Passing Game

[Diesel350z]

Lol, Laughing at people saying Driskel is a running QB.

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by njgator11

I think the wr's are better than the O-line. Not great, but not as bad a people think.

Last year, Debose caught a couple of bombs, this year not 1, I can't even recall any thrown. We don't throw enough balls to the receivers to assess. We really don't allow them to make plays. Other than Percy, depsite the NFL talent we've had over the last 5-10 years, no receivers have established themselves in our systems, though numerous OC's. Not sure why but Nelson, Thompson, Cooper, etal have shown better in the NFL than they did in college.

The O-line has proven to be fair at best and certainly disappointing as compared to what was written in the preseason. They rarely blew people off the ball, yes we had a couple of games (mostly LSU) they we played well, but there were more games that they couldn't open a hole or move the pile in 3rd and short, even vs weaker competition. The pass protection was not very good, and like the run offense was inconsistent. It became clear that they couldn't pick up the blitz and teams regularly blitzed us, especially in passing situations. They certainly need improvement, but their limitations were exacerbated by a QB that held the ball too long, couldn't read a defense and stood still in the pocket. He rarely stepped up, moved in the pocket, etc. things that could buy time for the O-line.

Ok so you admit our O line is not very good and have no clue about our WR's. Its pretty simple with you saw Debose catching Bombs he has more talent that the other WR's. The others WR's cant create separation. This year we did go up top to Hines who has the most raw talent.

Cooper is a perfect example of what the team is missing. If you load the box and press man on Cooper we could go over the top to him. By him just being on the field it opened up the offense we can not do that with Dunbar. Nobody is scared of getting beat deep by Dunbar.

Driskel needs to get better but so do the units around him

[njgator11]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Yes, yes, Driskel clearly held the ball to long or failed to use the pocket on some occasions. On other key occasions, Nixon was a veritable human turnstile. And on other occasions, receivers dropped the ball. It's silly to zero in on Driskel. Seriously, do we need a Johnny Manzeil to beat fricking Louisville ?

The obvious answer is yes, we needed a better qb. This qb had a terrible game, 2 huge int's and a fumble on our 5 yd line. Our offense is not in the top 100 and it starts with the qb. tell me one good qb that has a poorly ranked defense, it doesn't happen. the offense starts and ends ate the qb position as long as the other positions have some talent, which we do. You obviously have not tread the comments on this thread. See the specific example with pictures on a previous page. Poor qb's creatre poor results and unfortunately thats what we have.

Not sure why you keep referencing the Big East, conferences don't matter when you strap it up. They have a MUCH better qb than we do, not in the same hemisphere and the Sugar Bowl showed that. It is an embarrassment that out offense has not been ranked in the top 100 for the 2nd or 3rd consecutive year and every conference is in that. Blame whovever you want, be in denial, but the O starts with the qb position and we are woefully short at this position righ now. I would rather have a game manager who can make good decisions and think on his feet than a great athlete that doesn't.

[njgator11]

"poorly ranked defense", I meant poorly ranked offense.

[Swampmaster]

needed badly for the uf offense---tall, physical receivers. Hopefully, some are on the way. If not, more of the same.

[oneatatime]

Driskel is an outstanding ball handler which I believed clearly won him the job at first, but now needs to take it to another level this offseason

[njgator11]

ball handler is an important skill in an option offense or spread offense. As I said before, he is more a running qb. His best plays by far all year were on called running plays. He needs a tremendous amount of work in the passing game and doesn't even scramble well.

[socraticsilence]

Originally Posted by Diesel350z

Lol, Laughing at people saying Driskel is a running QB.

Two things- he's a spread option QB- easier reads, more emphasis on physical talent etc., secondly, which scares a defense more- JD dropping back and gunning a bullet into a WR whose been open for 2 seconds and is sitting there (the throw will still probably be a foot or so off) or JD running; let's be real JD throwing it scares us, him running it scares the other team.

[socraticsilence]

Originally Posted by njgator11

ball handler is an important skill in an option offense or spread offense. As I said before, he is more a running qb. His best plays by far all year were on called running plays. He needs a tremendous amount of work in the passing game and doesn't even scramble well.

This, and I think you're last point is an important distinction- he runs well, when he drops back to throw and then runs he tends to make mistakes (because there is a mental component). If we ran the Meyer offense or the Oregon offense or the KSU offense he'd be a good QB (not Tebow, Klein or Mariotta good but good), but putting him in pro style offense is like watching OSU when they tried to make Pryor a dropback passer-- its awkward, clearly not natural and frankly hurts our chances of winning a National Title.

