Gators QB Shares GOOD Insight on Napier's Decision between Mertz & Lagway

hey Gator fans I am here with somebody that knows a little bit about football the legendary Shane Matthews uh Shane we're just gonna hop right into it obviously we were all in awe of DJ's play so we'll get into what's next but first I want to give you a moment to talk about your thoughts watching and then probably rewatching this game last week uh I will say this you know DJ played very well for a freshman very poised made some good plays probably made a few bad plays that us fans didn't see because we don't have the game tape uh but you know it was a it was Sanford take nothing away from that he made some beautiful throws like I said he was very composed he's a playmaker uh Sanford was one of the worst FCA FCS teams I've seen in quite some time I was shocked at how how bad they were especially offensively because that's a aay Mike Leech disciple and they weren't very good on that side of the ball but uh it gives Gator fans hope uh with the play of DJ and we'll see how he plays against A&M this week so you know you mentioned opponent and obviously sford is Samford but how do you translate that experience that he got against a lesser opponent into this week well that's a great question it's it's hard to because you know what I so there was rumors out there that supposedly Russ Callaway called the plays against Miami and that Billy was going to call the plays for Sanford uh we saw play calls that we have not seen seen around here a lot of deep shots uh playing our fast wide receivers which I've been begging for yeah now we have because you know I guess when you're a play caller you know you should be able to block an undersized front by Sanford you're going to be able to run by their DBS we did that you still got to throw and catch and we did that very well so uh it's hard to really look at when with a oppon an opponent like this compared to an SEC caliber roster you know we know we struggled on the interior line on both sides of the ball the last few years that's what it boils down to me is can we block and can we pressure the opposing quarterback So to that end does it even matter who starts if we can't do those things well I like I said I feel like this football team has way more issues than who the starting quarterback is um you know I think both of them are going to play I think Graham will start I have no inside information but I just got that feeling even coach burer think said he would start uh Graham um you know I I here's what I would say because a lot of people would text and and send comments about my show about how can Billy Napier having DJ and Graham here competing and training since January how could you have chosen Graham Merz over DJ well I'll be honest with you I went to several practices and scrimmages and I was like there's no way DJ plays this year year uh because he would make one or two great throws and then five or six really really bad throws or mistakes or what have you and I'm just like you know got a lot of talent but he's a freshman you just can't put him in a game and maybe he's that type of player that's not very good in practice but when the lights come on he's outstanding yeah so time will tell uh but we know he's extremely talented uh has a huge upside there's no question I think he's a more polished passer than Anthony was they're very similar but you know time will tell and it's going to be interesting to see how they rotate or you know was it about series or whatever this week against the Aggies so you know you mentioned some of the things that you've said on your show and I know last week you said something about one of lagway throws being the best throw that you've ever seen um what did you see on tape that gave that kind of reaction I feel like you've seen a lot of really good quarterbacks in your time wow have but I I don't think that the people that saw the Tweet didn't read the entirety of this to the tweet and it had a smiley face on it and what I said was it was the best throw that I've seen since I've been watching games in the swamp I don't know if a Spur or quarterback could have made that throw and it's referring to the one that he stepped up and jumped off his front left foot and fired Iselle because a a spor quarterback wouldn't do that because they're extremely fundamentally sound uh that's not a fundamentally sound way to throw the ball right I never watched a sper quarterback in live in the swamp I was I was throw ball so uh that's why I had the smiley face but yeah it was an incredible throw and um you know that's that's the thing that I think fans get so excited about I've always said you know back in the day remember the commercial chicks dig the long ball yeah fans love the it's the Deep ball quite honestly is the easiest throw to make in football it's the safest throw because you may have to just read one guy or just have your head position looking a guy off and then just fire it deep to that area and DJ did that very well and we ran by guys and when you get separation that makes a big big uh makes makes it a lot easier now you know we've talked about the decision that coach Napier makes and and you know why it looks like it'll be Merz as a starter but do you do you think that the rotation that happens is scripted do you think it's based on mertz's performance like does he have a shorter leash than maybe he would have had we not seen lague for an entire game against Stanford possibly uh you know it's it's tough to say because you know I still think you know you go back to and sometimes practice is overrated I think players and coaches see what happens in practice and then sometimes you're timid to put someone in a game you know and I think that happens a lot with our wide receivers uh you know whether they drop a ball or whatever in practice they don't want to play them I don't care if you drop balls in practice as long as you catch them on game day and you're still gonna drop some balls on game day I don't know what they're gonna do I I don't know if Graham's on a short leash because I know this team still believes in him I mean it was his team until we played Sanford yeah again I don't want to take anything away from What DJ did because it was a tremendous performance but it was Sanford and I hope when he does play he plays that way against SEC caliber players do you think that you know if they obviously we think that he's going with with Mertz as a starter but if he goes with lagway even if UF loses do you think that there are fans that show more grace to that because it's at least showing you that there's hope down the road that you have this you know this stud quarterback on the bench who is the future well yes I think everybody knows he's the future yeah regardless of who the coach is next year uh you know whether it's Billy or another coach that comes in here uh you know this is a a big year I think we've talked about it all offseason that it's year three for nap year we have to see something different and I don't know if we have um it depends on how you look at it so we know the the strength of the schedule all that nonsense but you know the A&M Mississippi State UCF games are crucial for this football team and for the coaching staff moving forward uh I feel like we got to win all of them or we're going to be sitting here talking about what everybody thought might happen at the end of the year okay so let's pretend that you're the head coach for Saturday what percentage do you play each quarterback well that that that's tough to say here's what I would say Ally is I want to see us call a game like we called it against sford okay I I think everybody can agree we have not seen anything like that play calling since Billy's been calling plays and I mean aggressiveness throwing it down the field now was it because Billy knew we could block them and outrun them and throw it over their heads uh wasn't worried about you know their guy out Manning ours that's what I want to see I don't care who the quarterback is I want to see us put our three best wide receivers on the field the entire game unless they need a breather which I would go with with uh Trey Wilson obviously I would go with Aiden misel and I would play DK and Badger and Ro so those four would be my guys um we're always going to play a tight end so you're never going to go four wides but those are the guys I would play them until they they're they need IVs because we need speed on the field and um regardless of who the quarterback is that's what I would do and I would be aggressive and take shots like we did against Sanford