A great point about J Russell and next year...

My only concern about JR is the "draw it up in the dirt and wing it" mentality. The kid never had decent coaching until he arrived at LSU. I watched him throughout HS and he was a man among boys but Williamson never did anything remarkable in the playoffs, always getting beat in the end by what was supposed to be a lesser team.

If J-Rock can grasp what the coaches are teaching and finally get the system down, he will be unstoppable. If not, he will be replaced. This is his year to make a difference especically with RP sitting on the sidelines chomping at the bit.

 

Leak may have been a 4 star but I believe he was either the number 1 or number 2 rated QB that year. Dont think Rivals had a 5 star QB when Leak was recruited. Jamarcus wasnt a 5 star either as I recall and was rated maybe 4 or 5 QB spots behind Leak.

 

Leak was pretty much the consensus number 2 QB in the country behind Kyle Wright, who most people had as one of the ten best players in the country.

 

http://chicagosports.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=9027&Sport=1

 

Ahhh....Kyle Wright. Forgot about him. Ya, he was a 5 star for sure. I stand corrected.

 

Leak is always talked about in a positive way because he jumped behind the wheel of one of America's Top Football Programs as a true Freshman and played smart, fearless football under a microscope. Beyond the field, his intense work ethic, his desire to win, his self-discipline, and his meticulous preparation work are well documented.

HONORS: All-SEC second team in 2004-coaches…All-America-Honorable Mention-Pro Football Weekly…Named to the 2004 SEC Academic Honor Roll…SEC All-Freshman Team in 2003…Named The Sporting News SEC Offensive Freshman on the Year in 2003; Sporting News All-Freshman Team in 2003; Rivals.com Freshman All-American in 2003…Scripps/FWAA Freshman All-America Team in 2003…SEC Freshman of the Year in 2003, the fourth Gator overall to receive the honor and the second Gator QB to claim the title…Other Florida recipients are Emmitt Smith (1987), Danny Wuerffel (1993) and Jabar Gaffney (2000)…Named to the Knoxville News Sentinel SEC All-Freshman Team in 2003…Earned the Gator Performance Award at the conclusion of 2004 Spring drills…

CAREER: Played in all 25 games for a total of 1,468 plays with 21 starts…Has thrown a touchdown pass in all 21 of his starts, the longest streak in the SEC and the second longest among quarterbacks on Top 25 teams at the conclusion of the 2004 season…Is 13-8 as a starter including a 10-5 record in SEC games and is 4-4 vs. Top 15 teams…His 5,632 passing yards ranks eighth all-time in UF history while his 428 completions and 719 attempts ranks eighth all-time…45 touchdown passes is second most by a player in his first two seasons at UF to Rex Grossman's 55 (Grossman had Spurrier)…Four career 300-yard passing games…

2004: A true sophomore who was the starting quarterback… Started every game seeing the field for 836 plays…Ranked 16th in the country in passing efficiency (144.92) and fourth in completions per touchdown pass (8.20)…First in the SEC in passing yards per game (266.4), first in total offense (273.5), and first in touchdowns (29)…Averaged 277 yards per game the last seven games of the season…29 touchdown passes tied the fourth best single season total in UF history…Six touchdown passes vs. South Carolina tied Danny Wuerffel for the most every by a UF quarterback in an SEC game and was the highest total for a single game in league play…Had four of the top seven passing performances in the SEC…Broke the 3,000 yard career passing mark during the Kentucky game, the 16th of his career, Shane Matthews is the only UF quarterback to reach that mark faster (13 games)…Career-best pass efficiency (233.84) against Middle Tennessee State…Put together career best 101 pass attempts without an interception before succumbing against Middle Tennessee…Completed first 10 passes at Vanderbilt…Accounted for three or more touchdowns, rushing or passing, in seven of 11 games…Threw for two or more touchdowns in nine of 11 games… Threw for more than 300 yards against Arkansas(career-high 322), Middle Tennessee State (316), Vanderbilt (307), and South Carolina (319)…