[mac4lyfe]

Dalton is in the NFL, of course he doesn't suck or he wouldn't be there BUT he sucked yesterday and that's all you need to lose a game. If the most important position in the game doesn't show up... 9 times out of 10 you are going to lose the game.

Why do people get bent out of shape when someone says someone sucks? Suck is a subjective term. All of these guys are playing at a high level. They do not suck compared to 300 million people in the US but compared to the elite, a guy like Dalton isn't there yet. He improved from last year and is a bright spot but he is a long way from Brady and Manning.

I'm watching Indy/Balt playoff game right now and it's a very good game. Baltimore clearly has the better team/talent but the rookie Luck already is showing he's a better QB then Flacco which is keeping it close. The game is going to be decided, just like 90% of games on which QB delivers. OL, receivers, RB's are not nearly as important.

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Your synopsis falls apart on Dalton. He manifestly does not suck as a quarterback. Indeed, some thought he should have won ROY over Cam.

Now, he may have had a sucky game. And I would certainly agree that Driskel had a sucky game. So ? And ? Had the coaches put Brissett in, and he performed no more effectively, would you be blithe to say he sucks as a quarterback ? Probably not.

[gtr2x]

Originally Posted by oneatatime

Driskel is an outstanding ball handler which I believed clearly won him the job at first, but now needs to take it to another level this offseason

Agree, he is/was the better ball handler of the 2, which is pretty important if you are running the ball 60% of the time.

[col_kurtz]

I think that WM has an emotional investment in Driskel. The first thing he did after taking the UF job was lock up Driskel's commit and not let him get away. After all Jeff did originally commit to the Corch who's name shall not be mentioned. Who knows what promises were made to keep him. In reality Brissett turned out to be a "nice to have" and not a "got to have" through no fault of his own .

[njgator11]

Originally Posted by col_kurtz

I think that WM has an emotional investment in Driskel. The first thing he did after taking the UF job was lock up Driskel's commit and not let him get away. After all Jeff did originally commit to the Corch who's name shall not be mentioned. Who knows what promises were made to keep him. In reality Brissett turned out to be a "nice to have" and not a "got to have" through no fault of his own .

I gotta say it, but this is a bit ridiculous. I don't think a coach will put his job on the line because he has an emotional investment. I've been all over this that JD is not the answer, but my guess is the coach looked at our alternatives and given the 0-line and receivers, he thought JD was the best option.
He may have been this year, but if we don't see tremendous progress given we should have a significantly improved O-line and some new receivers, I believe we should have a completely open try-out for the position. I don't care if Starver is picked and we need to live with a true freshman, as long as he can read a defense and has some football IQ in the passing game he should be given a shot.

[Jesse3]

Hey I got something, has our guys ever herd of a freaking audible oh yeah we have qb who can't read defences everything we do is pre-determined no second option.

[bullish]

When you are running 3 offenses sets at least w/ Pease/Muschamp, the QB has to be an option/spread QB, a pro style QB and and a veer offense. No wonder this offense doesn't do a lot for gaining consistency. If we have a QB that can handle that then so be it, but Driskel is struggling with it.

I hate offenses that only throw short to the outside passes. Easily picked off, low chance of big plays and easily to defend when you know they never throw across the middle. I like a pro style that can run and throw where the passes are long, intermediate and short, using the whole field. Learn this one offense and learn to throw timing routes. I wasn't sold on a OC from across the nation, no one knew much about him, now we are saddled with Pease and from a crappy Sugar Bowl performance, I don't know if we can fix the offense with Muschamp/Pease OC's. Heck the defense playing prevent defense in pass protection, hardly much blitzing in the Sugar Bowl, I thought, are these the Gators. Everyone doesn't have a J. Clowney at DE, so blitzing should always be the help not to give much time to a QB since our front four couldn't get there in time to stop the passing game. I know we blitzed more after Louisville had the game under control.

When you are playing a passing team, Louisville couldn't gain a yard rushing till the game was decided, you don't play 10 yds downfield trying to cover receivers. This was after all the experts on TV said we were probably the top defense in the country and we play man to man almost exclusively. Well what do we do.

Plain and simple, outcoached and over confident/uninspired. The first play said it all, an short/outside pass for a defensive TD! I guess the only excuse is that Will and Pease were out recruiting and thought we had this one in the bag.