It can't just be Graham Mertz or bust for Florida at QB ... right?
The analogy was a bit harsh.
When Graham Mertz’s commitment to Florida went public, I tweeted that it felt like when you go to the grocery store having not eaten all day, and you tell yourself that you’re going home with a nice juicy steak, but you instead panic and go home with a Hungry Man frozen dinner.
With all due respect to the fine folks at Hungry Man, where sodium is just a number, you get my point. Florida’s addition of a 3-year starter who never had more than 2,136 passing yards in a season was underwhelming. This was a place with multiple national championships in the 21st century that had a wide-open quarterback room after the NFL departure of Anthony Richardson. After Jack Miller’s underwhelming bowl game performance, there was an assumption that the Gators would land a big fish in the QB transfer pool.
Mertz wasn’t that.
However, there was also this assumption after Mertz’s late-December commitment that it was OK if he wasn’t some decorated transfer because blue-chip quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada was set to enroll as the quarterback of the future.
As we now know, Rashada won’t be that. An NIL deal that fell through led to Rashada being granted his National Letter of Intent release and now the Gators are entering 2023 with more questions than answers at the game’s most important position.
It might sound harsh to wonder — is Billy Napier really putting all of his eggs in Mertz’s basket?
The transfer portal is closed until May, so barring an addition from someone who already entered the portal, it doesn’t appear that Florida’s quarterback room is about to get a splashy addition until after spring camp. Of course, there was at least the possibility of landing former LSU quarterback Walker Howard, but he elected to play for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.
For now, it’s Mertz and the aforementioned Miller who will battle it out. Without a highly touted true freshman like Rashada, Feleipe Franks or Emory Jones, there won’t be some silver lining if the starter falters. There’ll just be a fan base getting more frustrated and a head coach’s seat getting a bit hotter.
Don’t get it twisted. If the over/under on Napier’s time in Gainesville is 2 years, I’ll be the farm on the over.
But at the same time, there should be that urgency from Napier. Consecutive incompetent offenses usually doesn’t excite the masses at Florida. Ask Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain about that.
(It’ll never not be baffling that Florida failed to have a top-50 scoring offense for the first 7 years of the post-Urban Meyer era. Yes, I know that was a triple negative. So were those Florida offenses.)
Napier sticking with a Mertz-Miller battle into fall camp would be a sign of 2 things. One is that Napier actually liked what he saw from them and he felt that they had enough skills to work with. The other is that Napier didn’t like what he saw from the transfer portal and he didn’t feel that they had enough skills to work with.
And I suppose I shouldn’t totally dismiss redshirt freshman Max Brown, though he’ll be playing on the Florida baseball team and it’s probably unrealistic to expect him to compete for QB1 in 2023.
With the portal closed, the only potential head-turner that Florida could add to compete this spring would be someone like Sam Huard. The former 5-star quarterback entered the portal after Michael Penix Jr. announced his return to Washington. Huard had 4 interceptions on 42 pass attempts in scattered work as a true freshman, and once Penix arrived in 2022 with first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, Huard had even fewer opportunities.
Huard, however, reportedly has eliminated Florida as a possibility.
Of course, even if Florida were to add someone like Huard, Napier would be banking on 1 of those 3 options soaring to new heights with the Gators’ surroundings. A group who just had its offensive line gutted by departures has a nice 1-2 punch in the backfield with Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne, but outside of Ricky Pearsall’s return, it’s hard to project the 2023 offense looking much more dynamic than it was in 2022.
That’s why it’s hard to assume that Mertz is going to step in and become the solid, reliable SEC starter that Florida needs to take that next step. Hopes are pinned on him being wildly misused by Paul Chryst’s staff at Wisconsin, and that Napier can find the remedy. At this time a year ago, that’s what we said about Richardson. I wouldn’t say that ended up being a positive. The game didn’t slow down for Richardson like Florida fans hoped it would. At least not for the entire year.
