By: Nick Marcinko -- June 23, 2025 We are 67 days away from Florida Gators football. As part of our season preview, Gator Country will rank all 12 projected starting quarterbacks that Florida will face in 2025. Ranking all 12 quarterbacks Florida will face in 2025 | GatorCountry.com
I just read an article by SU&H (Will Miles) that has me questioning Nussmeier's bona fides even more than I already have since watching him lay an egg in the Swamp. FTR, I've faulted Will in the past for being so immersed in his system that he can't see the forest for the trees. But he really nailed it with the comparison of the quality of GN's play in several key moments as compared to DJ's play, in a number of similar key moments. I agree with Will on this one. Nuss is a pretty good QB, but he's absolutely nothing special. His hesitance to throw the long ball, even when the receiver was pretty much open, led to multiple sacks against UF and probably cost them the game. DJ, on the other hand, hit at least three big plays in which he either threw quickly with confidence because he knew where his WR would be - and threw a dime, or actually threw a ball that only the receiver could get to - even when well covered. TBH, I'm frankly far more concerned about keeping DJ healthy as the season progresses than I am about being decisively outplayed at the QB position. I haven't seen enough of Manning yet to anoint him the best we will face all season, but I have seen enough to know that Nussmeier isn't.
Reed was pretty much uncontainable in the clutch during last year's debacle in the Swamp. I'm also a little concerned about the Simmons kid at Ole Miss who flipped from UF to LK at the last moment. From the little I've seen of him, he appears to be very polished for such a young player. And of course, many in the national media have already anointed Manning IV a superstar in the making, etc., etc.
So many teams with new QBs should help. Lsu and ATM! Miss st and USF return QBs who had early season ending injures.
