FLORIDA
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series previewing every SEC team’s offense, starting with the East Division. Coming Tuesday: Georgia.
When Florida football revolutionized the 3 yards and a cloud of dust SEC in the 1990s, it did so on the backs of Steve Spurrier’s innovative, high-flying offenses. The Gators kept up the offensive mojo well into the Tim Tebow era, but after Tebow’s departure, Florida was stuck in the swamp offensively, and as a result, so was the program.
Offensive woes were a primary reason Jim McElwain and Florida parted ways in 2017. Hired to fix the moribund offenses that derailed the Will Muschamp era, McElwain’s final Florida offense finished 104th in yards per play and 51st in S&P+ offense.
Dan Mullen arrived last fall, however, and quickly made improvements. Long regarded as one of college football’s best offensive minds and quarterback whisperers, Mullen’s first offense in Gainesville finished 22nd in total offense, a decade-best 32nd in yards per play and 15th in S&P+ offense.
Most impressive, Mullen completely flipped the script for starting quarterback Feleipe Franks. In 2017, under McElwain and interim head coach Randy Shannon, Franks slotted in as the second-least efficient QB in the Power 5, ahead of only Kellen Mond, who, as fate would have it, defeated Franks and the Gators on the field in 2017, anyway.
Last year, Mullen helped Franks make the largest-efficiency leap in the Power 5 of any starter (nearly 30 points in QBR!) and by season’s end, Franks was winning MVP honors at a New Year’s 6 Bowl game. Given the historical progression of second-year starting QBs under Dan Mullen, a Peach Bowl MVP could be just the beginning for Franks and the Florida offense.
What should we expect in year two of the Mullen era from the UF offense? Let’s play better or worse …
Personnel: Even
Key losses: Jordan Scarlett, RB; Martez Ivey, OT; Jawaan Taylor, OT
Key returnees: Lamical Perine, RB; Feleipe Franks, QB; Van Jefferson, WR; Kadarius Toney, WR; Trevon Grimes, WR; Freddie Swain, WR; Joshua Hammond, WR; Tyrie Cleveland, WR
Potential breakout players: Kyle Pitts, TE; Kemore Gamble, TE.
It’s no secret everything starts with the line of scrimmage in the SEC and this year, the Gators will be no different. The playmakers are almost all back, save Jordan Scarlett, and Florida adds blue-chip pieces at tight end and running back. If the Gators can find the right combination on the offensive line, where they must replace two tackles headed to the NFL, the personnel will be a definitive better. But that is “to be determined.”
Passing offense: Better
Florida returns a stable of wide receivers that is as good as any unit in the conference, both from a blue-chip perspective (the entire two deep is blue-chip WRs) and returning production perspective.
Van Jefferson remains the best route-runner and is an expert at creating separation at the line of scrimmage. Kadarius Toney became the first UF player since Percy Harvin to average a first-down a touch on 40 or more touches last season; Toney showed an improved understanding of the playbook this spring and should see the ball even more in 2019. Freddie Swain is one of the most underrated players in the SEC. It’s astonishing how often he’s open, and he should easily better his numbers from 2018, as defenses key on stopping the run and containing Jefferson, Toney and vertical threat Tyrie Cleveland.
Those players are all mentioned before we get to Trevon Grimes, who, put plainly, is a problem.
HELLO, END ZONE!!!
Franks finds @Trevongrimes8 for the score and the #Gators extend the lead to 27-7! pic.twitter.com/7REfZBMp3P
— InAllKindsOfWeather.com 🍑🏆 (@AllKindsWeather) November 24, 2018
Virtually uncoverable in the spring, Jefferson and Swain give Mullen the chance to pick matchups for Grimes, who has NFL size and speed.
In other words, the Gators are loaded on the perimeter.
They also expect the tight end position to be better. Kyle Pitts is a walking matchup problem and Kemore Gamble, another blue-chip recruit, has great hands. Lucas Krull adds depth.
Of course, the onus will be on a very young offensive line to protect Franks, and the junior QB will need to be more accurate down the field (12th in SEC in 20+ yards or more completion percentage in 2018.) But if Franks has time, he will have options, and after an offseason working on downfield accuracy, it’s safe to project Florida’s passing offense will be “better” in 2019.
Rushing offense: Worse
Florida finished 27th nationally in rushing offense in 2018, averaging 5.3 yards a carry.
