The ongoing narrative over the past couple of years in Gainesville was "Just wait until Billy Napier gets his own guys and cleans up the mess that Dan Mullen left behind." There is a sliver of truth to that, but it is naive to think Mullen left behind a dumpster fire so bad that Napier should have emerged from year three at 19-19.
But even if one wanted to cling to that narrative, Napier entered year four of his reign in Gainesville with a roster that was almost exclusively handpicked by him.
And so while there are players on the roster who have to take ownership for their poor play on Saturday in the 18-16 loss to USF, one has to remember these are the guys Napier brought to town in the first place.
Greatest Roster Ever Losses to USF
The day was highlighted by DJ Lagway having an okay day, but also missing on some key throws downfield. Lagway was 23 for 33 passing for 222 yards with one TD and one INT.
So while Lagway has to play better, he is also the handpicked savior of the program that Napier and company told us for over two years, "just wait and see."
Lagway wasn't helped out by a couple of drops, including a notable one by Tony Livingston early in the game. Sure, Livingston needs to catch the ball, but it's also Napier who insists upon using two tight ends with frequency, knowing full well he doesn't have two great tight ends.
While we are at it, Napier handpicked Amir Jackson at tight end just to give him seven snaps yesterday.
Speaking of guys who can't catch, J. Michael Sturdivant had two catches off five targets, including the 50/50 deep shot that resulted in an interception (even if the ball did hit the ground). Remember the laundry list of wide receivers that were in the portal only for Florida to settle on the guy who had just 22 catches last year off 40 targets?
Hail Florida Hail remebers.
At least Eugene Wilson finally caught a pass more than ten yards down the field. If you are keeping score at home, he now has 92 career catches as a Florida Gator, 77 of which have been less than ten yards down the field when he caught the ball.
Napier also thought it was a good idea to have him try and block a defensive tackle, but that's a different story.
Speaking of defensive tackles, remember how Napier sat on his hands and didn't grab any out of the portal during the winter portion, and then only after D'Antre Robinson left for UNC did he go out and get Brendan Bett from Baylor.
Napier's handpicked DT from the portal apparently didn't watch the NFL opener and thought it was a good idea to spit during the final drive.
We can go up and down the line playing this game:
George Gumbs Jr., the handpicked WR turned EDGE, had zero sacks and a PFF of 55.6.
Aidan Mizell, the speedy actual WR who was part of the trio Napier brought in as part of the class of 2023, had 18 snaps for two targets (though both were catches).
Dijon Johnson, the handpicked DB he flipped to get to Gainesville, gave up three catches off four targets and had a PFF grade of 42.4.
So whether it's coaching or whether it's the players, Billy Napier handpicked all the ingredients he got to use on Saturday against USF.
The end result was a meal that would get returned at Applebee's.