still, the number of snaps they played was limited to a certain number for precautionary reasons - which is smart with two more weeks of practice headed their way.

Last year, there were few options up front—Florida had the five guys going to play, almost to a fault, regardless of how poorly they played. At times, with so many guys on the sidelines, Florida was stuck with the guys available to play on the offensive line to date. Moving forward, with everyone back or close to being back to full speed, it will not be like that.

Going back to the decisions that will be made, some of them center around a couple of guys who are either better pass blockers than the guy they are competing with or better run blockers, or vice versa. The No. 1 guy might be a better run blocker, while the No. 2 guy does a better job in pass protection. These guys will have two more weeks to establish themselves within the OL pecking order.

Why is this the most essential note of the night to focus on? I have always believed that the Defense is ahead of the Offense at this time of year, which is why I was surprised the Offense won the day last week. However, it will make things even more challenging when you can't get your five best guys on the offensive line, especially if the Defense is much improved, which, by all accounts is t, the case coming out of camp.

We will see multiple guys on the offensive line get live game reps in week one. Florida will have a starting five, no question about it, but a few other guys deserve to play and will be given that opportunity. When these discussions take place, they will only do one thing: force the guys to go even harder.

Unless someone gets injured in the next two weeks or we get into a blowout situation, the guys I expect to play in week one will include the following.

Austin Barber
Knijeah Harris
Jake Slaughter
Damieon George
Kamryn Waites
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson
Devin Manuel

I believe the two others are very close. I could have easily gone with nine guys, but I want to stick to these seven for now until I see how the next two weeks of practice go.

So yes, with issues on guys up front being healthy and unable to play and establish that chemistry they desperately need, I expect some struggles occasionally. Even with those issues, they were able to win the day last Saturday. It is also so important to point out that Florida did not have these types of options last season, and the reason they do now is all the talent they brought in by way of the portal or high school. These are GREAT problems to have for the Florida staff! The 31st will not arrive fast enough.

 

[JasonHigdon]

I can't wait to see it in two weeks..........

 

[kygator1969]

First…due to insomnia.

I think the main issue from a fan’s perspective is that neither the OL or DL was good last year. If, for example, we were returning an elite DL but the OL was a huge question, most of us would look at it as a positive if the OL was winning these scrimmages. I’m still cautiously optimistic that both sides, and special teams, will be much improved. Can’t wait for the season to start!

 

[1gatorbear]

Is it true that our starting oline has been going against our backup dline in these scrimmages ?

 

[JasonHigdon]

Is it true that our starting oline has been going against our backup dline in these scrimmages ?

They have been doing all kinds of stuff....and again, don't forget UF has not had "the" starting five all healthy until today for just a few reps...

 

[HalleyGator44]

When I watched a practice (that turned out to be 2 hours of running plays)... they did a lot of 1 vs. 1. But they also did a lot of 1 vs. 2 and 2 vs. 1. Then I saw 3 vs. 3.

 

[rulers]

I'm going over a few quick things tonight at 4:00 AM, and we could have this discussion until the cows come home.

• Coaching or Talent
• Great Offense or Bad Defense
• Chicken or the Egg
• Pancakes or Waffles
• Hot Dog or Hamburgers

You get the point.

Everyone's opinions will vary based on what type of person you are—glass half empty or glass half full. I think you all know me well enough to understand that I will always be more of a glass-half-full guy because that is how I want to live my life. Does that mean I am right? Nope. It sure doesn't mean my opinion could be different from yours, which is okay.

I want you all to take away ONE IMPORTANT note from this report, and I will get to that in a moment.

In the first scrimmage, the Offense won the day - any offensive/defensive player you speak with would have told you the same thing. Today was a different story as it appears the Defense won the day. I am going to stick with saying "appears" because I did not see it with "MY" own eyes, and regardless of what anyone tells you, we all need to SEE it with our own eyes before passing judgment. That makes sense, right? How can anyone have such strong opinions based on something we have been unable to watch?

Each side of the ball won the day in the only two scrimmages they will have before hosting the Miami Hurricanes in less than two weeks from today.

I have heard great things about Ron Roberts's impact on the entire Defense and defensive staff. This could turn out to be one of the single most important hires of the Billy Napier era. There is a long way to go, but I have heard nothing but rave reviews about Coach Roberts and his impact on players, staff, etc.

Notice I once again said "could" because we have not been able to see it with our own eyes. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it is vitally essential that you all keep that in mind as we discuss these things.

Now, back to the most important note for everyone to soak in. In the next week, conversations will be held about players, depth charts, and the part everyone needs to play for this team to be successful. There are a lot of dynamics at play when making these decisions, in particular on the offensive line, which is what I am going to focus on because I believe for this team to reach bowl eligibility, it will come down to the offensive line being able to efficiently run and pass block.