2003: A true freshman who had a 6-3 record as the starting quarterback, the highest winning percentage of any freshman QB in the country… Held a 6-1 record in SEC games and was 3-1 vs. Top 15 teams as a starter…Started nine games (Kentucky, Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, FSU, Iowa) after seeing time in the QB rotation with Ingle Martin and Gavin Dickey during the first four games…Ranked second in SEC history for a true freshman QB in completions (168), yards (2,167) and touchdowns (14)…Set school records in touchdowns (14) and season passing yardage (2,167) for a true freshman and scored best freshman totals in school history (RS Danny Wuerffel threw for 2,230 yards)…Threw three of the top five passing games, and six of the top 10, by true freshman QBs in UF history…Ranked second nationally among all freshmen in pass efficiency, and ninth among all underclassmen QBs in the country…Became the first freshman QB in school history to beat a Top four opponent with a 16-13 win over No. 4 Georgia…Shattered a UF school record for a starting true freshman quarterback in his first game, leading the Gators to a come-from-behind win, throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns, completing 20-of-35 passes vs. Kentucky…With his 268 passing yards vs. Kentucky, accumulated the then third-highest total in school history by a true freshman QB, in only his first start… With three consecutive road wins over top 11 programs, became only the second freshman QB to beat three Top 15 teams in his rookie season (Kerwin Bell defeated No. 8 Georgia, No. 11 Auburn and No. 12 FSU as a redshirt freshman in 1984)…At eventual national champion LSU, led UF to a convincing 19-7 victory, becoming the second starting true freshman QB to beat a Top 10 opponent (Jesse Palmer started vs. No. 6 Auburn in 1997)…Posted a career-high 273 yards vs. No. 9 FSU while also gaining 48 yards on the ground…Also caught a pass from fellow true freshman Andre Caldwell for a 30-yard gain that set up a Gator TD on the opening drive of the second half…His 273 passing yards vs. FSU were the second highest total in UF history by a true freshman QB…Set a school record with 22 completions vs. FSU, the highest total by a true freshman QB and the fourth highest total by a freshman QB in school history…Tied a school record with 20 completions by a true freshman in a single game vs. Kentucky and Arkansas…Set a then career high with 269 passing yards vs. Arkansas in the Gators win at No. 11 Arkansas… Accounted for half of UF's first downs vs. South Carolina, throwing seven of his 12 completions for first downs while also rushing for two others…Rushed for the first touchdown by a true freshman QB in the win over Vandy since Donald Douglas scored on a 5-yard run vs. Kentucky in Set QB bowl record for longest completion with 70-yard hook-up with Kelvin Kight…Entered the season opener against San Jose State on the Gators third offensive series for his first career action…The first pass of his career was a 31-yard completion to fellow true freshman Andre Caldwell…The Gators scored on four of Leak's seven drives vs. San Jose State…In his first game, connected on 10-of-14 passes for 111 yards and his first career TD pass, a 16-yard strike to Kelvin Kight…Completed 9-of-15 passes for 93 yards against Miami and had the Gators inside the Hurricanes 20 in the waning moments of the game…Extremely efficient against Florida A&M, completing 6-of-8 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown…Completed 9-of-12 attempts for 76 yards against Tennessee…Was one of seven true freshmen to play in every game…

 

Insiders had Wright number 1, Leak number 2 and JR #3 and all were rated as 5 stars. When Booty signed with USC in the summer all 3 of them moved down a notch and Booty was ranked #1. Tommy Grady of OU was ranked after JR as a 4 star and Lane was rated number 5 as a 4 star.

Leak's Freshman stats are very similar to the stats that Russell put up last season.

 

BB....
I'm not saying Leak can't play, but Russell's numbers were not so bad for a guy playing his first year of college football who had to split time with another QB.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is why are people compairing Russell to Leak in terms of success when Leak with all his good stats has not taken Florida to a SEC Championship game? I just sometimes think Russell was graded a bit
hard in his first year of football when first he wasn't the full time starter and two, it's pretty hard for a freshman to have major success in the SEC.
BTW my post is not directed at anyone, most of the negitive things I saw about Russell has been from fans of other teams.

 

That's an incouraging sign.