Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators
- After visiting Florida, Gators commit to see Georgia this weekend
- Four-star Brown III talks Florida visit, state of the program
- Recruit Reaction: Ready to see how they bounce back and respond
- Grading the Gators: The clock is ticking
- 10 Observations: Florida Opening Day Depth Chart
- Predicting Who Plays: Seven signees most likely to avoid redshirt season
- Florida Football Preseason Superlatives
Here are five Florida Gators who are in the spotlight, and on the spot, to perform this week against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Billy Napier – He’s back! And he’s likely going to stay here. For the third week in a row, Billy Napier is once again On the Spot. He got a bit of a reprieve this week when a win over FCS Samford ended Florida’s six-game losing streak. The key here is that it was a victory over an FCS program. Against the ‘big boys’ (P4 programs) he is still in the midst of a six-game slide, and is 7-15 overall to date at UF. He is On the Spot this weekend for two other reasons. This is the first time in his two-plus seasons in Gainesville that he has a legitimate quarterback controversy. Did he make the right decision in going with Graham Mertz over DJ Lagway as the starter, and will his plan for a rotation work effectively? We’ll find out on Saturday. Then, there’s the added burden of facing Mike Elko, who was part of the same group of new head coach hires as Napier in 2022. In his first two years Elko went 17-9 at Duke, good enough to earn him the job at Texas A&M. Napier was 11-15 during the same period, good enough to earn himself a spot on the hotseat on the spot.
Graham Mertz & DJ Lagway – As mentioned above, there is a serious quarterback controversy brewing in Gatorland. Who is the best option to lead Florida going forward? I have my own thoughts, but the only opinion that matters belongs to Billy Napier, and he said that the plan remains the same, Graham Mertz will start and the staff will pick their spots for DJ Lagway.
What that plan does is put all three of them On the Spot this weekend.
The biggest advantage Mertz has is that he has experience. Realistically, Lagway has the advantage in every other category.
Mertz can manage a game while playing a limited role in a successful outcome. Lagway can take over a game and be the reason for success (or maybe even failure due to his inexperience).
That’s not so much an opinion as much as what the two of them have shown to date.
These two pass attempts to Elijhah Badger are a perfect example.
The formation is slightly different for each play, but the result is Badger ending up one-on-one with a cornerback down the field.
That is where the similarities end. Mertz is well protected in the pocket (one of the few times we can say that during the game) but instead of throwing Badger open to the inside, the ball floats outside allowing the cornerback to recover for the incompletion. Lagway on the other hand isn’t pressured because of a partial rollout, he throws Badger open (from where Badger is when the ball is released to when he catches it is 40 yards down the field) for a 77 yard completion.
Don’t get me wrong. There was a major disparity in opposition level. There was also a major disparity in ability.
Against Miami, in passes that traveled beyond 15 yards, Mertz was 1-of-7 for 19 yards and an interception.
According to Clark Brooks, 40% of his throws were uncatchable.
Beyond 15 yards, Lagway was 6-of-9 for 262-yards and 2 touchdowns, with a 16% uncatchable rate.
That goes beyond the level of opposition.
Lagway completed nine passes that went for 20 or more yards (77, 44, 40, 22, 22, 36, 41, 24, 85). Out of those nine, Mertz might have been able to to complete two of them – the pop pass to Eugene Wilson and maybe, the seam pass to a wide-open Hayden Hansen.
Mertz doesn’t have the arm talent or the confidence in his arm to attempt half of those passes, much less complete them.
To go further down the rabbit hole, Mertz is 3-6 against P5 opposition in his 13 games at Florida and had the SEC’s 2nd-worst accuracy percentage and the worst uncatchable pass rate (27.3%, 45.5%) last season.
To put it in plain terms, despite all of the offseason hoopla, to this point Mertz hasn’t shown an ability to complete passes that travel over 10 yards past the line of scrimmage.
As it looks today, the Gators have a very low ceiling if Mertz is the starting quarterback.
He is On the Spot this weekend to change that narrative. Lagway is On the Spot to show that last weekend’s performance wasn’t a one-off, but more of a preview of what’s to come.
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson – It’s hard to imagine Florida having any kind of success on Saturday if the offensive line struggles as badly as it did against Miami two weeks ago. Whether it be Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart or Cashius Howell lined up opposite him, based on results to date, you have to feel like the advantage belongs to Texas A&M. When you see him, BCD looks like the prototypical offensive tackle. Now it’s up to him to show it on the field.
Tank Hawkins – After not seeing the field in the season opener against Miami, Hawkins – the fastest player on the team – had his coming out party with a 36-yard touchdown catch against Samford. He makes the list this week mostly based on the questionable availability of Eugene Wilson III. If he is unable to go, you may see Hawkins as the recipient of a couple of those ‘pop’ passes (glorified sweeps). We know he has the straight-line speed, but does he have the wiggle to be effective among all those big bodies near the line of scrimmage?
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