John Brantley Injury: Why the Injury Might Be a Blessing in Disguise for Gators

John Brantley went down against Alabama last week and is unlikely to play next week against LSU. On the surface, and likely for the immediate future, this injury is devastating for Florida who are looking to upset the top-ranked Tigers.

But in the long run, Brantley’s injury could end up benefiting the Gators.

The obvious benefit is in experience. Florida was going to lose to Alabama regardless of whether or not Brantley got injured so it is great that he got injured in this game and not a game that relied so heavily on quarterback poise and experience.

Playing a defense like Alabama’s this year will be brutal for anyone, so any team that Driskel faces now will pale in comparison to that. He should be mentally prepared for LSU next week, though the game is away, which will likely affect him.

Plus, the more in-game experience he can get as a freshman running Charlie Weis’ offense the better.

Driskel was also the more highly-rated player coming out of high school and Brantley, while performing well, has not been as stellar as fans or coaches may have wanted. They are averaging just over 200 yards per game through the air which is 86th in the country. Brantley has also thrown for just five touchdowns on the year with three interceptions.

This offense goes through Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps, but it is important to keep defenses honest. It is hard to keep that going when your quarterback can’t sling the ball around as well as the running backs play.

Plus, there are many quarterbacks who needed an injury to really get noticed and take the next step. Take a look at Tom Brady who came in for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and won the MVP of the Super Bowl in the same season.

Aaron Rodgers can also relate because Brett Favre had his on-again, off-again period which allowed him to take over in 2008 rather than this year when, at least for now, he fully retired.

Driskel will undoubtedly be a star at Florida just based on talent but he could be better sooner than expected because he is now more mentally prepared to deal with the high pressure situations big-time college football throws you in.

If that is the case, Gators fans should take the optimistic on John Brantley’s injury because it may just be a blessing in disguise.