Running game was fine. The passing game within ten yards was almost nonexistent. Rbs and tes weren’t even part of the game plan. Cover the 15-20 yard pattern and play the run. It was hard to defend even though we scored a bit. Long drives and controlling the clock is 06, we weren’t anything near that offensively. 08, same thing, we limited possessions and scored a high percentage. Last year was a pint fest or go for it on fourth down. No comparison between the efficiency of 06 and 08 offenses to what we had last year. Folks get lost in stats sometimes.
We won’t go 6-7 again, I predict 8-9 wins due to improved culture and talent. I think our qb play will surprise some of you.
Easy to get lost in the defensive stats from the 06 & 08 teams. How many of those guys ended up playing Sundays (a lot)...how many guys from last years team (maybe a few). The 2008 DB's - Ahmad Black, Joe Haden, Janoris Jenkins, Major Wright, Will Hill all on the same team...with Brandon Spikes in the middle and Carlos Dunlap chasing the QB, those were the days.
For me... this all comes down to QB consistency and run defense. The gators are adding a TON of new front 7 players. If those guys can elevate the defense from one of the worst all time to a competent run defense, UF will be in every game. I just don't know if that's possible with all this transition in just one year. And even with that they will still lose games because of inexperience in the secondary and a weak pass rush. I would really love them to pick up one solid safety from the portal and one more well-regarded pass rusher.
Worse than this season as question marks everywhere but running back. Mertz will be told not to run with the ball to avoid injury as we have no depth or quality back-up which will hinder play calling again. If Mertz goes down early in the season, I'm thinking below .500 and no bowl game.
IF a good passing catching TE develops (Boardingham,Livingston,?) the. The offense will be ok. We can run the ball for sure. A good TE takes pressure off the Qb and gives the WR a little room to work. Last year no one had to worry about the TE (or RB) as a receiving threat. Makes coverages too easy.
Why does everybody think we will be able to run against good teams? We have 2 great backs but our offensive isn't better next year. We don't have an American on it anymore and 3 other starters gone. And we saw what Oregon State did. An unproven QB, TE and receivers add to the offensives concerns. Defense is we are missing our two best linebackers. We don't have a run stopper with Miller. We will have 2 new safeties, no depth at DE's and unsure at DT. We keep talking about the new culture. Culture doesn't win games talent does.
I guess I see the world through rose colored glasses, but I think we have a chance to be improved next year. Our players know what to expect and what’s expected of them. A lot of the negativity and dead weight has been eliminated and we have some very good young, albeit inexperienced, talent to work with. How anyone can completely discount Miller and Mertz is baffling to me. I think we may even see a significant upgrade at QB and that would be huge. I don’t mean that as a knock on AR. He obviously has more God given athleticism than any QB currently on our roster. That said, he had serious confidence and motivation issues last year and was below average at understanding the defenses he was facing. Also had real problems with accuracy on some very simple passes. Our defense is missing some key pieces from last season with Ventrell, Trey and Dexter leaving but, I’m excited about some guys that we got in the portal and some guys who seemed to embrace their expanded role at the tail end of the season. Derek Wingo comes to mind. 2024 is probably when our trajectory heads upward significantly but I don’t see throwing in the towel for next year.
The qb has a lot to do with te and rb receiving. Even in the nfl, many good qbs don’t utilize them like others do.
Where do you see the 10 wins? McNeese and Charlotte should be Ws, as well as Vandy...that gets you to 3 wins. Wait, can we even guarantee Vandy as a win anymore? That means 7-2 against the following: @Utah Tennessee @Kentucky @South Carolina Georgia Arkansas @LSU @Missouri Florida State I can *maybe* see Kentucky and Missouri as being solid wins, but the rest are really hard to peg as definite victories. Utah has question marks with Rising and the ACL, but their defense will be solid. Tennessee returns some decent weapons on offense, but will have a new QB. South Carolina all depends on the play of Rattler...will you see the same team from the Florida game, or the team that beat Tennessee and Clemson? Georgia? Nope, not seeing it. KJ Jefferson will be back for Arkansas, LSU should be loaded, and Florida State will return a lot of production. Of course, all of this depends on QB play, and whether Mertz becomes a stopgap until '24.
Good call! going though all these O&B glasses wearing posts, I was going to cite you for being realistic, but no one wants to say "Great job" for predicting a losing record for Florida...