With Lamical Perine back, the Gators have a tremendous running back who should carry the load and become the first Gator to run for 1,000 yards since Mike Gillislee accomplished the feat in 2012.
The Gators also have good depth, with Malik Davis looking healthy in the spring despite returning from a second-season ending injury in as many years and sophomore Dameon Pierce a powerful runner who is a load to bring down in the second level.
Still, Florida made a living running at behemoth tackles last season, and until the Gators have certain solutions at those spots this autumn, a dip in production seems inevitable.
Perine has been top 5 in the SEC in yards after contact twice in his career, so he’s capable of grinding out tough yards. But Florida has to replace four starters on the offensive line — never easy in any conference — and especially tough given the Gators’ brutal schedule, which not only includes a West Division draw of Auburn and LSU but includes Miami and FSU, which, while rebuilding, still boast physical, talent-laden defensive fronts.
Special teams: Better
Florida returns two of the SEC’s best specialists in punter Tommy Townsend (45.4 per punt, 42.3 net) and Evan McPherson (50-for-50 XP, 17-for-19 FG).
It’s hard to beat McPherson’s numbers, but he’s added leg strength and should be good from 50+ when called upon as a sophomore.
As for Townsend, he’s a capable athlete who gives Florida a tackler and coverage piece as well as the booming leg we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the Townsend family. Give me the Gators’ specialists against most anyone in the SEC.
Overall: Better
With an improved Franks and the deepest playmaker pool Florida’s had since 2009, it’s easy to see why people are excited about the offense in Gainesville.
The offensive line has questions, and the progress Florida makes up front will dictate what the program’s ceiling is in 2019, but Florida will rack up points and yards against opponents with less talent — which is most everyone on the schedule next season save LSU, Auburn and Georgia.
I trust Hevesy will get the big uglies ready to go sooner rather than later and then the offense will definitely be a lot better. Franks showed steady improvement all season and that should continue this season.
Where are the Georgia morons?
Watching Fromm throw ANOTHER TD on 3rd and Grantham……
I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, that a guy who covers Florida for SDS would say they are going to be better this year. Stunning…..
I’m shocked that I was able to post before you or any of your fellow morons chimed in. But here you are at last
Yes, let me get out the recording of his games VS UT, LSU and AL. Deflating another generation of DAWG lovers. #kirbying #rodrigo #best3lossteamin America. #gotrings?
You HOPE. UGLY got lucky in 2018 when Florida’s cornerbacks were all injured and couldn’t play for the game. Do you honestly think that’ll happen 2 years in a row and let that child rapist Froom pass against us in the 4th quarter again for a come from behind victory 2 years in a row?
Why would you even get that started? Cut it out!
sounds like a pretty fair assessment. But it didn’t say anything about the caliber of player florida has to replace those 2 tackles. Florida may very well be better than I thought they would. Im sure I read about the D in some previous articles but don’t recall who you lost and who is coming back and who is new that could start early… Gators could have a better shot at unseating uga than I previously thought. Not that I would bet on it but I might take the points now.
They are good but untested players and they were brought in by Mullen and Hevesy, not inherited from the previous staff so they are hand picked and well coached if you will. I am not overly concerned, we should be fine up front. Mullen can also scheme around any potential deficiencies. He is an excellent play caller contrary to what you would believe if you listened to any of the legion of Georgia morons that post here.
I think the lack of a high-caliber pass-protection could force them to bring Emory Jones into the mix more, which might benefit them in the long run. That being said, Mullen is probably capable of bringing in some sort of dink and dunk, quick play offense to adapt to it–but that type of offense has to be pretty good to survive amongst SEC linebackers.
Personel even… although Floriduh lost 4 of 5 offensive linemen?
Passing game better… although Floriduh lost 4 of 5 offensive lineman?
I know you’re a homer Neil, and you’ve fully bought into Sideshow Dan the Clown’s schtick that he can “coach them up” (which again… his career provides zero proof of), but come on, man.
Everything, everything, everything about finding success in football is about play on the lines. You’re passing game is not going to be better with Franks running for his life against the good teams you play. He has shown he has zero ability to deal with pressure. Your passing offense, and offense as a whole, is going to be worse.
Possibly a lot worse. There is no real blue chip talent on the offensive line right now, and definitely no depth of talent in case injuries happen to replace all those first time starters.