Various injury bugs hit Florida, and the guys up front, Fletcher Westphal, Bryce Lovett, Caden Jones, Kamryn Waites, Austin Barber, and others, have been limited in some capacity through the camp to this point. Every position group must have chemistry to be on the field together, none more critical than those five offensive linemen. Multiple players returned to practice today and participated. Still, the number of snaps they played was limited to a certain number for precautionary reasons - which is smart with two more weeks of practice headed their way.

Last year, there were few options up front—Florida had the five guys going to play, almost to a fault, regardless of how poorly they played. At times, with so many guys on the sidelines, Florida was stuck with the guys available to play on the offensive line to date. Moving forward, with everyone back or close to being back to full speed, it will not be like that.

Going back to the decisions that will be made, some of them center around a couple of guys who are either better pass blockers than the guy they are competing with or better run blockers, or vice versa. The No. 1 guy might be a better run blocker, while the No. 2 guy does a better job in pass protection. These guys will have two more weeks to establish themselves within the OL pecking order.

Why is this the most essential note of the night to focus on? I have always believed that the Defense is ahead of the Offense at this time of year, which is why I was surprised the Offense won the day last week. However, it will make things even more challenging when you can't get your five best guys on the offensive line, especially if the Defense is much improved, which, by all accounts is t, the case coming out of camp.

We will see multiple guys on the offensive line get live game reps in week one. Florida will have a starting five, no question about it, but a few other guys deserve to play and will be given that opportunity. When these discussions take place, they will only do one thing: force the guys to go even harder.

Unless someone gets injured in the next two weeks or we get into a blowout situation, the guys I expect to play in week one will include the following.

Austin Barber
Knijeah Harris
Jake Slaughter
Damieon George
Kamryn Waites
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson
Devin Manuel

I believe the two others are very close. I could have easily gone with nine guys, but I want to stick to these seven for now until I see how the next two weeks of practice go.

So yes, with issues on guys up front being healthy and unable to play and establish that chemistry they desperately need, I expect some struggles occasionally. Even with those issues, they were able to win the day last Saturday. It is also so important to point out that Florida did not have these types of options last season, and the reason they do now is all the talent they brought in by way of the portal or high school. These are GREAT problems to have for the Florida staff! The 31st will not arrive fast enough.

I guess you could say I’m a glass half empty guy. More so I see myself as realist.
You’re only as good as your weakest link.

Realistically I have to say, is that this doesn’t sound encouraging at all for being year three

We’ll should all know for sure in two weeks

I think to be fair I’ll say two things:

Glass half empty :
Offensive line, pass protection will get overwhelmed and dominated by Miami, and we will lose the game

Glass half full:

Offensive line will improve as the season goes and we’ll have a chance to beat some teams we are not expected to win

 

[dalwood13]

I know you said you could have listed two more on the O-Line rotation, but I’m shocked not to see Kearney listed. I heard he was pushing for PT at guard and it seemed like he was maybe going to take D George’s spot.

 

[vacate]

I've always been a glass half full guy in life and in my fandom. I'm not at practice, so have absolutely no knowledge of what's going on. That being said, I've never worried too much about which side wins a intrasquad scrimmage, because there are so many things different about a scrimmage than an actual game--no game planning, different player combinations, desire to see how different plays/looks are executed, etc. If nobody got hurt and you saw good things on both sides at times, that's fine by me.

 

[bollesboy]

Chicken and Hamburgers for sure! Except for the butter and syrup, I never was that fond of pancakes or waffles.

Talent can overcome poor coaching moreso than Coaching can overcome poor talent.

Without a much improved OL and DL, we aren’t finishing with a winning record this year. No point for me in debating which one is more important.

 

[GatorFan1020]

I guess you could say I’m a glass half empty guy. More so I see myself as realist.
You’re only as good as your weakest link.

Realistically I have to say, is that this doesn’t sound encouraging at all for being year three

We’ll should all know for sure in two weeks

I think to be fair I’ll say two things:

Glass half empty :
Offensive line, pass protection will get overwhelmed and dominated by Miami, and we will lose the game

Glass half full:

Offensive line will improve as the season goes and we’ll have a chance to beat some teams we are not expected to win

Let’s be honest, you’re not even a glass half empty guy. You’re the guy that dumps the water out just so you can say the glass is empty.

 

[BocaGator15]

I agree with your assessment of the importance of the OL ... I also think that while we have definitely improved our depth, the injury bug (or lack thereof) is very important for this team. There are still some critical positions that injuries can hurt us big time. We are way closer to 2 and 3 deep than we have been in a long time, but let's also cross our fingers for an injury free year.