You could say the same thing about Mertz. In his last 2 years as a starter, Mertz threw an interception once every 27.1 attempts, which was almost identical to Richardson’s 27.9 in 2021-22. Mind you, that was while Wisconsin had a Power-5 worst 18 passes of 30 yards the last 2 seasons. That was only 2 more than Navy.
A month ago when Mertz committed, the hope was that he could at least Florida a couple of months of solid quarterback play before ultimately giving way to Rashada. Whether that was in early-November or in 2024, well, I suppose that hope depended on how optimistic of a Florida fan was laying out the plan.
Now, the plan appears to be rebuilding Mertz or banking on Miller moving past the bowl game performance and showing that he can be a viable signal-caller with a full roster. Neither one of those sound like enticing options, but for now, that’s reality.
The plan wasn’t for the Rashada situation to play out like this. If the new plan is for Mertz or Miller to be serviceable until No. 6 class of 2024 quarterback DJ Lagway arrives, that seems daunting, especially knowing that Florida’s NIL ducks don’t appear to be in a row.
Napier’s attention to detail is his biggest strength. He was praised for being so process-driven and for having the understanding of a support staff to help in all things talent acquisition. In 2023, there might not be a whole lot more opportunities for talent acquisition at quarterback. Napier’s best hope is continuing to add pieces around his new signal-caller and to develop like he’s never developed before.
If he can’t do that, his declining approval ranking will reach new lows.
That’s not too harsh.
MERTZZZZZZ! THE MERTZINATOR IS COMPLETE!
Does the Gator store have any Mertzandise yet?
Meeeeeeeeeeeertz!!!!!!!!!!
At this point, most Gator fans really don’t care. Disc golf is starting soon…
With basketball season in full swing now I speak for many dawg fans in saying “Womens Equestrian” starts soon…lol
And the Gators have gymnastics! :)
Is Florida the new Auburn this year?
That’s cute, but it is amazing how fast you Vol fans forgot your recent past. Let me remind you – Georgia State!
One year of football success has totally erased the Vol fans minds of those Fifteen(15) years of wandering in the SEC football desert.
You are the most annoying ‘Bama poster i’ve ever seen.
Tennessee quite LITERATELY lives in your head rent free with how much you post about them and the fanbase.
You add nothing to value in any conversation on this site. You only talk about TN and it’s fans and that’s it.
Also, 52-49.
27-13. Know your place Vols lol
? If knowing my place is getting told the scores of football games then that’s a pretty weird way of telling someone.
I have to agree with you on that, volfan – but weak retorts are the stock of those inspired to troll.
That said, I have to tell you that “rent free” is so last week these days. (:
I mean, if you are going to tell folks the scores of football games (now do the last 15), don’t be shocked when someone tells you the score of a football game.
I know all too well smh
The real reason that Rashada wanted out of his NLI had nothing to do with money. He was just afraid to compete against the Mertzatron!!!!! He knew he would be found wanting.
All roads lead to Mertz, baby!
Mertzatron…lol
Definitely It’s Mertz-to-the-Max !
And so it was in those fateful days that even adversaries and enemies feared the coming of The Mertzinator. A terrible dread descended on the land of the SEC in anticipation of his coming.
Mertzzzzzzzzzzzzz
The Mertzinator
Mertzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Mertzatron
Mertzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Mertzila
Mertzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Surely you can’t be serious?
Clearly he is…and don’t call him Shirley :).
Lol
Interesting days in Gainesville to say the least.
Oh brother.
Watched Mertz’s highlights from 2022, he seems to have all the throws and a good touch on his passes. With good coaching he might deliver for us. I’m optimistic.
I’ll bet ya he’s a more accurate passer than AR15.
THIS^^^
Went WAY out on a limb with that prediction didn’t you!! If he can hit a barn he will be more accurate than AR.
Charlie Sheen in Major League could throw more accurately than AR-15
I think he’ll try harder than AR, who seemed to play to not get hurt often, and hopefully all the naysayers will motivate him to put in a lot of effort and improve his game to quiet them down.