This isn’t trolling. This is an honest assessment. Your line is going to be garbage this year, and unless Sideshow Dan and his coaches learn how to recruit better, which is unlikely, it’s not going to get much better than that the next couple of years until these guys build up battle scars. So you’re looking at becoming a every-three to four year team as far as offensive line play success goes. Congrats, that’s Mizzou and Kentucky-level.
As the lines go, so go your offense, Homer Neil.
Hard to take anything you say as anything but trolling after your third statement of Mullen’s career provides zero proof that he can “coach them up”. Anyone who even knows a little about college football knows his entire career at MSU was the epitome of “coaching them up”, just like all of last season was the exact same thing. It’s also pretty delusional to believe that an offense that was averaging over 500 yards and 45 pts a game over the last 4 games of the season, is suddenly going to fall on its face with a year under their belts simply because they’re replacing a few lineman, with guys who saw playing time last season. You should probably check back on the recruiting rankings the last few years to see how wrong you are about there being no blue chip talent at o-line. Newsflash, bluechip doesn’t just mean 5 star players. It’s funny how you spend 99.99999% of the time trolling and expect anyone to take anything you say as an honest assessment. Keep believing what you want to believe though, cause it’ll hit you that much harder when you’re proven wrong.
His record vs. the Top-25 does not show ANY ability to coach them up, neither does his record vs. the SEC. When a coach has a reputation for coaching them up, think Chris Peterson at Boise or Bill Snyder at Kansas, they’re winning far more in conference against teams with better players and then against Top-25 teams as well.
Sideshow Dan’s record means he lost the games he was supposed to lose, and almost never won the game he should not have won. His reputation is completely unearned. It’s a myth. Much like the idea your offense will improve this year behind a terrible o-line.
You act like he was coaching at a blue blood program that has the ability to attract the talent to compete with the top teams and he’s a terrible coach cause he wasn’t beating the blue bloods with less talent. That’s a very myopic view of things. Based on your assessment, we might as well say Smart’s a terrible coach cause he can’t beat LSU or Bama, which is a more legit statement considering he has equal talent. I’m pretty sure taking an annual SEC cellar dweller to 9 wins by year 2 and the #1 ranking for the first time in history by year 5, beating 3 top 10 teams in a row, is enough proof in itself of his abilities to “coach them up”. That’s before even factoring in that he had the highest winning percentage in program history and took them to 8 of their 21 total bowl games in their 124 year history all the while playing in the toughest division in college football at the peak of their powers. Again, you clearly know nothing about college football if you don’t think he can “coach them up”.
No I’m not. Look at his record at Mississippi State vs. Jackie Sherril’s record at Mississippi State. They’re virtually IDENTICAL. So no, Sideshow Dan did not win more at MSU than any other coach, nor did he win the most important distinction, which Jackie Sherrill did in winning his division.
Again… nothing in Sideshow Dan’s actual history as a coach proves out this myth about him able to “coach up” 2 and 3-star players to beat teams stacked with blue chips. He most certainly does not do that.
Joe he acts like a 8 year old even though the loser is 31. What a chump!
Hey Loser 31 year old:
JS 13 years @ MSU .493 winning %. W 74 – 76 L
DM 9 yrs @ MSU .600 winning % W 69 – 49 L
That’s not close to identical you idiot
But I understand you Georgia fools are delusional
SEC record, Jones. I’m talking SEC record. AGAIN… try to follow along here: Sideshow Dan the Clown did not win games he shouldn’t have won. He lost all the games at MSU he should have lost.
THAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF COACHING THEM UP.
31 going on 8, coaching them up is getting 3 star talent and turning them into NFL 1rst round picks.
Coaching them up is getting one of the worst QBs in the SEC and turning him into Peach Bowl MVP in one season.
Just 2 of many examples
It is not starting with 5 star talent and losing the last two games of the season, the last one to a lesser talented team (on paper at least) and ending up ranked lower than other “less talented “ teams
Abysmal record vs. the Top-25 and a way below .500 record vs. the SEC.Sideshow Dan the Clown doesn’t coach-up s–t. You literally don’t have ACTUAL proof you can point to of this lie. You point to last year. Everything else in his career shows that he actually doesn’t coach-up his lesser talent. He wins the games he’s supposed to win, mostly, and loses the games he’s supposed to lose. That’s who he is. Keep thinking otherwise. LOL.
What games last year did UGA win they weren’t suppose to? I know they lost a couple they were suppose to win…
“O-line will be terrible but offense better”
– Said No One Ever.
Get ready for some fun…..
