Is the QB competition open in the Spring?

[socraticsilence]

Simple question, does Jeff have the job for the fall right now, or does he have to win it during the Spring in an open competition with Jacoby, Tyler and Skyler?

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Jeff played poorly last night, but our primary issue is at the line and the lack of WRs. We've seen glimpses of great play from him and I wouldn't say Jacoby fared much better in his limited time. My hunch is anyone counting on Tyler Murphy playing QB for UF is going to be pretty disappointed.

[BigSlick]

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

[swampspring]

I agree, why shouldn't competition be open for any player? I think that's what happened during the end of Meyer's era in that players became entitled and expected to be starters, along with obvious favoritism. Muschamp doesn't seem the kind of guy to let that happen. I'm not saying Driskel doesn't have that internal fire to be better, but it doesn't hurt to push him.

[Matthanuf06]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Jeff played poorly last night, but our primary issue is at the line and the lack of WRs. We've seen glimpses of great play from him and I wouldn't say Jacoby fared much better in his limited time. My hunch is anyone counting on Tyler Murphy playing QB for UF is going to be pretty disappointed.

We have WR. How open do they have to be to get the ball? We had tons of guys wide open, nearly on every play.

[DuPontGator]

Originally Posted by BigSlick

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

Agree

[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.

[dawny]

How did Louivllle recievers stay open all night and Driskel had to throw into coverage all night, the 2 OCs were like HS and College, will anyone answer this.

[luciaboy]

it should be. driskell has proven throughout the season to be a very poor passer. he has no pocket presence and locks on to one receiver as soon as the ball is snapped. his accuracy is also below avg. unfortunately, he did not improve on any of his shortcomings during the season. i hope we will not be force fed driskell for his entire career like we were with brantley. would brissett really be any worse? we need major improvement in our passing game to win any championships--sec, bowl, nc

[Matthanuf06]

Originally Posted by dawny

How did Louivllle recievers stay open all night and Driskel had to throw into coverage all night, the 2 OCs were like HS and College, will anyone answer this.

1. Bridgewater went through his progressions
2. Bridgewater bought time with pocket awareness
3. Bridgewater made tough throws to "open" wideouts. Many times he'd throw in small windows through our D, and the wideout was open behind.
4. Their WR are simply better

For 1-3 take the opposite with Jeff. He locks onto one guy. He buys no time in the pocket. He only throws to wide open windows to wide open guys. And we don't have the best wideouts.

[ApexNC]

Originally Posted by BigSlick

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

This

[GATOR_4Life]

I've got to believe Jacoby will transfer, and in anycase Driskel has shown he's the better QB.

If Driskel completely stinks it up in camp maybe there will be an opening, but short of that it's Driskel's job. He'll probably never be a Heisman contender, but he's good enough and will continue to get better. He desperately needs a more consistent Oline, a reciever that can consistently get open, and finally a real play maker that can relieve some pressure off him.

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Jeff played poorly last night, but our primary issue is at the line and the lack of WRs. We've seen glimpses of great play from him and I wouldn't say Jacoby fared much better in his limited time. My hunch is anyone counting on Tyler Murphy playing QB for UF is going to be pretty disappointed.

Yeah, I agree with this and we do need to remember Jeff is also just a sophomore. Though there should be intense competition for every position, I don't see how anyone beats out JD for the starting role. He will have better support around him the next couple of years plus having the full year behind him as starting QB, so we should see a big improvement next year.

[socraticsilence]

Originally Posted by GATOR_4Life

I've got to believe Jacoby will transfer, and in anycase Driskel has shown he's the better QB.

If Driskel completely stinks it up in camp maybe there will be an opening, but short of that it's Driskel's job. He'll probably never be a Heisman contender, but he's good enough and will continue to get better. He desperately needs a more consistent Oline, a reciever that can consistently get open, and finally a real play maker that can relieve some pressure off him.

That reciever better be Jeff's first read or it wont matter how open he is- Trey was open deep multiple times and only had one poorly chucked duck thrown his way for his troubles.

[swampspring]

Bridgewater and Driskel were in the same class...and Bridgewater was being recruited as a WR, yet he looks a million times better. Driskel better put in a lot of work on his game this offseason, or else I hope Coach has the sense to yank him.

[Skittlebrau]

JD was clearly the 2nd best QB on the field last night. TB is by far, the best quarterback we faced all year (more so than Murray or Johnny Football). JD was scary bad last night, with poor execution...but c'mon....our OL hasn't pass blocked well all year. And we have had so little production from our WR's. Hopefully, the incoming OL and WR's will give us enough of a bump, that it'll give JD more comfort and confidence.

[gatorchamp27]

Originally Posted by swampspring

Bridgewater and Driskel were in the same class...and Bridgewater was being recruited as a WR, yet he looks a million times better. Driskel better put in a lot of work on his game this offseason, or else I hope Coach has the sense to yank him.

Pease better be right there working with him

[pcolafan]

We had WR's open all night down field. Jeff couldn't get them the ball and hasn't been able to all year. I certainly hope it's an open competition in the Spring.....else I fear two more years of ground offense and 65% completion percentage built on easy passes out into the flat.

[userman]

Originally Posted by socraticsilence

Simple question, does Jeff have the job for the fall right now, or does he have to win it during the Spring in an open competition with Jacoby, Tyler and Skyler?

Needs to be an open competition. While Jeff has all the physical attributes the position demands, mentally he remains a step "slow"" in processing the information pre and post-snap. The lack of a bonafide deep threat among the receivers doen't help but this lack of "mental" development may account for the offense's heavy emphasis on the run.

[Dreamliner]

Folks, the long and the short of it is that we have who we have. It just so happens that Louisville has a better quarterback on their roster.