lol Everyone knows he was drafted on physical talent. Mertz just isn't a good QB. Even the joke play caller Napier had him throwing short most of the game and then a review of the tape showed Mertz was gun shy to throw it down field unless it was a situation you didn't have to fit the ball in a close window. The difference from WI is he did throw it a lot more trying to get the actual yardage on 3rd and 4th down instead of taking a joke short wide open pass that had no chance and just gives you hardly any picks and a nice completion %.
Thoughts on this Florida team moving onto 2024......
- Thread starter Gator Fever
- Start date
lol Everyone knows he was drafted on physical talent. Mertz just isn't a good QB. Even the joke play caller Napier had him throwing short most of the game and then a review of the tape showed Mertz was gun shy to throw it down field unless it was a situation you didn't have to fit the ball in a close window. The difference from WI is he did throw it a lot more trying to get the actual yardage on 3rd and 4th down instead of taking a joke short wide open pass that had no chance and just gives you hardly any picks and a nice completion %.
Healthy Mertz we most likely beat the nolies. Mertz is a good QB, just not an elite QB. Kid is tough as nails especially when you consider how bad our Oline was. Surprised he didn't get hurt sooner. Plus he seems like a great kid and a really good teammate.
Well you just ran your mouth about Dart at Ole Miss...against those same dawgs your "difference maker" qb was 10 for 17 112 yards and a pick. Mertz was 25 for 34 230 and 2 TDs. Hmmm....
Mertz isn't in the same league as someone like Dart. I was just using the GA example because a lot of those plays were comparable to what FSU did to Brown after we went up 12-0. At those points of the game both Mertz and Brown weren't able to do anything.
Again, very ignorant. Mertz and Dart had almost identical stats. Their QBRs are very close as are their yards, tds, int, and even their sacks. And Ole Miss offensive line was rated much higher than Florida. So for someone not in the same league, he sure does have almost identical stats behind a worse line.
Most of the time Mertz had a defender in his face long before he could throw it deep.
He ran around a lot also and then hit that short of the chain mess. Not calling him a bad QB but he is clearly average imo which isn't good for real success in the SEC. When you have a lot of other issues the QB has to be good enough to overcome them. My guess is if you put Mertz on someone like Ole Miss this year they would have been 7-5 instead of 10-2 with that schedule.
OC/QB's Napier - Game Day Play Caller
QB-pp Mertz rsSr
QB-pp Miller rsJr
QB-dt Leise rsFr
QB-dt Lagway Fr
As everyone knows, a true Fr, or even a rsFr can't play in the SEC, especially in Napiers offense and with his play calling. 🙄
Miller hasn't hit the portal yet? If Mertz got hurt we might be looking at 4-8 instead of around 6-6/7-5 if the new QB needs a year to get up to speed.
Would be an interesting move by Napier to just roll with lagway and pitch everyone a youth movement next year. Just be like we’ve got to take our lumps this year if we want to take the next step with DJ.
Do you, in all honesty, think we have a chance to be as good as 6-6 facing that schedule??? I sure don't.
And does anyone really believe that with Mertz coming back, that Lagway is going to see any real playing time in this offense???
Billy has yet to demonstrate that he can coach or properly use 2 QB's in a season, much less in a single game......
Billy has yet to demonstrate that he can coach or properly use 2 QB's in a season, much less in a single game......
NO doubt in my mind we beat FSU with Mertz. Like I have posted over and over and over that he averaged 33.5 points the last 6 games he was at QB. That is vs #1 Georgia,@#18 LSU and @#11 Missouri. Defense DID NOT help his cause in those 6 games.
Yes if we hit the portal right. Only GA, TX and LSU will have us really outmanned probably. I guess TN a little bit possibly but just at QB if he is half of what their fans think he will be. Its not easy though as a team like Ole Miss with Lane and that QB usually light non-contending teams up. I will say this though there is absolutely no excuse in your 3rd year to lose home games to Miami or UCF or another game to KY.
You are such an optimist, but I don't think a realist. I wish you were right, but I think you overestimate our talent, especially in the trenches where games are won or lost. We are so outmatched on the lines of scrimmage that it doesn't really matter about the talent at the skill positions. Couple that with terrible in-game coaching, poor special teams play, lack of discipline and horrible play calling and even if we had even talent, we lose most of the time, just like we have the last 2 years.
Last edited:
We've got to find some big uglies via the portal. Our oline was atrocious last year and the dline was just as bad.
Everyone but the offense was bad. We're good at talking smack and spitting on people though.
The 2024 Football Season: through the iG's old blind eyes:
Begins with the scUM thugs in the Swamp.
Middle in the Swamp they get the UCF commuter school NC's.
Ends with the FSUcks criminoles @ the erector set on Ron Zook Field....
And in between, the always easy SEC with it's
'New & Improved' 16 team, no divisions format.
Early SEC's include: aTm, @ MsSt, @ TN and UK.
Then they end the SEC schedule with: UGly @ WLOCP, @ TX, LSU, Miss....
The ONLY pretty-sure win I see is vs Samford, and thank Gawd it's a home game....
I could easily see the Gators again ending a season going 0-5....
Season = 4-8 at best, but 1-11 still looks entirely possible to me....
Begins with the scUM thugs in the Swamp.
Middle in the Swamp they get the UCF commuter school NC's.
Ends with the FSUcks criminoles @ the erector set on Ron Zook Field....
And in between, the always easy SEC with it's
'New & Improved' 16 team, no divisions format.
Early SEC's include: aTm, @ MsSt, @ TN and UK.
Then they end the SEC schedule with: UGly @ WLOCP, @ TX, LSU, Miss....
