Looking Back On, and Forward To, Florida's QB Room
Photo: Anthony Richardson and Billy Napier; Credit: Alex Shepherd
The Gators are entering a crucial offseason, the second of head coach Billy Napier's tenure, looking to turn things around after Florida posted its second consecutive 6-7 record to conclude the 2022 campaign.
After nearly two dozen scholarship players entered the transfer portal and another ten declared for the NFL Draft, the roster will undoubtedly look a lot different in Napier's second year at the helm.
Therefore, All Gators is breaking down every position on Florida's roster as the offseason gets underway, looking back on every contributor's 2022 season and looking forward to each unit's 2023.
First up: The quarterbacks.
Looking back
One of the most intriguing aspects of the vacant Florida head coaching position one year ago was rising third-year sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Richardson flashed enough in a rotational backup role to Emory Jones the year before — scoring nine total touchdowns in seven appearances but just one start, while Jone struggled with consistency — to be viewed as the signal-caller of UF"s immediate future.
Upon clearance from a 2021 postseason knee surgery, Richardson ascended to No. 1 on Napier's quarterback depth chart immediately. He took the starting role into Week 1 and, with an epic, three-touchdown, 70.8 completion percentage showing in an upset victory over Utah, earned a spot on way-too-early Heisman Trophy watch lists before the end of the first week of September.
He went on to complete 60% or more of his passes in just three of his next 11 games and paired two 400+ passing-yard performances with six under 200 yards. All the while, UF put together its second losing SEC record in as many years, a negative feat the Gators hadn't accomplished since the 1950s.
It's fair to say Richardson underwhelmed within the role as a talent that was expected to elevate the Gators to, at the very least, a more respectable ranking in the conference than the season before, especially after starting the year with a bang. That didn't happen.
It's also fair to claim Richardson did, indeed, elevate Florida at times throughout the year.
In matchups against Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and FSU, while Florida lost each time, Richardson's arm and legs led the way to comeback efforts that gave the Gators chances to take control of the game. At one point versus the eventual national champion Bulldogs, Richardson helped narrow a 25-point margin into a seven-point deficit by leading three scoring drives in a row.
Richardson undoubtedly displayed progress throughout the year. After committing nine turnovers in Florida's first six games, he gave the ball away just twice over the last six matchups. Richardson also finished the year by scoring three or more total touchdowns in each of the final four contests, appearing more comfortable with his all-around decision-making.
His freakish athletic abilities never ceased to amaze, either.
Playing on a bum right ankle for the majority of the year, Richardson routinely made defenders miss as a rusher en route to the SEC's fourth-best qualifying yards per attempt average (6.35). His extreme throwing power made shots up the seam and down the sideline easy, which created a not-insignificant number of explosive plays for the Gators' offense throughout the year.
Things just never came together in a consistent fashion. They won't with Richardson at Florida, either, as his pro potential led him to declare for the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Gators' quarterback stats from the 2022 season have been compiled below, as backup Jalen Kitna earned snaps in relief of Richardson at certain points while third-string passer Jack Miller III started in the Las Vegas Bowl after Richardson entered the draft and Kitna was dismissed from the team due to his November arrest.
True freshman Max Brown did not appear in a game.
Keep in mind that college football stat-logging, for reasons unknown, factors sacks and sack yardage lost into rushing numbers for quarterbacks.
- Richardson: 176/327 (53.8%), 2,549 yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 103 rushing attempts, 719 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns
- Kitna: 10/14 (71.4%), 181 yards, one touchdown, one rushing attempt, six rushing yards
- Miller: 13/22 (59.1%), 180 yards, 13 rushing attempts, 13 rushing yards
Looking forward
The week that was the latest Jaden Rashada recruitment saga has drastically changed how one looks forward to Florida's quarterback play in 2023, at least for the time being.
To keep a long and complicated story that lacks clarity in some respects, Rashada did not enroll at Florida as expected last Monday. By Friday evening's admissions deadline to add or drop classes at UF, Rashada had yet to arrive or sign up for classes, and that remains the case at the time this story was published.
Considered the No. 4 quarterback in the nation by Sports Illustrated, Rashada was viewed as the new quarterback of Florida's future between his Nov. 11, 2022 commitment and Friday's deadline.
The likely goal, after Florida welcomed Wisconsin transfer and rising fifth-year senior Graham Mertz in December and retained Miller, would have been for Rashada to compete to start by his redshirt freshman year, if not sooner.
Instead, there is a real chance Florida will be lacking arms over a critical stretch of the offseason.
In theory, Brown's decision to join Florida baseball hurts the Gators' quarterback room in the short term, especially without Rashada in the picture. It is plausible that Brown will, at best, be limited in terms of participation during spring camp due to scheduling conflicts, unless Napier were to ask him to skip the 2023 baseball season.
Meaning, as of now, Florida will have two scholarship quarterbacks fully available for spring practices: Mertz and Miller. Rising redshirt junior Kyle Engel and incoming freshman Parker Leise make up the group of walk-on passers who will be with the team, as well.
And, with class of 2024 commitment DJ Lagway being exactly that — a high schooler — the team is certainly without the quarterback of the future it expected to have in its meeting rooms this January.
Lagway's presence in Florida's next recruiting class undoubtedly softens the blow of Rashada not being cemented in the Gators' plans moving forward. But how will the quarterback room shape up come spring and fall camp, and eventually, Napier's second campaign in charge?
As of right now, Mertz, Miller and Brown comprise the group of scholarship quarterbacks. Napier adamantly stated his goal of four scholarship passers on the roster each season in December, which suggests that the Gators will look to add one more signal-caller before fall camp at the latest.
There aren't many starting-caliber options out there unless you consider LSU freshman transfer Walker Howard, a long-time recruit of Napier's at Louisiana, to be in that tier. Howard announced his portal entry on Monday and has reportedly been courted by numerous schools, including Florida.
So, with who Florida has available right now, it is reasonable to expect Mertz and Miller to compete to start in 2023. A three-year starter for the Badgers before his transfer, a stretch in which he tossed for 5,332 yards, 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions, Mertz probably has a leg up on his competition.
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