It literally makes no sense. It’s this inability to honestly assess that’s going to make for a lot of tears and anguish in Jortsville this autumn. Not that I’m complaining, because it’ll be hilarious, but still. Denial runs deep with the ‘turds.
I somewhat agree with you here. While everything else in this article is accurate, the offensive line being such a question mark makes every category ??? at best. On paper, yes, it should be, but without consistent O-line play, you’re looking at a break-even offense at best.
I will disagree, however, that the O-line should already be chalked up to “garbage” for the next three to four years. O-line is one of the only position groups where I’d argue that star ratings don’t matter, so long as preparation and frame are there. I was worried that our offensive line was going to be rough last year, especially after spring and the first couple of games, but the group gelled and put together a solid performance. There was experience there, but also inexperience. I suspect that this year will be similar.
Every Georgia fan everywhere knows this isn’t true from horrifying experience in Richt’s last 10 years. Blue chippers on the o-line make all the difference.
I suspect this may be less to do with talent and more to do with Richt’s ideal lineman and his prep coaches in general. UM had some talent along their line as well, but the results in games didn’t pay dividends.
You do bring up a point that I’d love to get a deeper perspective of from a UGA fan. From the outside looking in, Richt seemed like a guy that could recruit at a fairly high level, and in turn utilize that talent pool to get better than average results. What do you feel was his biggest area of growth? Did he need to change his recruiting philosophy? Modify how he approached the game?
To cbmckay:
Richt needed to change his entire approach. He never worked the recruiting trail like Saban, Smart or Dabo. He was not interested in attending all the camps or making a big splash in a helicopter. He wanted to concentrate on everything being done the “nice” way. Which is why Pruitt and Grantham didn’t last.
To smsatUGA:
This kind of makes sense. Recruiting has become much more of a spectacle than it was just a few years ago, and Richt doesn’t seem like the guy who was willing to adjust. His classes were typically fairly highly ranked though, yes? Was it the talent he was grabbing wasn’t fit for his system?
Can’t generalize using “georgia experience” because “georgia experience” is doing less with more. So Kirby, like Ritch before him, can only hope to succeed by accumulating 5 star talent since the coaching them up and development is lacking. Even then we are still waiting for Georgia to win anything that matters. Maybe this year.
In contrast Mullen has done well with lesser talent and will continue to do so and better now that he is in Florida.
Florida doesn’t need boatloads of 5 star players to succeed, while you can’t even get to the promise land with such a wealth of talent.
Zero proof Sideshow Dan the Clown has ever done anything with lesser talent. Coaches who do that, Jones, beat Top-25 teams. Sideshow Dan’s record sucks. Coaches who do that also don’t have terrible conference records if they can “coach them up.”
You believe in a lie. It’s hilarious. And it’s true.
It would be nice to get to the promised land. Until we do, we’ll just enjoy embarrassing Florida every year.
I guess an SEC Championship in his 2nd year ever head coaching as well as a CFP appearance (which UF knows nothing about), a CFP win, and two years running without losing to an SEC East team doesn’t really matter at all, does it CO Jones?
@cbmckay–Rick recruited consistently in the top 15, but his recruiting in the trenches left much to be desired. From 15 years of coaching, Richt only has really 5 or 6 starting caliber NFL o-linemen–Ben Jones, Cordy Glenn, Clint Boling, David Andrews, and Isaiah Wynn.
That being said, it was under Richt’s tenure that UGA produced 3 of its top 5 all time running backs–Gurley, Chubb, and Michel, so he was definitely doing something right. God only knows how much more dazzling their stats might have been had they been running behind UGA’s current O-line.
Richt also did recruit and develop pretty well when it came to linebackers, with Justin Houston, Jarvis Jones, Leonard Floyd, Danelle Ellebre, and more succeeding very well at the next level.
Another weakness of Richt’s was having high caliber defensive backs–UGA’s only NFL DBs of note are Reshad Jones and a former QB named Champ Bailey.
Kirby you are spot on about Richt’s history recruiting across the OL and DBs. What compounded his recruiting shortcomings was his willingness to be content recruiting middle-tier offensive linemen and employ a blocking scheme that accommodated the talent level. The result was that he almost never beat great or elite d-lines. And for whatever reason, Richt could never within a given season field both a great offense and defense; it was always one or the other.
OL prospects are the hardest to project. Any recruiting nerd will tell you that.
