Jeff Driskel Surprising Me This Year

[jdezenzio]

Jeff is really surprising me this year. He ranks 23rd in the nation in passing efficiency at (158.02), and I believed it would take him another year to get comfortable in the offense. I'm wondering if our new OC has anything to do with this?

He's also surprisingly accurate while on the run. He reminds me of RGIII when running and throwing. He's only thrown 1 INT this year and he doesn't make crazy passes. He also runs a little like Manziel from AM.

I was expecting great things out of Jeff when he arrived, but I think he's going to turn a lot of heads this year as the season progresses.

[unofficialgator]

Biggest suprise was how we went from a lock on target guy to being able to read off safeties in the span of two games. I've never seen such incredible improvement so quick. If he continues at this rate, It's hard to see us losing...

[WobbleGator]

I think RG3 had a stronger arm than Driskel.

[GatorintheKnox]

I was worried before the season started. After last year, I thought this was going to be Brissett's team. Jeff looked so uncomfortable last year (against the best of the SEC granted) that I didn't know if he had the stuff to be successful in this league. The kid has blown me away so far this season. To think that we could have this kid for two more years after this one makes me think that another MNC is not out of the realm of possibility. I've become a big Driskel fan and can't wait to see how he does against LSU this weekend.

[G8RNGA]

His ability to pick up more of the playbook/offense, read defenses, correct his mistakes, and keep the turnovers low is very fun to watch. The kid is growing up as a QB in front of us. That's not to say he won't make young QB mistakes, but I'm loving what I see from him. I didn't know if he was going to be able to unseat Brissett from last year, but he has done well and it's easy to see why the coaches love him. Keep up the great work JD!

[divits888]

Didn’t surprise me one iota.

[BSJGator]

I'm with Divits....He keeps this up, especially at the current rate of improvement, and it'll be hard for him not to finish in the top 10 of He15man balloting...

[Homer J]

Imagine next year with the new O-lineman coming in, our returning O-lineman coming back and a years worth of experience. If the receiver step up and the TEs (Taylor & Thompson) become part of the offense, we could be dangerous.

[MatthewM.]

Jeff is progressing nicely, I think his potential is through the roof.

[MJMGator]

He's been a welcomed surprise and I think he's exceeding most of our expectations this year. This team seems to be full of hard-working, coachable kids that just want to continue getting better. I'm feeling about the type of program Muschamp is building. The future looks bright.
Go Gators!

[divits888]

The sad thing is that despite the ability he has shown with his passing accuracy, his strong arm, his running ability and his week by week growth in understanding the system, one bad game and the naysayers will be back in droves.

[Okeechobee Joe]

He has the talent. But he also has a level head and is not a prima donna. He will go far. We are trying to build a championship team (Coach Muschamp would say a championship program) with good people. A winning combination.

[-THE DUDE-]

His ability to pick up more of the playbook/offense, read defenses, correct his mistakes, and keep the turnovers low is very fun to watch. The kid is growing up as a QB in front of us. That's not to say he won't make young QB mistakes, but I'm loving what I see from him. I didn't know if he was going to be able to unseat Brissett from last year, but he has done well and it's easy to see why the coaches love him. Keep up the great work JD!

and those mistakes are more likely to happen over the month of Oct as we hit the meat of the schedule. I just hope (and this is probably absolutely worthless to even hope for but) that UF fans don't turn on him if he has less than a stellar game/s during this stretch. As things stand now 3 of the next four games are against top 10 teams and 1 for sure but most likely 2 of them will be ranked top 5 when we play them. That is an unbelievably tough stretch for any QB let alone a true soph starting only his 5th game this weekend.

[gatordad]

+1

[I Have No Friends :(]

The sad thing is that despite the ability he has shown with his passing accuracy, his strong arm, his running ability and his week by week growth in understanding the system, one bad game and the naysayers will be back in droves.

Doubtful. Maybe if it was the other way around, as in only having one good game sandwiched by multiple bad games. At this point JD has more than proven his ability to lead the Gators and develop his QB skills. Does he still have a long way to go? Yes, but he's proven to be a quick learner and his potential is through the roof. It was a pleasant surprise for me, considering after the spring game I felt that Brissett was a bit better than JD still.

Maybe I shouldn't speak for other naysayers, but this naysayer is perfectly content to enjoy the Driskel era; good and bad. My only hope is that somehow Brissett can sneak a redshirt year in just to get a year of separation, as I'd love to see him get his shot to lead the Gators as well.

Don't forget, divits, that at the end of the day we're all (well most) Gators and really just want to see our team win

[Quasimodo]

What has he done that is surprising? He's been the quintessential game manager to this point. We're expecting much bigger production in the future from Driskel, once he becomes more comfortable and learns the entire offense.

[divits888]

The sad thing is that despite the ability he has shown with his passing accuracy, his strong arm, his running ability and his week by week growth in understanding the system, one bad game and the naysayers will be back in droves.

Doubtful. Maybe if it was the other way around, as in only having one good game sandwiched by multiple bad games. At this point JD has more than proven his ability to lead the Gators and develop his QB skills. Does he still have a long way to go? Yes, but he's proven to be a quick learner and his potential is through the roof. It was a pleasant surprise for me, considering after the spring game I felt that Brissett was a bit better than JD still.

Maybe I shouldn't speak for other naysayers, but this naysayer is perfectly content to enjoy the Driskel era; good and bad. My only hope is that somehow Brissett can sneak a redshirt year in just to get a year of separation, as I'd love to see him get his shot to lead the Gators as well.

Don't forget, divits, that at the end of the day we're all (well most) Gators and really just want to see our team win

As was my point repeatedly during the Driskel/Brissett debates. I would have thought as Gators we would want them BOTH to succeed. But I seem to recall some people taking the opportunity to get quite personal in their attacks on Driskel. And someone even called me out during a game claiming that “my boy” Driskel was screwing up.

Whatever. Go Gators.

[I Have No Friends :(]

The sad thing is that despite the ability he has shown with his passing accuracy, his strong arm, his running ability and his week by week growth in understanding the system, one bad game and the naysayers will be back in droves.

Doubtful. Maybe if it was the other way around, as in only having one good game sandwiched by multiple bad games. At this point JD has more than proven his ability to lead the Gators and develop his QB skills. Does he still have a long way to go? Yes, but he's proven to be a quick learner and his potential is through the roof. It was a pleasant surprise for me, considering after the spring game I felt that Brissett was a bit better than JD still.

Maybe I shouldn't speak for other naysayers, but this naysayer is perfectly content to enjoy the Driskel era; good and bad. My only hope is that somehow Brissett can sneak a redshirt year in just to get a year of separation, as I'd love to see him get his shot to lead the Gators as well.

Don't forget, divits, that at the end of the day we're all (well most) Gators and really just want to see our team win

As was my point repeatedly during the Driskel/Brissett debates. I would have thought as Gators we would want them BOTH to succeed. But I seem to recall some people taking the opportunity to get quite personal in their attacks. Someone even called me out during a game claiming that “my boy” Driskel was screwing up.

Whatever. Go Gators.

Would those of us who love to post here continue to do so if this wasn't the case?

[Coach9]

I think RG3 had a stronger arm than Driskel.

I'm not so sure. I still remember the throw JD made in the HS all-star game.
Running right with no momentum towards the line of scrimmage, he threw it 65 yds in the air while falling out of bounds. Receiver dropped it or you'd see the highlight more often.

[gatortracker]

In his senior year Underarmor game he threw a 65 yard perfect strike hit the receiver in the chest while he was on the run..and it was accomplished with just a simple flick of his wrist..truly amazingly done.