Leak Raising the Bar

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LEAK in the SYSTEM

Florida senior QB Chris Leak shows off his leadership skills, which the Gators will be relying on heavily this season, at the Manning Passing Academy

Monday, July 10, 2006

By Jim Kleinpeter

THIBODAUX -- Florida quarterback Chris Leak said there's nothing he enjoys more than giving back to football by helping younger players.

But he also knows he stands to gain by participating as an instructor in the Manning Passing Academy.

Hundreds of wanna-be quarterbacks closely watched and listened to the Gators senior at Nicholls State University during the four-day camp that ended Sunday. Leak patiently walked through the drills he's done thousands of times, pointing out the tiniest mechanical imperfections or flaws and dropping an encouraging word now and then.

It's another step in the leadership experience, which dovetails nicely with expectations for Leak's senior season. The Gators' high hopes center around the 6-foot, 207-pounder's abilities not just as a quarterback, but as a leader.

Most preseason college football publications have picked Florida as a top-10 team and the favorite to win the SEC East. The main reason is Leak, who has started 33 consecutive games, and the fact that second-year coach Urban Meyer's teams traditionally have shown great improvement from the first year to the second.

Leak is the lynchpin to that thinking and has an enthusiastic "bring it on" attitude.

"Being a captain and leader of my team, there's no greater feeling when you're going into your senior season," he said.

"Being a leader takes stages, it develops over time. Every year you try to learn better ways to do it. Everybody is different, so you have to learn different ways to lead different guys. Being around guys like Peyton (Manning) and Eli (Manning), they've developed leadership roles, and it really helps."

Leak said Meyer and the Florida staff is encouraging him to be more vocal this season after a rocky, at times, junior year. The Gators allowed 35 sacks, and Leak got roughed up against Alabama and LSU, suffering a shoulder injury against the Tide. He played through the pain and adversity and finished strong to pass for 2,639 yards and 20 touchdowns with only six interceptions.

"He's acting like a senior quarterback right now," said Meyer during spring workouts. "I really like his tempo at practice. I like the way he's taken control, holding guys accountable.

"The good thing is that there isn't a quarterback controversy in-house. For Gators fans and college football fans, that's a great water-cooler story, but Chris Leak is our quarterback."

Meyer and staff decided to tweak his hybrid spread-option offense for 2006 to place more emphasis on passing, playing to Leak's strength.

"Good coaches play to what the players do best," Leak said. "From the first day I was there, Coach Meyer said he was going to build the offense around me. That gives me a lot of confidence as a quarterback and leader of the team.

"We're going to attack the defense more, make the defense cover the entire field. We want to be a high-octane offense, throwing the ball deep, middle and short."

If Leak, and the Gators, have a big year, it likely would boost him into the Heisman Trophy race and drive him up on the NFL draft list. He isn't the prototype quarterback because of his height and average arm strength. But he possesses an innate poise he has shown since his freshman year. He guided the Gators to a 19-7 victory against LSU in the Tigers' 2003 national championship season despite being sacked six times.

"I believe his game is better suited to the NFL than college," said ESPN analyst Chris Mortensen. "He carries himself like a pro. He ran an NFL-type system before Meyer got to Florida.

"He's going to get picked apart. Some people will say his arm strength isn't that good. But a lot of people in the NFL have arm strength that would be called average. His height will get picked on, too."