Gragas ult deserves a buff

I haven't played league since 2015 and coming back to my favorite mid lamer, Gragas, I am really disappointed at the change to his ult. It used to cast and impact more or less instantaneously, which was great. Now, there is a distinctly LONGER duration before it actually impacts, and this has significantly nerfed his gameplay. I don't care if the damage is lower, but the key element to Gragas was being able to strategically disrupt and position enemies with the knockback on his ult, and this is MUCH less viable with the nerd to cast/impact speed of the barrel. For example, against Katarina, it is crucial to CC her immediately when she begins her ult, and it's nearly impossible to do this with Gragas' ult now, because it takes so much longer to actually hit then ground, and she has time to flash or shunpo away after already dealing massive damage before being hit.

I feel as though Gragas' ultimate is absolutely essential to his kit, because timing is such a vital element in this game, and slowing his ultimate hurts him more than anything else. Please consider making it faster, so he can excel in his ideal role.