 

[shot_ster]

I don’t put much stock in scrimmage reports - Kyle Trask was a guy that you never heard anything good about and his first game vs Kentucky after a few series you knew he had “it”

The narrative around Billy would be much different if etienne stays in bounce late in game vs Missouri which cost us the game and smack makes game winning FG vs arky. I feel we should be significantly better this year(depth, experience, talent) but until we put on the pads in 13 days no one will know what happens

 

[SwampRock]

Thanks for the OL focus Jason. Big test for this group in a few weeks for sure against Miami. Hope any knee jerk reactions either way after it are held in check because first games don’t always tell the true story of any position group. Long season ahead.

Waffles all day everyday over Pancakes if chicken and spicy syrup is involved.

Need more clarity on the hamburger hot dog matchup. If a bbq, it’s a closer contest. Topping list could tip the scale either way and don’t underestimate the power of fried onions on each choice, the texture variance on either, along with a good hot mustard.

 

[LTGator]

Wouldn’t this be early morning whispers??
My problem is I like waffles and pancakes.

 

[LordGator66]

So OL is still very much a concern it seems, better get their crap together. Miami DL is legit

 

[Tatton]

The one unit with the mose serious concerns fir depth is the offensive line. If likely starters were held out from the scrimmage or limited to only a series or two it’s an understandable precaution. Putting our healthiest best five on the field against Miami is critically important.

 

[Gatorskin21]

I can't wait to see it in two weeks..........

You forgot “first”…..

 

[alaqua]

if the glass is half empty or half full, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be

 

[Trail221]

So OL is still very much a concern it seems, better get their crap together. Miami DL is legit

😂😂😂😂😂

 

[therealbuckygator]

Seems like the majority of our injuries are on OL. Hope this doesn't become a pattern. Can't afford to be injury depleted on OL again. Mertz won't make it through the season if they can't do a MUCH better job protecting him.

 

[LordGator66]

😂😂😂😂😂

Can’t have honest assessments anymore on this board, I for one am very excited about the season and love Napier. Doesn’t mean the OL isn’t a concern

Anything negative means you hate Billy, anything positive means you’re a sunshine pumper. Truly absurd

 

[Cptchiron]

I guess you could say I’m a glass half empty guy. More so I see myself as realist.
You’re only as good as your weakest link.

Realistically I have to say, is that this doesn’t sound encouraging at all for being year three

We’ll should all know for sure in two weeks

I think to be fair I’ll say two things:

Glass half empty :
Offensive line, pass protection will get overwhelmed and dominated by Miami, and we will lose the game

Glass half full:

Offensive line will improve as the season goes and we’ll have a chance to beat some teams we are not expected to win

I will take the opposite view..
Mertz with a weak o line put up 30 points it wasn’t the offense that let the gators down..the d was horrible.. we hired a young coach. He talked like a lion and he coached like a kitten! When you rush three you give a quarterback all day long when you rush for you’re still going against five lineman a tight end and running back the games we put five in the box, we had better performance. We hire Ron Roberts. You should’ve won the Alabama game, but he pulled a Grantham rushed three from fourth and goal outside the 20. I sent an ab blistering letter saying the gators have seen more than enough prevent defense to last a lifetime the kids would enjoy playing more aggressively and so would the fans, with that said in the portal for the first time, coach actively got some players the first two years I sent in notes that FSU the very first day rebuilt their line 2 years ago while we were still evaluating, we needed to strike faster and be well organized this year we have
We have linebacker help
We have offensive line
We have defensive backfield help
We have defensive line help

First time we have a depth benefit instead of a crisis! I have confidence in Mertz I did when we signed him, took the time to watch his games. He is a very serviceable quarterback with a good head on the shoulders! I love our running backs, especially the cannonball freshman Arlis is gonna make a fabulous tight end .. NR receiving core. I’m excited about that!

It was the Defense ever since we hired Graham that has made no sense to me whatsoever. Graham works if you have a speed defensive end and you can hold your middle when you lose that he couldn’t adjust a simple counter play would beat us! The young kid comes in plays way too soft or defensive backs don’t have a chance and they didn’t play with confidence. Having linebackers who can play and defensive backs who can cover our front needs to perform and we certainly have some talent there.
So I look at this as the glass is half full the gators have the ability the talent, to upset bunch of people this year..
It c-med down to coaching..I was more than happy to hear we focus on special teams and was a ticked off gator when coach would not answer the reporters question..I sent one in ..do we ever practice punt blocks..
If what we hear is right, we will be organized and we’ve hired somebody who can count to 11 that in itself is an improvement. These coaches have to be excited. They have speed and they have more talent than we’ve had in many years of the university of Florida so for the naysayers it’s just like politics. Everyone has an opinion there’s mine. The glass is half full.

