The NFL Combine has come and gone, and for the most part, it was a productive weekend for former members of Florida Football. Headlining the effort for the Gators was Chimire Dike's 4.34-second effort in the 40-yard dash, with Montrell Johnson and Elijhah Badger also running below 4.41 and 4.43 seconds, respectively.
The performances will earn all three more money come the NFL Draft in April.
It also leaves a lingering question: if Florida had all this speed in 2024, why were they 64th in points per game?
Florida Football: Need For Speed
We made the point heading into the Combine that Florida had the 9th most players of any team in the country invited to Indianapolis. Of the 12 schools that had at least eight players invited, Florida and Michigan were the only two that didn't win at least nine games in 2024.
Florida and Michigan are also the only two schools that had at least seven players invited to lose four games by at least ten points.
But the reason we are going to cycle back to the offense and raise questions about Billy Napier for the 93rd time this offseason is that we have yet another data point that highlights just how much the Gators really did underachieve in 2024.
Think about the Gators' offense by the end of the season. They had a freshman All-American at QB, two wide receivers with 4.43 and under speed, a running back with 4.41 speed, an All-American center, and a right tackle who was invited to the Combine.
Add in Austin Barber probably getting a Combine invite next year and the fact that Aidan Mizell and/or Tank Hawkins both probably run 4.43 and under themselves, and Florida could have had a formation of seven or more players on the field at one time who all have the attention of the NFL.
And yet...
It required garbage time touchdowns to eclipse 30 points against FSU and Tulane. That was after extended disappearing acts like the 3rd quarter against Ole Miss that have been covered up in retrospect because the defense balled out.
Again, Florida was 64th in the country in 2024 in points per game. Rutgers had more points in 2024 than Florida.
In Billy Napier's ten years as either a D1 offensive coordinator or as a D1 head coach, he has only finished in the top 25 in points per game once.
In case you need a reminder too, in all five of Florida's losses in 2024 the Gators scored 20 or fewer points.
So when he insists that he wants to call plays in 2025, we are just here to ask how much more talent he needs for his offense to even begin to resemble a championship-level offense.
If two speedy wide receivers, a speedy running back, and an All-American QB to go along with multiple future NFL linemen aren't enough, then what is it?