The ONLY pretty-sure win I see is vs Samford, and thank Gawd it's a home game....
I could easily see the Gators again ending a season going 0-5....
Season = 4-8 at best, but 1-11 still looks entirely possible to me....
Last edited:
You are right about Samford but if we had a coach that had a clue (I think we will know after the portal signings if there is any chance to get things moving in the right direction) we wouldn't be in this position right now. He is responsible for our situation at QB and in the trenches. Name me a coach at a top half SEC school that doesn't bring in one blue chip rated QB in their 1st 2 classes. He better hope the one he is getting is an exception and can actually play good in a true freshman season. We aren't beating 5 of the teams on that schedule imo with a QB as limited as Mertz.
QB wasn't our problem last year, unless you just want to ignore statistical facts for the sake of not having to admit you were wrong. I still remember Brown was the savior...we saw how that went. Kick the fg against arky, make a 4th and 11 stop against mizzou, you get it.
See post #696 and watch my interview post with Mertz. He is NOT the issue and you guys that think he is needs to quit watching games on a black and white 19 inch tv. Wisen up and realize 2023 problems were Offensive line and Defensive problems plus some questionable coaching calls.
Yes it was. We had a QB that would rather throw line of scrimmage dump offs short of the sticks than to risk a tight throw that might get you a first down. Never remember a QB like that in all my years watching UF. I remember some ones that played really bad but even they tried to get the 1st downs usually. Maybe Franks early on that one season is the only time I remember some mess like that.
Some rumors they are looking at Willie Korn QBs coach co-OC at Liberty to maybe come here to call the plays.
How do you have lesser talent when you don't have SEC caliber linemen?
And averaging 33.5 points a game so just imagine what we could do with Alabama and Georgia type talent
We had "good rated" linemen and a good transfer. That is on Napier. Other SEC teams that did better than us had issues there also.
We beat FSWho if we had Mertz. Pearsall only needed 52 yards to tie the school record. They were a great tandem this year and he would have not only tied the record, but he would have set a new one. With Max he didn't even tie it!
The Gator's 2023 Football Stats:
Rushing 97 YPG @ 4.3 YPC with 21 TD's (no wonder 6.3 YPC ET bolted)
Passing 259.25 YPG @ 7.98 Yds/Att with 20 TD's
With only 1 quality win on the entire season....
PPG 28.42 resulting in a 5-7 W/L Record
2022 - 6-7 - .462% - 3-5 SEC .375 - 5-2 Swamp - 1-3 Away - 0-2 Neu - With the #4 NFL draft pic QB
And then a 3-30 bowl embarrassment with Miller.
But just look at the fine progress he made as he ran off Dan's guys and brought in his own.
2023 - 5-7 - .417% - 3-5 SEC .375 - 4-2 Swamp - 1-4 Away - 0-1 Neu.
2 Seasons Combined:
11-14 - 6-10 SEC 9-4 Swamp - 2-7 Away - 0-3 Neu. - - Mar-Vel-Ous....
Billy Napper needs to WTF-UP, because him and his 50+ staff plus the NIL $$$ are sure making Dan's offense and Todd's defense look terrible..... 🙄
And then a 3-30 bowl embarrassment with Miller.
But just look at the fine progress he made as he ran off Dan's guys and brought in his own.
2023 - 5-7 - .417% - 3-5 SEC .375 - 4-2 Swamp - 1-4 Away - 0-1 Neu.
2 Seasons Combined:
11-14 - 6-10 SEC 9-4 Swamp - 2-7 Away - 0-3 Neu. - - Mar-Vel-Ous....
Billy Napper needs to WTF-UP, because him and his 50+ staff plus the NIL $$$ are sure making Dan's offense and Todd's defense look terrible..... 🙄
lol..Mertz doesn't do squat either if guys come through basically not even slowed down like in the FSU game after we were up 12-0. He wouldn't had made any difference in that game.
Mertz put up 31 points or more in 5 out of his last 6 games in 2023 and 20 against Georgia. That should win most games and we were 2 plays away from beating Arkansas and Missouri. If he plays we easily beat FSU and are sitting at 8-4 and everyone considers the season a success. I'm sorry you older guys are still watching games on a smaller black and white TV and don't realize that he's NOT the problem. Gators have other problems within the organization and it's NOT Graham Mertz. If your smaller TV's can turn the volume up enough then go watch the video I posted of him and watch the entire 30 minute video post # 702. He's a GATOR and we need more like him with his attitude and wanting to play at The Swamp. I'm not trying to start an argument but why do so many of you guys have blinders on when it comes to Mertz?
Last edited:
Mertz was bad against Georgia. Except for an early good schemed shorter pass for an early TD he wilted bad under pressure in non garbage late time in that game. I don't think Brown is any top talent either but Mertz wouldn't have done crap against FSU with the pressure they started putting on Brown with those defenders not even being slowed down. I have watched enough of Mertz to see he is clearly an average QB at best. Most of his good plays happen because it was when Napier actually schemed a play that got a WR pretty open. Mertz won't hardly even pull the trigger if it's a small window as he will just check down or find a guy wide open well short of the 1st down. It's how we got an almost 80% completion QB who is very average.
Hey, I’m an older guy and I agree with you.
It's almost as if you didn't watch any of the games? Good news is you're not alone in that...no, we don't get shut down in the 2nd half with Mertz at QB, and most likely have more than 12 at the half. Once the nolies realized Brown was not a serious passing threat they stacked the line and just came. But some on here have said with Browns running ability that the rushing game would open up...that too is just stupid talk when your Oline is bad.
