Doing my best to keep my thoughts positive. Mertz had a good year last year but I'd really love to see the passing game really take off this year. If someone is going to complain make sure you do what's asked of you first and if the results don't follow then by all means change your situation if need be.
i def see it from his POV. Injuries, jerk around by the previous staff, not winning, NFL on the horizon, etc. He still reps UF hard but everyone’s college experience isn’t A+ and it’s ok that his wasn’t
I could definitely see that with how Mullen treated him. I can't speak for what goes on behind the scenes because we simply don't know but I imagine Napier was much more encouraging and supportive than Mullen was and there was a schematic disconnect with the new offense. IF that was the issue, and thats a big if because it's just a guess, all I'm saying is make the easy plays that are there. That Kentucky game was brutal and a player has to own that. Again, lots of guess work on my part and I don't claim it as fact. Also, he has repped Gator Nation and gear well and I still root for the guy. Haven't heard anything but good things about him as a person.
exactly this. To this day, i still wonder, and this is noooo slight to Emory because he played admirably that game (well in the second half), how that Bama game in 2021 would have played out had AR been available. Like just our flukkin luck he messes up his hammy in a blowout USF win where he shows out and has the world BUZZZZZZZING about him. comes back and almost, thanks Grantham, saves us vs LSU, and then get his first career start vs fukkin UGA! sidenote (because he had a great connection with AR) Jacob Copeland is with the Steelers
The guy was personally responsible for beating Utah in 2022 and losing to Kentucky a week or two later. His 2 INTs against KY were all on him. That changed the game. I am tired of the athlete playing QB. I want a Trask like QB (maybe with better speed). I was OK with him leaving.
I don't mind honesty from a player and given most ppl's inclination to spin any story at least a little in their favor, this is unsurprising. I didn't hear any shots against his former school. I do wonder how much garbage he'll take on twitter from fans, though.
He for sure is going to have idiot fans and trolls give him grief. It's his life and it's his experiences and people have no business telling him how to live. It is disappointing however to hear him imply that if he didn't go pro he would transfer. The fan in me is a little resentful because again, if he just took what was there in that Kentucky game maybe things work out differently. I have to believe the performance issues were a two way street. Maybe Napier didn't utilize him as best he could and maybe AR was limited in certain aspects of his game.
I didn't take any of Richardson's comments negatively with regard to 'the Gators'. He had rough road due to injuries and a coaching change. With regard to leaving us after Napier's first year, either through the draft or transferring, we have ZERO backstory to his reasoning. Maybe he saw the rebuild as a multi-year endeavor and that he could better his draft stock by transferring or maybe the offense didn't fit his style of play. There is zero wrong with that. The guy has been pro-Gator since leaving so let's cut him some slack and promote positivitity when we don't really understand his meaning or motivations.
The guy is soft. Always was. Maybe AR wouldn't allow being utilized in the run game because he already had 1 foot out the door by his own admission. Don't know that to be true, but I always thought AR was little soft and was biding his time to pay day. Never saw him get sacked without getting up limping. Either made of glass or a drama queen. Other teams DL should be arrested for the felony assaults Mertz experienced last year in games... and pops back up time and again. Respect.
Not saying I disagree but the older I get the more respectful I try to be so my slightly kinder take is that he didn't want to lose the golden ticket for himself and his family with injury so self preservation was priority. As a fan, that isn't endearing but as someone who still has to grind out a living....I get it. It does lend itself to what many of his critics suggested and not to take it there but for the few who think AR didn't get the same adulation that other Gator qbs received for other reasons, I would say that had he shown the same Moxie that Mertz has he would have had been one of the most popular Gator QBs ever only behind Tebow, wuerfel and spurrier. Above leak and Grossman.
