Is the QB competition open in the Spring?

[demosthenes]

Jeff has all the physical tools but seemingly none of the mental ones. Can anyone actually point to some real improvement Jeff has shown during the season? I'm genuinely curious if anyone thinks he has improved and how he has improved.

From my perspective Jeff hasn't and it was painful watching the sharp contrast between sophomores Bridgewater and Driskel.

I don't see how the off season will benefit Jeff if he didn't appear to learn anything during the season. Why should we expect that he would suddenly be able to read a defense, anticipate receivers getting open, work through his progressions, identify the blitz, or show any kind of a pocket awareness?

[socraticsilence]

In fairness, while I do think he should be further along, its hard to develop what he needs to develop (game speed/ awareness) on a practice field and we don't throw enough to really work on it in games- Bridgewater's thrown 170 more passes than Jeff this year, that's 2/3s of a season (at our pace, not at a normal pace) worth of development on reading defenses, stepping up in the pocket and anticipating openings.

Additionally, I think Jeff's ill served by the offense because an old school approach (not pro style, now a days the NFL has a ton of spread teams and even some spread option approaches) requires a QB make complex reads, stand tall in the pocket and deliver a precise ball- Jeff's huge, fast and has a cannon for an arm- if we gave him an approach with simple, spread out defenses to read, and let him see who was clear pre-snap, then run if the first two guys aren't there and pressure is, well I think we'd see a different approach, we remind me a ton of Ohio State with Pryor- maddeningly inconsistent but electric when we open up the field and let Jeff quit thinking and just make things happen. I honestly think Jeff (with some development- he struggles at times to hit even open WRs if they're on the run) could be a Heisman quality QB if we ran a more wide open approach, I don't know if he'll ever be in the Top half of the SEC in our current scheme and if we're not going to change it we should think about changing QBs (though it'd be shame to waste Jeff's talents).

[LimeyGator]

Originally Posted by demosthenes

From my perspective Jeff hasn't and it was painful watching the sharp contrast between sophomores Bridgewater and Driskel.

A little unfair to directly compare the two seeing as this is Jeff's first year as a starting QB and Bridgewater has just finished his 2nd.

Comparing their first years as a starting QB:

In Bridgewater's first year, he had 14TDs, 12INTs, threw for 2129 yards on 191/296 (~65%) passing on a 132.4 QB rating. He had a 6-5 record in his first year.

By comparison, Driskel had 12TDs, 5INT, threw for 1646 yards on 156/245 (~64%) passing on a 132.2 QB rating. He had an 11-2 record as a starter.

That looks pretty similar to me, albeit that one had a stellar W/L in the SEC and the other less so in the Big East.

Driskel may not be the second coming of Joe Montana by the end of next year but it's hard not to believe he won't improve at all.

[swampspring]

I think we all hope that Driskel becomes the man, but our D also pressured Bridgewater, similar to Louisville's D on Driskel, yet Bridgewater was composed enough to not only make the right reads, but alert enough to escape rushers. Obviously Driskel is sorely lacking in that area right now, and part of that is coaching and schemes, but I can't blame the WR's much yesterday. As multiple posters said earlier, I saw at least two WR/TE's wide open on many occasions with Jeff holding onto the ball. I dunno, maybe having Driskel roll out like Bridgewater might help.

[Jonas]

The really worrying thing about Driskel is that he hasn't improved that much since the Tenn game. After a month of bowl practice, he played like crap yesterday. Should we really expect that much more improvent in the spring?

[BengermanV]

If anyone thinks our problem was WRs last night they couldn't be more off. We had guys wide open all night. I like Jeff but last night was on him as much as it was anyone else.

[Nubla]

It should be

[ametcalf]

Originally Posted by no_more_cowbell

Driskel is a great competitior with some amazing athletic gifts. That being said, right now he is struggling greatly with the mental aspects of his position. He is reading the defense so slowly right now that he's a liability in the passing game. On any given pass play, he is only looking at half of the field and even then is very slow to make decisions about where to go with the ball. It was painfully obvious last night when you compared how Driskel operates in the passing game compared to Bridgewater just how far behind he is. His physical ability is just not able to overcome these deficiencies right now. We couldn't even really run a hurry-up offense late in the game. The play clock was winding down to about 5 seconds on our 4th quarter drives. I hope Driskel can improve on his game management and his reading of defenses, although he's been in the program now for two years. I'm pretty sure he was the same high school class as Bridgewater, and it was pretty obvious last night how far ahead of Jeff he is right now. Still, I'm sure he'll be the starter next season. If Brissett leaves as many expect, he won't even really have any competition. For us to become the team we think we can be, he is going to need to move forward in a big way this off season.