Napier is a former QB, former QB coach, former OC and current play calling HC. He should know a bit more than Connor about evaluating and developing QB talent.
He certainly didn’t plan to get the Rashada rug pulled out from under him, but I’m also willing to bet a week’s wages he didn’t plan for Rashada to see the field in any 2023 games either, beyond mop-up duty. He didn’t go very hard after any of the flashy QBs in the portal this year, before or after signing “Graham the Mertzinator.”
That should tell Gator fans that he believes he has all the QBs he needs for 2023, other than maybe a 4th scholarship warm body for his QB room.
…and former hc who had never had a losing w/l record until just last year…and hadn’t been a part of a team with a losing record since 2017. i was optimistic about the hire and he could still turn things around in gainseville, but i’m definitely not as optimistic as i was this time last year. he needs some playmakers.
also, i think you’re setting yourself up for some disappointment if you really believe that napier believes that he ‘has all the QBs he needs for 2023, other than maybe a 4th scholarship warm body for his QB room.’ other than aub and maybe mizz (tbd on horn), i’d take the other 11 teams’ starting qb over whoever ends up winning the battle amongst mertz and miller….of which it’ll be mertz walking away with it.
it wouldn’t surprise me if mertz finished middle of the pack in the conf..to just outside of the middle. that’s actually more of an acknowledgement to a strong core of projected starters in the league than a knock to mertz. that stated, when has middle of the pack or just outside of the middle been acceptable to the uf fan base?
I marvel at the level of confidence expressed by most people on Miller’s alleged ineptitude, based on a sample size of one bowl game in which he spent most of his time running for his life.
This time last year, Napier brought Miller in to back up AR. Why can’t he have brought Mertz in to back up Miller, since Miller is in a stronger position now, with respect to Napier’s offense, than Richardson was this time last year.
Put another way, who in the media saw Kyle Trask coming?
You know what, I think Mertz is going to be a lot better than UF fans think. True he was in a run dominant system, but he certainly appears to get thru his progressions much faster than that RB y’all had pretending to be QB last year…
I’ll admit, I didn’t watch a whole lot of Wisconsin football. It was just too boring.
However, in the few games I did watch, Mertz stared at his primary receiver just before the snap and forced passes into coverage way too often. I also noticed he put good touch on his passes and didn’t gun swing and screen passes at the feet of receivers standing just a few yards away.
How long until Napier is a former Gator coach?
I think you need a recycle through Troll School, pardner. While the curriculum is strong on speaking through your a*s, you must have flunked the course on being more than one dimensional.
Im here waiting on MrTruth
Florida made their biggest mistake when the administration decided they were not in the market for a proven successful head coach candidate at the power 5 level.
Billy was and is a lower tier mediocre head coach. He’s an administrator, I have stated this over and over. There is a huge difference between being a head coach and an administrator, he would make an excellent athletic director but he simply is not a proven successful head coach. You take anyone with some football knowledge and they can win at Louisiana Tech but that doesn’t mean they can win in the SEC.
He worked under Saban but that doesn’t make him a successful head coach any more than working in maintenance at a hospital makes you a doctor.
He’s a good man I won’t deny that, he’s probably as best a family man you’ll find anywhere. Ethics? He may just be right up there with the best. However those traits don’t make him a head coach at the SEC level.
He can recruit……..BUT !!!!! He recruits at Louisiana Tech level.
I’ll state it over and over YOU WILL NOT FIND A GATOR FAN WHO WANTS SUCCESS MORE THAN ME.
However when the rubber meets the road Billy is just not going to be the guy who moves Florida past Vanderbilt let alone the rest of the teams in the east.
The biggest thing Florida fans are riding right now is hope. Hope…..hope that Billy can win, hope that Mertz can quarterback, hope that an all new offensive line can open holes for a 90% run team. Florida’s only hope is their offensive line can be the single elite offensive line in the entire nation because we now have a quarterback who can’t throw and he can’t run and he couldn’t even win in the conference he played in.
Next season is going to be the biggest fiasco in the recent history of the Florida Gators.
