dtaps24

I mean Mertz's ceiling as a 6th year Senior is probably 7-5 and the 8th best QB in the SEC. Between that and the transfer portal being a thing I think you play Lagway in special packages early and if it looks like he's ready you make the switch. Won't happen, but probably should for the future of the program.

I'm so confused as to why people are surprised that a documentary that Urban agreed to sit down for wasn't a deep objective dive into all elements of Gator football. It's like being shocked that the Last Dance didn't do anything with Jordan's gambling problems or the half mil in uncashed checks found at the house of a dead coke dealer/golf hustler. How do you not go into a series called "Swamp Kings" that features a sit down with Urban Meyer thinking it would be anything other than what it is?

It's weird to me that Saban's agenda here is so obviously about future consideration but people don't see the forest from the trees. First the actual "argument" if the goal is really to get the 4 best teams there (12 moving forward) and based on the stated criterion (quality wins, quality losses, common opponents, conference championships) Alabama should have been there even in a down year. Having 2 Big 10 teams from a historically weak big 10 and a non-conference champion Big 12 team whose best win of the season was followed by a loss to the same team on a neutral field is laughable under the stated factors and goal but that's not his play here. This is about 24 if Bama is 2 in the SEC or 25 and beyond if Bama is the 4th or 5th SEC team that is "on the bubble." He did the exact same thing with Jumbo and NIL. His agenda wasn't to shut down Texas A&M and the genius of Jimbo Fisher, it was to get the Bama boosters to come up with more money. Saban's not stupid and he's not subtle.

For everybody that is so confused about why you would take him at 4, here's a guy from 6 years ago: Completion % 56.3 Passing yards 1812 YPA: 6.7 TD/INT: 16/6 Rating: 127.8 Rushing: 92 for 202, 5TDs Comp %: 53.8 Yards: 2549 YPA: 7.8 TD/INT: 17/9 Rate: 131.0 Rush: 103-654, 9 TDs To be fair the top guy had a full season as a starter under his belt when he posted his numbers while the guy at the bottom had 1 career start against probably the best defense in CFB history. Hurts, Fields, Jackson, and even Daniel Jones helped A/R, but when NFL guys are looking for a comp they don't use those guys and certainly don't use Vince Young or Jamarcus Russell who have exactly one thing in common with Richardson, they use Josh Allen. Far from guaranteed that he'll have success, but if anyone really wonders why he went 4 beyond "I said he wasn't gonna get drafted and I don't want to be wrong," that's why NFL teams were pretty much universally willing to roll the dice.

Yeah, I know he did some decent things at UL but I'm not sure he's ready to be a DC in the SEC. They certainly need better players so right now recruiting is the end all be all, I just haven't been crazy about his scheme(s) and I really don't think we have less talent than FSU, Auburn, or even Tennessee. Maybe I got my hopes up a little high after Utah in the opener. I will say I like that Napier has not thrown the DC under the bus. I suspect the "we're going to evaluate the defense" is a nice way of firing a shot across the bow, and also maybe a step towards a youth movement. And for the love of God, get Trey Dean off the field.

1) Why do you think this? Success at Lousiana? Because Napier says so? Just curious. He's the co-DC and the safeties coach. Neither his Defense nor his position group looks particularly well coached to me. 2) Truth, but our Defense doesn't maintain zone or gap discipline. Our coverages are not disguised at all and Brian Kelly (just my opinion but the most overrated coach in America) and company were able to reveal the coverage and assignments with simple motion over and over again. With a QB who is in his first year in a new system and is widely considered more athlete than QB at this point. 3) I didn't see many small windows. I saw a lot of easy throws. I saw a good athlete that ran through huge holes because of the gap integrity. Daniels did play better than he has all year, but we gave up 42 points in 3 quarters to a team that hadn't scored more than 21 in the first 3 quarters all year against a FBS team. Can't really put lipstick on that pig. 4) False. Dexter has a round 1 grade and Cox has an early day 2 grade. I also think there are probably some young guys who have the ability to play on Sundays but for some reason we're running Dean out there in his 10th year (really thought 0 was gonna be his magic number) and starting a 430 lbs. program weight kid who can't get off the field fast enough to sub out. I think people would understand underclassmen making mistakes and that would be more forgivable than a guy who will finally run out of eligibility next year (I hope) and a guy that the staff said could compete for a rotation spot if he went from 415 to 375 and came back to Fall camp at 430+. Looking long term I think it's fair to question the messaging there, but they see the kids in practice every day and we don't. 5. Are we now saying that Todd Grantham's job performance was acceptable? We really dropping the bar that low? Even if we are Toney has been worse on 3rd downs. Considerably worse than a guy whose ineptitude led to a nickname of "3rd and Grantham?" Not great. 6. Agree, except that I don't think Hill is good at anything other than working hard and seemingly being a high character guy. Burney is undisciplined, blows assignments regularly, and doesn't tackle well. I doubt anybody is using him as an indication of their coaching prowess. 7. I don't know. I find it hard to judge their effort level based on that performance. I guess they seemed to be running as fast as they could to try to catch guys from behind so that's something? I don't see an improvement but we can agree to disagree. End of the day, if Napier wants to give Toney another year obviously that's his call and he deserves patience. If the Defense doesn't improve he will get (and deserve) criticism. Personally I'd love to see the Defense turned over to Raymond because it would help recruiting and he has an established track record of success against SEC competition. I think/hope Napier won't be bound by buddy ball. He seems pretty dedicated and genuine in his process based, constantly evaluating approach. I don't think there's any curve on which Toney receives a passing grade, but he's young and should have an opportunity to improve either here or elsewhere. Guess time will tell. Go Gators.