Gator fans were perplexed on Monday when Billy Napier mused that he's keeping play-calling duties because that was "what got us here." Well, yes, timid and unimaginative play calling is what has sunk the Gators to 20-22 in the Billy Napier Era.
But there was another take Napier gave in the same press conference that didn't draw as big a headline, but has just as big a plot hole to it.
Billy Napier used PFF every day
Napier was asked about the use of analytics, and to be honest, the front half of his answer was a perfectly normal answer:
"We have access to more information than we've ever had before. I do think it's a tool; you want to use every lead you can find.
But then, you have to evaluate the body of work. You know the play design, you know the intent of the play. Your own in-house evaluation is important."
This is the one flaw of analytics, where players might get dinged for something even though it wasn't their job on that play to do the thing they got dinged for. Likewise, a player might blow an assignment but someone else gets the blame.
But then Napier continued his answer, and this is where eyebrows started to raise:
"We use it in the portal process. I think it is a tool, we have used it in the past. It's a lead, I think ultimately that's what you're looking for.
But look, we use PFF every single day."
If you know anything about PFF (Pro Football Focus), it tends to be a guiding tool that sparks conversation, but we have to give the disclaimer every time we reference it that PFF is far from gospel.
But even if Napier wants to use PFF as a guide to help him in the transfer portal, we would love to know what version of it he is using.
In 2024, Florida grabbed 17 players out of the transfer portal. Only six of those players went on to play at least 200 snaps AND had a PFF grade of at least 59.5.
That was 11th in the SEC in terms of the total number of transfer portal contributors in 2024, and the fact that only 35% of those 17 players worked out was the 3rd worst in the SEC.
This past year, Florida was quiet in the transfer portal. The one "splash" guy they got was wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant, and the knock on Sturdivant coming into the year is that his analytics were awful while at UCLA.
Spoiler alert: his metrics are also awful with Florida.
So whatever tool and lead Napier has been using hasn't been a good one, and it's just another reason why he is 20-22 while in Gainesville.