I will reiterate 3 years and Florida starts all over again looking for a head coach. Maybe by then we’ll have an administration that will go after someone who has proven to be successful.
My last statement is I do not have any personal reason to dislike Billy Napier it’s just that between last season and the utter incompetence of no improvement during the season and the recruiting to date gives little “hope” of any sustained improvement for this team.
And yet, despite it all, Napier will get four or five years to prove you right (or wrong.)
Brace yourself, year two coming up!
Bro just FYI I don’t think many people read posts that are this long. I’m sure it has some good content though.
What a kind thing to say, but totally lost on an angry and disorderly mind.
Shades of Negan. You know the saying, morons of a feather
It’s amusing at times when the irrelevant struggle so mightily to be relevant….
CBN coached at ULL, and he wasn’t mediocre, he took them to their conference championship several times and won last year. Oh, and thinking positive is a lot healthier for your well being.
You may as well point those facts out to a tree stump GFA. Such an obvious contradiction of an obsessive narrative will just be ignored.
Probably, but I keep hoping it may sink in one day :)
Didn’t Connor write an article a couple weeks ago saying that the premature heat on Napier was unwarranted?
Now he writes an article basically saying this: “Mertz isn’t a good enough option for Florida so CBN’s seat is getting hotter.”
They can’t keep the narratives straight at SDS anymore.
My first reaction on reading it: “We call this journalism?”.
I call it echo chamber stenography devoid of an original thought.
He had a long talk with gagator and thus this article came about…
Now that’s an angle I hadn’t considered. You may be onto something there GFA.
I’ll say it again: Where’s Leeland when we need him?
Mertz played on a team that was less focused on stretching the field. Even if Mertz were recruited to change that, you can’t supplant an entire roster to change the focus of an offense overnight. Hooker and JH had a bunch of guys who had the athleticism to run that offense and that’s why it’s worked. I’m sure the roster in Madison was less talented and much slower than what he’ll have in Gainesville. Would not surprise me to see the Gator QB end up in the top third of passers in the SEC.
Thank you for a positive outlook! Kentucky will be a force to be reckoned this coming season with Coen returning and the QB coming in.
Or not. Regression to the mean is a real thing. Nothing against Kentucky, it’s my hope that the entire East comes up to a competitive level.
MrTruth has created several monsters.
I saw some things I liked in Miller during the Las Vegas Bowl. I’m not convinced that Mertz wins the starting job.
Mertz is very talented and had a great high school career. Something went wrong at Wisconsin.
Nash…maybe Mertz did not like the cold weather way up there in Cheese country. Plus the offense at Wisconsin obviously was run/run/run and did not highlight throwing the ball.
“Mertz is very talented and had a great high school career. Something went wrong at Wisconsin.”
You know, Nash, you are always Miss Debi Sunshine when it comes to UF players and their potentials and woulda coulda ceilings…but in the case of Mertz I think y’all indeed are getting someone better than most lizard licking fans realize…hope I am wrong. I take comfort in knowing that this is often the case…
Sorry Humper, but I’m with Nash on this one in that he’s not a woulda-coulda type of guy. However, I’m right there with both of you on Mertz, while I still don’t understand why no info on Brown, let alone nary a mention that he’s in the same QB room.
Nothing to be sorry about, Doc…I’m with him on this one as well…the rest of them, not so much. AR15 is still a hack for a QB, Cox is still unable to set an edge, and Dez is a shoe in for Heisman…
Think like the media Neal. Brown is a late signing, 3-star QB from OK, who just signed up to play baseball.
No SEC QB that plays baseball instead of spring football will be taken seriously, unless he’s a 5-star and his name is Tebow.
Was Tebow a 5*? I had no idea rating services went back that far…jk
0.9919 according to 247. Only Percy Harvin ranked higher in that Gator class.
