We’re Number 12!!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter sadgator
- Start date
#9 to #12 could easily be put in any order but If I had to bet the Gators finish no higher than mid-pack #8 in the SEC this season. That would probably translate to a 4-4 SEC record and a 7-5 overall record.
Man, I haven't realized how slow this board is. It used to be a happenin' place back in the day.
In years past there was lots of optimism this time of year. It speaks volumes how slow this board is now. Back to back losing seasons , no bowl last season, dire predictions and a killer schedule on top of it all.
To be fair…she never goes “down” on anything.
I think you are absolutely correct, I mean not winning, not recruiting, just kind of has become what it is. It’s sad how far we have fallen but I understand as well.
How do you think this season will play out? You think Napier is capable of getting a 7-5 year with this schedule.
I doubt it will be good but my range would be 4 to 7 wins with it likely being 5 or 6 wins which is unacceptable. I guess if we lost to Miami and A&M early there could possibly be a meltdown 3 or 4 win scenario.
I think Miami is a huge game for that reason. If we lose that game, it could be very ugly.
A decade or so ago, I'd start believing we could run the table around this time of year. Now, I don't see how, even with great luck on the injury front and lots of lucky bounces, we win more than 8.
My problem is he did it by throwing short of the sticks to guys the defense was giving the play to because it was short of the markers on 3rd down etc. It gave him good looking numbers on paper while not doing much to help us win. He was no where nearly in the ball park of his completion % etc. When it came to effective passing. If he doesn't change it will be ineffective again.
Now look at the numbers that show how far he threw long, and how often.
You can dink all day, and it's wicked awesome if you make all your throws.
He was effective throwing short passes on 3rd down to wide open guys short of the 1st down sticks imo. Either Napier is telling him not to go down the field more or he is being too conservative on his own. When you watch the breakdowns he clearly doesn't like throwing to receivers down the field to give them a chance. He seems to want things pretty open to pull the trigger on the longer passes.
I think both of you are right in some respects. Many times long pass were called, but the O-line broke down or a RB didn't pick up a blitz so he didn't have time for the receivers to get downfield and was forced to throw short. He's not super mobile, but he moved around pretty well and I thought that while moving he sometimes lost track of receivers downfield. His tendency was to get completions and so maybe he focused more on the underneath receivers, but considering how bad our pass protection was, I thought Mertz had a very good year. I know the record was bad, but in my opinion the fault for the bad record fell more on other positions, as well as the coaches, more than on the QB.
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Mertz wasn't our problem. We averaged 34 points per game the last 6 games he started and that with a horrendous line. Candidly the last 6 games he started our defense couldn't stop a peewee team. But I get it, qb is the most visible position and takes heat and glory when at times not deserved. Hopefully our oline has improved, our defense can make stops, and 1 of Napier's 126 coaches can get 11 people out on special teams.
I guess we will agree to disagree if he isn't (or Napier in his ear because he is scared of interceptions happening) willing to open things up and not just take the easier passes we will be in trouble this year. This team isn't some dominant team that can win with a QB playing it safe so much. Miami will be in our backfield a lot unless we have a 2023 TN situation where Napier gets their defense really off balance and he has to pull the trigger on some quick throws down the field to take advantage of their weakest group - their secondary. Throw some passes to give the receiver a chance instead of checking down because Pearsall (and whoever that is this year) isn't mostly wide open to throw to.
If we average 40 points a game and give up 44 points per game for a 5-7 record you will still blame Mertz. Again, I understand completely.
I just know he only made a big effort to hit receivers down the field who had some coverage on them mostly in the 2nd half of that SC game and that was it. Watch the KY game and many others when we got behind. He is settling for sure short passes on 3rd downs instead of trying to give a receiver down the field a chance to make a play. Even opposing fans from early 2024 opoonents are starting to mention it saying his completion % and low interception number is due to him playing like that
Well we can see how the Miami game is played then. If it stays the same and we aren't taking shots down the field much to try and burn that pressure and he takes the safe easy dink and dunk stuff most of the time we will see what happens. My guess is the outcome won't be good if he plays that high % dink and dunk game as usual - especially on 3rd downs.
Complete short of first down doesn't do anyone a lick of good.
In MY day, we had this kid named Tim something that would either bull it past the sticks or toss it to this other guy named Aaron something who somehow always managed to get the first down even if he caught it short.
Now get off my lawn.
In MY day, we had this kid named Tim something that would either bull it past the sticks or toss it to this other guy named Aaron something who somehow always managed to get the first down even if he caught it short.
Now get off my lawn.
So unless mertz is tebow he is trash? He's a good QB, top 3 in the SEC
We need him to play the way he did his last 6 games, it's pretty simple. If he does the offense will score 30+. He is not who we need to be worried about. Can our offensive line hold up against their d-line and can we generate any type of pass rush. You act like Mertz is the only one playing. Try and be better than that.
I don't think he's allowed to air it out. My Badger peeps say he's average, and while I don't agree with that because the kid has grit and leaves it all on the field, I think his stats are inflated, for the reasons I've stated before.
Plus his offensive coordinator is sub par.
His offensive coordinator is sub sub par. Mertz is gritty and tough. Run against Mizzou was tough.
Hard to say. If you look at his Wisconsin days he did try to throw for the 1st down yardage usually on 3rd downs but didnt get that good of results. My opinion is regardless of the chances we are taking letting him throw it longer more we aren't going to win many games against good teams with him dinking and dunking it mostly and refusing to throw it downfield much without the receiver being really open. Napier needs to stop pushing that style of play if that is the main reason Mertz is gun shy. I think we are one of the very few teams in the country where someone like Wilson could actually average less than 9 yards a catch.
I don't think he's gun shy I don't think he has the confidence of the coach for some reason. The two throws I saw with actual ass on them looked like well thrown, catchable balls.
Either they don't trust him or they don't trust the receivers.
Oline blew chunks. Surprised he wasn't hurt sooner than he was. I wouldn't want to stand back there the extra time it takes to throw downfield.
I can show you where Daniels and Dart are slinging it downfield with as little of time as Mertz was getting if not less sometimes. When QBs like that have bad passing games they still were trying to burn the other team downfield on many plays despite being hurried. They also have games like when they played each other where they were pressured a bunch and had big passing games. This throwing with the main priority being safe with the football resulting in 3 yard passes with no chance on 3rd and 7 needs to stop.
I'm sure you can. So what? Ole Miss and LSU both had much better offensive lines than Florida and I can show you double the number of plays where they had tons of time and Mertz didn't. Our Oline ranked 120th out of 133 D1 schools in time to throw. Think about that for a minute...only 13 other schools in the country gave their QB less time to throw. Our offense Mertz's last 6 games averaged 33.5 points per game...3rd most in the conference over that 6-game period, and that with the SEC's 13th ranked offensive line. Now this is all you need to know, guess who our highest AND ONLY rated NFL line prospect is, the transfer from San Diego State. LSU meanwhile has 4 guys returning from last years line that are all projected to get drafted in 2025...Ole Miss has 3 projected from last years line to get drafted.
Do you want to do some comparisons on how long until the pressure on the QB was there? Now some plays were because they can buy time a lot easier than Mertz when quickly pressured but they were still pressured pretty fast in many games. We can do that with the offensive plays only clips.
We need more attemps like this even if the DB was turned around to give the receivers a chance downfield. Playing it safe like last year will have bad results again just like 2023 imo.
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