Jesse Palmer, a former quarterback for Florida, has extensive knowledge in a quarterback rotation. During his four years at Gainesville under Steve Spurrier, he was a part of several teams, first sharing time in 1998 and 1999 with Doug Johnson and then in 2000 with Rex Grossman. Palmer is therefore the ideal person to comment on Billy Napier’s current quarterback rotation, which features five-star true freshman DJ Lagway and fifth-year senior Graham Mertz.
Palmer offered his opinions on which will give his Gators the most chance to succeed moving forward: sticking with a rotation or selecting a starter. “Traditionally, there has been only one quarterback because, in those situations, one guy is usually far superior to the other. However, I believe that there are some situations—like the one at Florida right now—where you have two really talented players, but they’re too far apart, and the playbook remains the same whether one of them plays. In that case, I do believe it would be best for the Gators to let both of those guys go.”
Mertz completed 19 of 23 throws for 179 yards and a touchdown in last week’s 24–13 victory over UCF, while Lagway—who Palmer referred to as “the future”—completed all four of his attempts for 50 yards through the air.
Entering Week 7, the Gators hold a 3-2 record, with Lagway having participated in every game. With Mertz sidelined due to injury, he made his lone start of the season against Samford in Week 2, throwing for 456 yards and three touchdowns. Napier had to include Lagway into the game plan as a result of that performance and increased pressure to keep his job following a Week 1 loss to Miami, 41-17.
It’s not an easy chore, but both quarterbacks have performed well since the rotation—which heavily favours the veteran—started against Texas A&M in Week 3. Palmer talked about the extra burden of managing a quarterback rotation in front of your home supporters. Palmer is collaborating with Fairfield by Marriott to identify the most devoted college football fan.
In those moments, Palmer said, “you’re thinking to yourself,’man, next time I get on the field I’ve got to throw a touchdown or else I don’t know if I’m going to get another chance.'” Palmer was reacting to the other player’s touchdown pass as his teammates went wild.
Palmer is quite fond of the Gainesville audience, as playing football there was almost like a holy experience for the football-mad Canadian, despite the fact that the fanbase contributed to the pressure.
“Gainesville just seemed like the Mecca to me when I arrived.” I felt like I belonged at The Swamp because it was like a cathedral and everyone would flock there every weekend to worship the team and the sport.