Now I wrote about our boy Max Brown playing baseball in another thread when I was in a different frame of mind, but I digress…
In fact I’m surprised and a bit disappointed that Leghumper, being part of this conversation, has not brought up the real threat to Miller/Mertz. As Dire Straits would say, I don’t give a da mn about any baseball-playing quaterback
It ain’t what they call football.
The real threat is a former walk on by the name of Kyle Engels. Of course the SDS writers have no clue but Humper should know.
Come on man
A…it’s Engel, not Engels
B…a walkon from Hs football powerhouse St Thomas Aquinas vs a walkon from rural south Ga doesn’t have the same ring
C…UF certainly doesn’t have enough infrastructure in the name of a 3 deep legion of 5*s, plus the world is not ready for another Stetson Bennett numero 4 feel good story, that script has Alfred been written…
My best investment might be this Mertz for Heisman sign I purchased from an eBay seller in Wisconsin for 99% off…cheers palley
Leghumper, if any of these guys ever win a Heisman, I think you’ll need to actually get a sign and display it on your lawn. :)
Humper you must admit I do keep you on your toes and don’t let you slack. You’re welcome
Hump, I think old age is clouding your memory. I repeatedly said, after the Kentucky game choke, that Richardson has good mechanics but something is wrong between his ears, or words to that effect. I also acknowledged on a regular basis in 2021 and 2022 that Cox simply refused to play assignment football.
Incidentally, for bonus credit, I’ve insisted for months that AR will not be drafted, something about which I am probably wrong because of the financial leverage an NFL team gains when they hit on a rookie quarterback under salary cap rules. If he is drafted in the first two rounds, as many say he will be, it will border on general manager malpractice for the franchise that drafts him.
As for Dez, I’ve said he has very quick feet, which he does. Don’t think that rises quite to the level of Heisman hype.
But yes, generally speaking, I am and will continue to be a Gator optimist. And I do believe in and support Napier and will continue to do so until he displays an uncorrectable flaw.
I hear ya Nash…but don’t be dissing on my boi Dez…Heisman or bust! That kid, dare I say, makes me pull for the Gat…nope, can’t say it, ain’t happening. I will say this, the story of what Big Dez is accomplishing will certainly rival the SB4 feel good story after he wins the Bednarik Award or the Bronco Nagurski trophy next year…
Some Gators fans are just too impatient. Doering says Napier is doing things the right way, but it takes time. He has gotten rid of all the riff raff and apparently turned his back on the mercenary Rashada. He has a decent 2023 class, and he has Lagway coming in the 2024 class. It’s going to be a slow rebuild. I don’t think anyone wants the Gators to succeed as much as Doering and Emmitt Smith, and they both are preaching patience.
Most of the players I know are behind Napier and feel he knows what he is doing….and these are the guys that either finished their career with Spurrier, to the guys that played in the best 4 year run we ever had under Spurrier. Some are now high school coaches in the area that develop talent.
He is definitely cleaning house and holding guys accountable….this the exodus.
Patience should be par for the course…I don’t see how some have already doomed us after 1 year, KNOWING we had an average at best roster.
Average is a very kind assessment, judging by where most of the transfers out are landing.
I personally trust Doering and Emmitt’s opinions more than SDS, and I agree with your assessment bayou.
So, the same writer who predicted Anthony Richardson would win a Heisman Trophy while leading Florida to a national title DARES to suggest Mertzilla will fail?
Prepare to get a face full of Mertz, O’Gara! Prepare to discover why he is known as Mertzilous!
Given your past history of jinxing a QB’s career, your foolish attempt to smear The Man Called Mertz only PROVES HIS GREATNESS!
Behold the rising of The Mertz and know TERROR!
^The prophet of Mertzatron, FL’s Lord and Savior
Favorite FL poster right here, folks.
And so the Oracle of Mertz hath spoken
This is awesome
MT needs a podcast.
Monologuing Mertzilla with Mr Truth
This is a great call…the Mertzinator is created by Skynet, thus beginning both Florida Football world dominance and the takeover of AI.
Mertz certainly raised the floor in the QB room, mission accomplished.
