Gators QB Chris Leak

[bigboydan]

Despite all the hype surrounding Florida QB Tim Tebow, Street & Smiths is reporting that Chris Leak is currently slated to start under center for the Gators in 2006. Leak completed 62.8% of his passes last season with 20 touchdowns, 6 INTs and a 136.53 QB rating.

yet, the situation may not be as secure as one would think. "despite Leak's steady hand on the Florida offense the last three years, and his quality numbers last season... what would make many of the Florida faithful happy would be throwing freshman quarterback Tim Tebow (6-3, 225 pounds) into the offense," the 2006 S&S yearbook says. Yet, while Tebow is expected to play, it will indeed be Leak who takes the majority of the snaps, says coach Urban Meyer. Is Leak the right guy for the job?

[isetcap]

Heisman Trophy

[Razz]

I think he will put up good numbers, but the Gators schedule is really tough, and I can see him struggling against Tennessee, Auburn, FSU, etc. I think they could potentially be the best team in the SEC, but their record may not show it.

[kalmikrazy]

Should have a great year as this kid was labeled as a cant miss recruit and this may be his season even though everyone is looking for Quinn to put up some SICK numbers.

[pags11]

I've never seen such a talented QB draw so much criticsm...I think he'll be very fired up this year and has a legit shot at the heisman for sure...

[onlooker]

Blue Ribbon Yearbook.

No more pencils. No more books. No more OC's dirty looks.

Prepping for the 2006 season won't be quite that elementary for Chris Leak (6-0, 210), but the senior from Charlotte has a luxury previously unknown in his days at Florida.

"It's the first time in his career that he's run the same offense in spring ball that he did the year before," offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said. "He seemed to be more confident every day out on the field."

Nagging doubts raised in the summer of 2005 about Leak's adaptability to adopt the Meyer way -- would he make the right reads, would he fumble too much, would he run the ball effectively -- went mostly unfounded. A second-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press, Leak completed 62.8 percent of his tosses last season, racking up 219.9 passing yards per game (second only to Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler in the SEC) and 20 touchdowns versus six interceptions.

Embarking on his fourth year as a starter, the "yeah, buts" still shadow Leak. For all of his accomplishments -- Leak is fourth on the career list in yards passing (8,271) and completions (663) -- he has yet to guide the Gators to an SEC East title.

Too, the option portion of Meyer's spread-option offense was mothballed for the second half of last season, because Leak will never be confused with Vince Young on a rollout. Leak took some heat in the aftermath of the Outback Bowl because he slid short of the first-down marker on three second-half scrambles.

"He's got to run that darn ball," Meyer was quoted as saying in a GatorBait.net story a week after the game. "We're going to make him run over bags for six or seven hours a day and dive into walls or something like that. I'm kind of kidding and kind of not. His offseason is going to be jumping into walls and getting first downs. He can throw the ball very well, but the bottom line to win a championship, you need a guy that's going to get you a first down."

Responded Leak in the same article: "I'm not a running back. We have three big guys behind me to run the ball. What I do best is manage the offense and putting our team in position to score by throwing the ball downfield. I think the coaches are doing a great job of putting us in position to do those things."

By Mullen's account, Leak's spring-game performance -- 17-of-33 for 145 passing yards, one interception -- didn't dignify the progress he had made in April.

"He's learning how to apply the offense against the defense, instead of learning the offense," Mullen said. "He had a really solid spring."