Just how bad was Wilton Speight against Florida? If you look at statistics alone, he wasn’t good – 11 of 25 for 181 yards, with just one touchdown and two interceptions, both for Gator touchdowns.
But if you watch the game again – every play – you will see he wasn’t as bad as some have suggested. Here is a play by play breakdown of his snaps (excluding hand-offs).
I marked them as Good, Bad and Neutral, grading Speight only, not necessarily the outcome of the play.
Good means he made the right play, Bad he was reason the play failed, Neutral means he didn’t really make a bad decision or throw but also didn’t make a positive play.
QUARTER 1
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Crawford for 3 yards. Might have been more had Crawford turned up field.
GOOD - Speight then rushes for 8 yards for first down.
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford drawing pass interference and first down. This was a deep ball thrown from one 30 to the other 30 before the safety could get there. This would have been a 50 yard reception had the defender not interfered with Crawford.
BAD - Speight sacked for loss of 7 yards. Had Evans in the flat but looks like he was waiting for Crawford to complete hook, Ulizio didn’t slow Sherit down though and he couldn’t get ball away. Still you can't give up 7 yards.
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to McDoom. QB hurry by Zuniga. Designed roll out to the right, chased by two defenders with no open receiver, threw the ball away
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Crawford for Touchdown but penalty called for ineligible downfield on pass. Again, under pressure, throws ball low to only receiver with defender’s back to him for what should have been a touchdown. Drive ends with FG made.
Note – earlier run by Evans likely a TD if he doesn’t trip. Watching film appears that Speight audibled to the run play to left. Another positive ‘play’ by the QB.
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Black on dropped pass. Good pass, Black fought the ball
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Black for 46 yards for Touchdown. Hit by defender right after releasing ball
QUARTER 2
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Took shot deep, had to put ball outside with corner trailing and safety coming over the top. You have to take shots down field sometimes – you won’t hit them all.
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 9 yards for 1ST DOWN. Puts ball in front of Perry with defender on his hip for first down
NEUTRAL - Speight pass intercepted, returned 48 yards for PICK 6. Throw was high but hit Crawford in the hands – ball actually hit Crawford’s hands below his facemask, not above his head. Not a great throw by Speight but this should have been caught by Crawford.
BAD - Speight pass intercepted and returned 41 yards for PICK 6 again. Defender right in front of him, but it was a bad pass, too high. No excuse for this one.
QUARTER 3
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to DPJ. Another downfield shot, put the ball down the sideline with corner trailing and safety coming over the top. People under estimate how hard this throw is to make in a tight window. I also think DPJ was slowed down hand fighting the corner, might have been able to get to this ball without that contact.
GOOD - Speight pass complete to McKeon for 10 yards for 1ST DOWN. Nice roll out hitting TE on the run
GOOD - Speight pass complete to McKeon for 5 yards. Again, puts ball in front of TE allowing him to catch and run
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 8 yards
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 1 yard
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Hill. Nobody open so he goes to check down to Hill but just as he pumps, it looks like Hill starts to turn and run, Speight appears to try to pull ball back but loses it incomplete; still better than taking sack. Even if he throws to Hill, the linebacker is in position to make tackle for no or little gain.
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 28 yards for 1ST DOWN. Another deep ball placed right where it needed to go. Drive ends in TD
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Hill. QB hurry by Sherit; roll out, under pressure, defender on Hill, purposely threw ball into the ground to avoid sack.
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Fade ball to the end zone that Crawford catches but can’t stay inbounds. Tight coverage. And you have to ask, does Crawford score if he high points the ball instead of falling back. Drive ends in FG.
BAD - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Under pressure, taking hit, throws behind receiver. Drive ends in FG
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Eubanks for 13 yards for 1ST DOWN. Nice job of waiting for Eubanks to clear the shallow linebacker, puts ball out ahead of him to allow for YAC
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Black. QB hurry by Sherit. This was supposed to be quick hitch or hitch and go to Crawford on the other side of the field, but he wasn’t open so Speight went to other side of the field but didn’t have time for Black to come open before pressure got to him, barely got ball away before getting hit.
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to McDoom. QB hurry by Zuniga. Hit as he was throwing. Drive ends with Punt
QUARTER 4
GOOD - Speight pass complete to McKeon for 10 yards for 1ST DOWN. Good pass, allowed McKeon to keep running
BAD - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Great audible, terrible throw- too much adrenaline? Drive ends with missed FG
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Eubanks for 48 yards for 1ST DOWN. Best throw of the game.
NEUTRAL - Speight sacked for loss of 2 yards. He missed Hill but the FB did fall just as Speight started to run, maybe he didn’t expect him to get up as quick as he did. Scrambled out of bounds to save yards.
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to Perry. Had to put this at the back of the end zone to keep it away from defender. Watching live I thought he over threw it by a lot, but on review, he just missed. Perry actually got a hand on the ball before he went out of bounds. Drive ends with missed FG
NEUTRAL - Speight sacked for loss of 8 yards. Nobody came open deep before he was hit from behind. Drive ends with Punt.
In the end - he threw two pick sixes. So there is no way to spin it and say he had a good game. However, take away that second quarter and his performance was much better than most are giving him credit for. Even many of the incompletions were actually, "good" plays or solid attempts to take a shot downfield or in the end zone.
After watching the game again, focusing on Speight's performance, I would argue that he is improved and underrated when it comes to hitting the deep ball. And this was just game one of the season. No doubt in my mind that he will continue to grow.