The glasses full because I was born a gator that puts more water in the glass than the average fan

 

[Noel in the 305]

Sometimes it’s incredible to me that in the year of our Lord 2024 the University of Florida cannot recruit/field a solid top OL 🫤 we’ve been hearing of OL struggles for over a decade it seems.

 

[treygator29]

Been curious about Christian Williams development along the line

 

[Tarjf]

I've always been a glass half full guy in life and in my fandom. I'm not at practice, so have absolutely no knowledge of what's going on. That being said, I've never worried too much about which side wins a intrasquad scrimmage, because there are so many things different about a scrimmage than an actual game--no game planning, different player combinations, desire to see how different plays/looks are executed, etc. If nobody got hurt and you saw good things on both sides at times, that's fine by me.

You are absolutely correct in this. If you are an inexperienced observer in practices (like many would be if they are not on staff) really the only things you can get is how an individual performs. But I know in many of my practices & ones on the collegiate & professional levels in basketball when we did scrimmages we would institute certain rules for particular guys to work in somethings. When I have a great shooter that isn't utilizing his shot fake, I will tell him & only him that he can only shoot a jumper if he uses a shot fake first. If I have a particular very talented player and he isn't being assertive enough to get touches in our offense I will tell only his team that to take a shot this player needs to get at least one touch before a shot goes up. These rules are done many many times within a scrimmage. So it's really hard to judge a teams performance in a scrimmage or even sometimes an individuals performance.

A friend was a team doctor for an NFL team for years & in training camp there was a particular HOF QB that would throw ALOT of interceptions early in camp b/c he was trying to get a judgement on how tight of windows he can throw in with particular WRs and how he can judge routes, timing, etc....so again I take scrimmage & practice results with a grain of salt.

 

[InstaGator24]

Sometimes it’s incredible to me that in the year of our Lord 2024 the University of Florida cannot recruit/field a solid top OL 🫤 we’ve been hearing of OL struggles for over a decade it seems.

Seems pretty fair...I've wondered the same thing for a while too.

 

[vacate]

You are absolutely correct in this. If you are an inexperienced observer in practices (like many would be if they are not on staff) really the only things you can get is how an individual performs. But I know in many of my practices & ones on the collegiate & professional levels in basketball when we did scrimmages we would institute certain rules for particular guys to work in somethings. When I have a great shooter that isn't utilizing his shot fake, I will tell him & only him that he can only shoot a jumper if he uses a shot fake first. If I have a particular very talented player and he isn't being assertive enough to get touches in our offense I will tell only his team that to take a shot this player needs to get at least one touch before a shot goes up. These rules are done many many times within a scrimmage. So it's really hard to judge a teams performance in a scrimmage or even sometimes an individuals performance.

A friend was a team doctor for an NFL team for years & in training camp there was a particular HOF QB that would throw ALOT of interceptions early in camp b/c he was trying to get a judgement on how tight of windows he can throw in with particular WRs and how he can judge routes, timing, etc....so again I take scrimmage & practice results with a grain of salt.

Exactly. Hell, Billy told us that he was going to force more downfield passing in this scrimmage. Do people think the defensive players don't know that and look for it? They're trying to earn playing time too. I can guarantee you the DL errored a little bit more to rush the passer and the safeties and corners made sure they didn't get beat deep.

As you said, you can see things with individual players and you can get a sense of organization in terms of lining up, getting plays off, etc. Even on those things, usually the two weeks before the first game (i.e., starting this week) is when depth charts are solidified, game planning starts, and you start to see consistency and sharpness.

 

[Tarjf]

Exactly. Hell, Billy told us that he was going to force more downfield passing in this scrimmage. Do people think the defensive players don't know that and look for it? They're trying to earn playing time too. I can guarantee you the DL errored a little bit more to rush the passer and the safeties and corners made sure they didn't get beat deep.

As you said, you can see things with individual players and you can get a sense of organization in terms of lining up, getting plays off, etc. Even on those things, usually the two weeks before the first game (i.e., starting this week) is when depth charts are solidified, game planning starts, and you start to see consistency and sharpness.

And lets be honest....unless you are a legit football guy or you go to a scrimmage/practice just watching the OL the entire time it's really hard to judge them on an individual basis. Yes, you may see the big splash plays like a monster block or pancake but usually they go unnoticed for the most part. Heck, if I was at the practices I'd be judging the speed, organization of practices, and accuracy of the QBs.

