There was one detail I left out of my piece on the Florida offense’s performance at the Orange and Blue Game. I almost put it in, but the more I thought about it, the more I think that detail speaks volumes and was worthy of its own exploration.
And what was this important detail? That Billy Napier himself called some of the sacks on Thursday, prematurely ending plays when even the refs hired to run the game didn’t blow their whistles.
Now, a head coach reserving that power for himself is his prerogative. He is the czar of the spring game, blessing things like untimed downs, do-overs on place kicks, or overturning penalties. This all is standard, but the ultra fast whistle Napier had for sacks was unusual to say the least.
I think Napier went through a big learning experience in 2022. He essentially had only one quarterback for most of the regular season, and that quarterback was not fully healthy the whole way. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: Anthony Richardson’s ankle health was a big determinant of the Gator offense’s scheme and effectiveness last year. When it was healthy, AR looked comfortable and the playbook opened up. When it wasn’t 100%, Richardson looked off and the play calling was more restricted.
There’s a saying, purportedly originating in the military, that two is one and one is none. The point is that things can go wrong, and if you don’t have any backup or redundancy, you can be up a creek with a quickness.
Napier thought he had two quarterbacks for 2022 after taking Jack Miller from Ohio State via the portal. Miller hurt his thumb before the season, however, and the rehab on it took longer than anyone expected. I remember seeing estimates of four weeks’ recovery or so, but it still wasn’t all the way back to 100% by the bowl game.
Without Miller, Napier was down to one, and one is none. Jalen Kitna did apparently progress through the year such that by November the head coach expressed a level of confidence in him should something happen to AR. True to prediction, Kitna looked good in garbage time against South Carolina and appeared poised when pressed into service temporarily against FSU.
The unsavory nature of Kitna’s arrest and dismissal are, I think, the reason everyone has stopped talking about him and his role last year. I think it is still worth remembering him, though, because Florida is feeling his absence from a depth standpoint.
If you ask anyone what derailed Napier’s quest to build a QB pipeline, they’ll immediately point to Jaden Rashada. And yes, Rashada would’ve been really, really nice to have right now.
But so would Kitna, had he not made some really terrible life choices. I think with Kitna still around, UF still pursues a transfer in the winter portal period since Napier has said he wants four scholarship QBs. However, the Gators probably wouldn’t be in the market for one now. They might’ve still gone for Graham Mertz or they might not, but for sake of ease of discussion, let’s just say the former Badger still moves to Gainesville.
UF would have the veteran transfer in Mertz plus a couple of younger players with a year in the system with Miller and Kitna. Keep in mind that Kitna had passed up the injured Miller on the depth chart during the ’22 regular season, so this would be a real three-way battle. Then at fourth string there would still be Max Brown, the dude who moonlights with the baseball team.
Instead, UF has two options plus the dude who moonlights with the baseball team, and two is one and one is none.
Therefore, I think Napier was extra keen to keep defenders away from his quarterbacks, and so he was quite quick with his sack whistles. He already feels like he’s down a quarterback; he certainly doesn’t want to lose one of the ones he has.
And if Brown is really not ready right now in the same way that Kitna wasn’t at this time last year either, then Napier really only has two quarterback options, Mertz and Miller. Best not to lose one, especially after spring practice was essentially over.
Feeling like you only have one quarterback must be tremendously frustrating as a offensive play caller. There’s no chance Napier wants to go through that two seasons in a row. He might not have had to face that possibility if at least one of Kitna or Rashada was around, but neither are.
Every coach will tell you he wants multiple good options behind center, and they all lament it when injury brings them down to having just one. Napier just lived through some high highs and low lows that, in no small part, were due to only having one option at QB. Trying to live with one healthy and viable signal caller visceral to him because it’s so fresh in his memory.
So that’s why I think he was quick about calling sacks on Thursday. After the 2022 AR ankle injury roller coaster, he has no plans to go through that again.