Mertz could blow the roof off. I think he’s been grossly misused and will shine in a breakout season. Guy has reams of experience and talent. AR sucked last year, but he could run. AR will suck for years to come. Mertz can’t run but he might turn into a good QB. AR might too.
Mike Wright is in the portal. He did defeat Florida this season if Florida remembers but they would probably like to forget.
Post Rashada debacle 247Comp ratings
UF #13 (very Mullen’esque who averaged 11.5)
UF # 6 SEC plus if you consider Tx and Ok = SEC#8 (Mullen averaged 4.5/6)
Said it before, say it again…CBN ceiling is returning UF to Muschamp glory. But hey, the next coach is going to have some great infrastructure built for him…
Yesirrr Legs, Because in 1 year everything is figured out….
Point made, smitty…second (bump) recruiting class withstanding…but you are right, let’s us now see how sunbelt bill develops players at the SEC level. No more excuses of prior UF Coaching regime transgressions…
He seems to have developed Sun Belt Torrence and Johnson pretty well, they had pretty decent numbers against SEC competition… :)
I think that CBN will do well in that aspect and that he’ll have more success with his own recruits.
Humper, it’s entirely fine to orient to the terrain with a lensatic compass, but if you don’t keep track of your pace count you miss the objective anyway.
Look at the difference in the players Napier recruits.
Yeah, gotta admit the gangbangers and thugs are awfully quiet at Keys and Springs
#8 in average star rating per recruit. “Less filling and more taste!”
With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls all his adversaries down
Helpless players on the field in the rain
Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them
He picks up a football and he throws it back down
As he wades through the defense for another first down
Oh no, they say, he’s got to go
Go go Mertzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes another run
Go go Merzilla, yeah
Love it! Blue Mertzer Cult.
LMAO! This is getting out of hand.
Getting Ferris Beuller vibes here.
Dang it all, now I’ve got wet boxer shorts on top of everything else!
Lol!!
My favorite Blue Oyster Cult remix, or is it re-Mertz?
I’m for whomever makes the Jacksonville game interesting.
I suspect we’ll see an uptick in competition level, but the outcome in ’23 will likely be the same as far as who wins. As much as I love my team, I just can’t see it until ’24.
No QB in his right mind would want to play for Billy and his six play passing playbook.
UF gave Billy everything he asked for and he has done nothing in return.
Mertz can’t fail with Ethel in his corner!
A typical fall Saturday in the Swamp
Just before kickoff the loudspeakers blast Blue Oyster Cult
The crowd is whipped into a frenzy
Even the player, staffers and coaches on the sideline join the pandemonium
A thundering chant is heard drowning out the loud music
Mertzilla!
Mertzilla!
Horror grips the faces of the visiting team
They soon realize they have been defeated before the game even began
Mertzilla!
Mertzilla!
BREAKING NEWS: Florida added a preferred walk-on QB yesterday, Jordan Gile. 6’/190 lbs/#162 QB in ’23 class. 73.9% passing, 28 TDs and 301 yards rushing on 33 attempts. Makes 5 quarterbacks.
MORE BREAKING NEWS: Dan Mullen declined on the job of Alabama’s O/C, due apparently “enjoying his time away from coaching”.
Probably good news for Alabama, since I can’t imagine what they were thinking. You can rehabilitate mistakes, but the personality flaw of losing interest is another matter entirely.
Well that sux, I was looking forward to seeing how quickly Saban jumped goofballs keester , so now what? No Aflac duck versus Darth Vader commercials to watch, so sad..
You know this is scary. Seems we will have a battle of walk on QBs between my man Kyle Engel, Jordan Gile and the other kid from St Thomas who came on board a few months ago (help me out Leghumper) whose name escapes me now.
Scary because this may put an end to the current Epic of GilgaMertz that I am enjoying thanks to mrTruth
There’s more – in the portal, we just got that massive 5-star from Kentucky too.
The other kid is Jamie Newman, I believe palley…
Spring practice just got a little more interesting!
Calling Rashada a blue chipper is being generous