But if you watch the game again – every play – you will see he wasn’t as bad as some have suggested. Here is a play by play breakdown of his snaps (excluding hand-offs).
I marked them as Good, Bad and Neutral, grading Speight only, not necessarily the outcome of the play.
Good means he made the right play, Bad he was reason the play failed, Neutral means he didn’t really make a bad decision or throw but also didn’t make a positive play.
QUARTER 1
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Crawford for 3 yards. Might have been more had Crawford turned up field.
GOOD - Speight then rushes for 8 yards for first down.
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford drawing pass interference and first down. This was a deep ball thrown from one 30 to the other 30 before the safety could get there. This would have been a 50 yard reception had the defender not interfered with Crawford.
BAD - Speight sacked for loss of 7 yards. Had Evans in the flat but looks like he was waiting for Crawford to complete hook, Ulizio didn’t slow Sherit down though and he couldn’t get ball away. Still you can't give up 7 yards.
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to McDoom. QB hurry by Zuniga. Designed roll out to the right, chased by two defenders with no open receiver, threw the ball away
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Crawford for Touchdown but penalty called for ineligible downfield on pass. Again, under pressure, throws ball low to only receiver with defender’s back to him for what should have been a touchdown. Drive ends with FG made.
Note – earlier run by Evans likely a TD if he doesn’t trip. Watching film appears that Speight audibled to the run play to left. Another positive ‘play’ by the QB.
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Black on dropped pass. Good pass, Black fought the ball
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Black for 46 yards for Touchdown. Hit by defender right after releasing ball
QUARTER 2
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Took shot deep, had to put ball outside with corner trailing and safety coming over the top. You have to take shots down field sometimes – you won’t hit them all.
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 9 yards for 1ST DOWN. Puts ball in front of Perry with defender on his hip for first down
NEUTRAL - Speight pass intercepted, returned 48 yards for PICK 6. Throw was high but hit Crawford in the hands – ball actually hit Crawford’s hands below his facemask, not above his head. Not a great throw by Speight but this should have been caught by Crawford.
BAD - Speight pass intercepted and returned 41 yards for PICK 6 again. Defender right in front of him, but it was a bad pass, too high. No excuse for this one.
QUARTER 3
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to DPJ. Another downfield shot, put the ball down the sideline with corner trailing and safety coming over the top. People under estimate how hard this throw is to make in a tight window. I also think DPJ was slowed down hand fighting the corner, might have been able to get to this ball without that contact.
GOOD - Speight pass complete to McKeon for 10 yards for 1ST DOWN. Nice roll out hitting TE on the run
GOOD - Speight pass complete to McKeon for 5 yards. Again, puts ball in front of TE allowing him to catch and run
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 8 yards
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 1 yard
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Hill. Nobody open so he goes to check down to Hill but just as he pumps, it looks like Hill starts to turn and run, Speight appears to try to pull ball back but loses it incomplete; still better than taking sack. Even if he throws to Hill, the linebacker is in position to make tackle for no or little gain.
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Perry for 28 yards for 1ST DOWN. Another deep ball placed right where it needed to go. Drive ends in TD
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Hill. QB hurry by Sherit; roll out, under pressure, defender on Hill, purposely threw ball into the ground to avoid sack.
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Fade ball to the end zone that Crawford catches but can’t stay inbounds. Tight coverage. And you have to ask, does Crawford score if he high points the ball instead of falling back. Drive ends in FG.
BAD - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Under pressure, taking hit, throws behind receiver. Drive ends in FG
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Eubanks for 13 yards for 1ST DOWN. Nice job of waiting for Eubanks to clear the shallow linebacker, puts ball out ahead of him to allow for YAC
GOOD - Speight pass incomplete to Black. QB hurry by Sherit. This was supposed to be quick hitch or hitch and go to Crawford on the other side of the field, but he wasn’t open so Speight went to other side of the field but didn’t have time for Black to come open before pressure got to him, barely got ball away before getting hit.
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to McDoom. QB hurry by Zuniga. Hit as he was throwing. Drive ends with Punt
QUARTER 4
GOOD - Speight pass complete to McKeon for 10 yards for 1ST DOWN. Good pass, allowed McKeon to keep running
BAD - Speight pass incomplete to Crawford. Great audible, terrible throw- too much adrenaline? Drive ends with missed FG
GOOD - Speight pass complete to Eubanks for 48 yards for 1ST DOWN. Best throw of the game.
NEUTRAL - Speight sacked for loss of 2 yards. He missed Hill but the FB did fall just as Speight started to run, maybe he didn’t expect him to get up as quick as he did. Scrambled out of bounds to save yards.
NEUTRAL - Speight pass incomplete to Perry. Had to put this at the back of the end zone to keep it away from defender. Watching live I thought he over threw it by a lot, but on review, he just missed. Perry actually got a hand on the ball before he went out of bounds. Drive ends with missed FG
NEUTRAL - Speight sacked for loss of 8 yards. Nobody came open deep before he was hit from behind. Drive ends with Punt.
In the end - he threw two pick sixes. So there is no way to spin it and say he had a good game. However, take away that second quarter and his performance was much better than most are giving him credit for. Even many of the incompletions were actually, "good" plays or solid attempts to take a shot downfield or in the end zone.
After watching the game again, focusing on Speight's performance, I would argue that he is improved and underrated when it comes to hitting the deep ball. And this was just game one of the season. No doubt in my mind that he will continue to grow.