I agree with this. I think he's also leary of getting hit....although that's kind of hard to prove given the amount of time he holds onto the ball. Last night he seemed to lock on hard to one receiver...waiting for him to run his route. There was zero timing last night on his throws. He just looks uncomfortable back there.

[pecks]

Florida ran into a buzzsaw last night. Bridgewater played like Joe Montana and Charlie had his boys playing great defense! It is what it is. I have followed the Gators sinse 1955 and I'll follow them until I'm gone. Enjoy yourselves fellow Gators. This too shall pass!

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by Jonas

The really worrying thing about Driskel is that he hasn't improved that much since the Tenn game. After a month of bowl practice, he played like crap yesterday. Should we really expect that much more improvent in the spring?

I think we should expect some improvement. This season has shown we can win with where Jeff is right now though.

[AFCyberGator]

I think we have all hit on the obvious points. As a sophomore, Driskel has not developed as quickly as some other sophomores that come to mind. He should go into spring camp as the #1, but he should be on notice that he needs to make a quantum leap in read progressions or else the job could go to someone else. It is that simple.

Another solution could be to do what Spurrier did--alternate QBs at whim. It worked pretty well with South Carolina this year. Driskel and Shaw are somewhat similar as mobile QBs. The Gators just need an equivalent to SC's Thompson--whether that is Brissett, Murphy, Mornhinweg, or Staver.

[lhnewman]

unfortunately Jeff is NOT a pocket passer...look who recruited him...he was recruited for the spread...change the system or change QB's...

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by lhnewman

unfortunately Jeff is NOT a pocket passer...look who recruited him...he was recruited for the spread...change the system or change QB's...

we won 11 games this year

[LimeyGator]

I'd love to see Jeff slinging it round like Tom Brady but this "He's a Soph" talk probably should be tempered a little.

He's a first year starter who (until last night) had thrown 3 picks in 12 games. There's lots to like about his potential to develop still.

[ametcalf]

AZ - I hear ya on the 11 games, but those 11 games didn't come from Driskel carrying this team on his back. I'm not saying he hasn't helped our team because he has. He's a gifted athlete.

Yes I think there should be open competition because competition is great for producing positive results.

Time offers everyone a lot....even room for improvement - hopefully we'll see more from Driskel...which is a need for UF right now.

[Dreamliner]

I personally don't see the big deal. They say Tebow couldn't read a defense.

[RayGator]

Originally Posted by BigSlick

Everyone in every position SHOULD be competing for their jobs!!!

Exactly right. Spring is the new time. New and fresh start for every player on the team. Last year is gone. The old has passed away and is now meaningless.

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by ametcalf

AZ - I hear ya on the 11 games, but those 11 games didn't come from Driskel carrying this team on his back. I'm not saying he hasn't helped our team because he has. He's a gifted athlete.

Yes I think there should be open competition because competition is great for producing positive results.

Time offers everyone a lot....even room for improvement - hopefully we'll see more from Driskel...which is a need for UF right now.

We can clearly win football games with Jeff as the QB is my point. Open QB competition is not always good for a football team. I thought Jacoby was the better QB out of high school. I thought Jacoby was going to be named the starter and was even a little pissed for about a week after he wasnt. That being said the team won 11 games with Jeff as the QB. Jeff's legs really help this team win football games.

If the staff feels that Jeff is the QB I just have to trust them. I am one of those that thinks Jeff is a athlete playing QB and might never get the pocket presence we all want him to have. However I also know we can win a lot of football games with him as the QB. Just a week ago not many people were asking for an open QB battle. And I do remember a lot of people saying CWM should just name a starter during camp.

[Jonas]

The problem with an open competition is that QBs need reps to develop. That's why most teams just go all in with their starter. Jeff clearly needs more work so splitting reps in the Spring isn't necessarily a good idea either.

We picked Jeff in the beginning of the year when we could have continued the competition. The hope was the added reps in practice and in game would help his development. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that has happened.

It's a really bad situation for us to be in.

[Loco]

Driskel seems a lot like Brantley Tons O' potential... never translates on the field

QB competition needs to be open.