 

[TahoeGator]

I was hoping “late night whispers in the hall” was going to be about cheerleaders

 

[Trail221]

Can’t have honest assessments anymore on this board, I for one am very excited about the season and love Napier. Doesn’t mean the OL isn’t a concern

Anything negative means you hate Billy, anything positive means you’re a sunshine pumper. Truly absurd

😭😭😭😭

 

[gtrdynasty]

Let’s be honest, you’re not even a glass half empty guy. You’re the guy that dumps the water out just so you can say the glass is empty.

you are using the word "guy" loosely right?

 

[GatorTrooper]

OL has been an issue for UF for a while. I can't remember the last good OL unit hopefully that changes this season.

 

[Opus One]

Wouldn’t this be early morning whispers??
My problem is I like waffles and pancakes.

lol, me too. Put either one in front of me and I'm a happy guy.

 

[DC407]

OL has been an issue for UF for a while. I can't remember the last good OL unit hopefully that changes this season.

2018 and 2022

 

[IHSGator88]

So I been told last night and this morning that the linemen can win one on ones, but it is the cohesiveness missing with all the little days off and stuff of that nature. So I am going to be half full guy and really back what Jason was told. The line is where you need that time together to look very good. They have it whittled down who can help early this year. Now they need to get into the games and see who can perform.

 

[LordGator66]

😭😭😭😭

Weird lol

 

[WNewsom]

The ceiling of the Oline seems about the same but floor of the Oline seems to be raised.
If our Defense is as improved in all facets as the reports are saying then we will be a much improved overall team. Unfortunately our schedule leaves no margin for error because every single team we play besides Samford is capable of beating us on a given day if we don’t bring it every week

 

[rulers]

I will take the opposite view..
Mertz with a weak o line put up 30 points it wasn’t the offense that let the gators down..the d was horrible.. we hired a young coach. He talked like a lion and he coached like a kitten! When you rush three you give a quarterback all day long when you rush for you’re still going against five lineman a tight end and running back the games we put five in the box, we had better performance. We hire Ron Roberts. You should’ve won the Alabama game, but he pulled a Grantham rushed three from fourth and goal outside the 20. I sent an ab blistering letter saying the gators have seen more than enough prevent defense to last a lifetime the kids would enjoy playing more aggressively and so would the fans, with that said in the portal for the first time, coach actively got some players the first two years I sent in notes that FSU the very first day rebuilt their line 2 years ago while we were still evaluating, we needed to strike faster and be well organized this year we have
We have linebacker help
We have offensive line
We have defensive backfield help
We have defensive line help

First time we have a depth benefit instead of a crisis! I have confidence in Mertz I did when we signed him, took the time to watch his games. He is a very serviceable quarterback with a good head on the shoulders! I love our running backs, especially the cannonball freshman Arlis is gonna make a fabulous tight end .. NR receiving core. I’m excited about that!

It was the Defense ever since we hired Graham that has made no sense to me whatsoever. Graham works if you have a speed defensive end and you can hold your middle when you lose that he couldn’t adjust a simple counter play would beat us! The young kid comes in plays way too soft or defensive backs don’t have a chance and they didn’t play with confidence. Having linebackers who can play and defensive backs who can cover our front needs to perform and we certainly have some talent there.
So I look at this as the glass is half full the gators have the ability the talent, to upset bunch of people this year..
It c-med down to coaching..I was more than happy to hear we focus on special teams and was a ticked off gator when coach would not answer the reporters question..I sent one in ..do we ever practice punt blocks..
If what we hear is right, we will be organized and we’ve hired somebody who can count to 11 that in itself is an improvement. These coaches have to be excited. They have speed and they have more talent than we’ve had in many years of the university of Florida so for the naysayers it’s just like politics. Everyone has an opinion there’s mine. The glass is half full.

The glasses full because I was born a gator that puts more water in the glass than the average fan

I’m half empty.. I grew up with Doug Dickey 4th and dumb, 0-10-1 1979 season, and Ga Fl 1980 -Run Lindsey.. My PTSD as a Gator is very hard to treat

 

[Coolgtr]

And lets be honest....unless you are a legit football guy or you go to a scrimmage/practice just watching the OL the entire time it's really hard to judge them on an individual basis. Yes, you may see the big splash plays like a monster block or pancake but usually they go unnoticed for the most part. Heck, if I was at the practices I'd be judging the speed, organization of practices, and accuracy of the QBs.

More to your point, Offensive Lineman only get noticed if they get beat or have a penalty. Sucks for them for sure but that's kind of the way it is. OL as a position group, not unlike referees, are at their best when nobody really notices them.