Look no further than last year. Our highest ranked OL recruit ever wasn’t selected in the draft… while the fat, overweight 3-star kid who was ranked as the 50-something-ish OG of HS (Taylor) went early 2nd round.
Coaching can make up a lot. Hevesy took the same OL that looked like ass for 2 years and completely turned them around last year. He’s an odd dude and has specific things he looks for in lineman. He’s the loudest guy on the practice field and constantly hammers his players …not everyone can handle that kind of coaching. I imagine the mental aspect is probably something they look at hard with recruits.
Most if not all these O line men are Mullen/ Hevesy recruits, no dead fish with bad habits here
Upstate- I agree, but speaking from experiencing the last 5-7 years of Richt, it’s better to amass as many high star recruits as possible and let them battle it out (like Smart) rather than try to “coach up” lesser talented players. Can it be done? Sure. But in the end talent wins out the majority of the time. Florida’s new o-Line (being manned by juniors and seniors I hear) has some college years under their belt, so they will be able to gel as the season goes. But I still wonder how they will fair against an upper echelon D-Line, LB unit. The main difference I see under Richt/Smart is Richt would land 1 blue chip OL and he’d HAVE to start from day one bc our overall talent level was so lacking (See John Theus) while Kirby lands 3-4 per class that come in behind 3-4 from the previous class and most end up sitting out or playing 2nd string. This current group of OL at UGA has 4 guys on their 2nd string that would’ve been day 1 starters under Richt. It’ll be interesting to see how Florida’s new o-line gels and if they can add depth with the inevitable dings and dents that come from playing OL…
100% agree DSGB. I was referring to OL, specifically. Miss St had 3 blue chip OL last 5 years … to UF 9. Their OT/OG ranking avg. was 87/47 ..to UF 42/14. And they still allowed 31% less sacks than we did. Coaching makes a difference. Of course higher rated guys make it easier and the percentage of success goes up. I was just stating that when it comes to OL it’s much harder to project a HS prospect to college over any other position.
A young, untested O-line can be a disaster for an offense, but it doesn’t have to be. A coach who is cognizant of this will be very strategic in ensuring he doesn’t put additional pressure on them or his QB. Lots of shotgun and nickel sets, quick throws, plenty of TE assistance on running plays, making sure your receivers are physical and WANT to block, avoiding the “establish the run at all costs” mentality (coachspeak for “Let’s run it 12-15 times up the middle for little or no gain just to show ‘em we’re not intimidated!”) – these are things a smart coach will do to ease the pressure on his unit and allow the linemen to grow up in-season. We’ll see what Dan does.
Agreed whole heartedly with you. The lines set the game, but it’s also one of the few position groups where star ratings aren’t the end all, be all. Good teams lean into their strengths and lean away from their weaknesses.
Geez – “pistol”, not “nickel”.
That’ll be the key to Fla’s season.
Mountain Dog for president.
And my first Executive Order would be to the CIA: “Trudawg: eliminate with extreme prejudice. . .”
In our case it would be corch, TDOW, Armypup and DaJerk in that order
Hey crackhead, you want to mow my grass.
Mountain Dog, those are things Dan is known for doing. Most Gator fans expect that strategy to start the season until the line can gel and he can start throwing more complex plays out. Luckily they have a fairly easy schedule to start out the season to give them time to gel before getting to the meat of the schedule.
Amen
Finally a Georgia fan who’s not a moron. Too bad your voice is drowned by the rest of the trolls.
CO, I’ll gladly mix up with you when called for – and we have several times – but my preference is to talk football on a reasonably intelligent level. As I posted on another thread, Corch/History of Matt is often over the top. Under his real name on DawgNation, he absolutely crucified Kirby during his first year as UGA’s head coach. He was brutally relentless and, while he made some valid points, it got tiring to a lot of us. He’s a Dawg with a bone right now, and just doesn’t seem to realize that the bone is gnawed away. Time to move on.
I would love to see football discussions, rather than trolling or opposing fanbases simply yelling past each other, as the dominant conversation type in the comment section. I genuinely enjoy the game of football and analyzing it at the strategic and tactical level is very fun. Parading cherry-picked statics and hurling insults gets old really fast.
Here here, you two. I enjoy jawing and rivalry talk. It’s a part of the college football allure; real emotions, true caring, fun fanbases. A lot of the stuff that goes on here at SDS is just tiresome trolling back and forth. To be fair, though, it tends to see a decline once the season actually starts.
Mountain & Boxster: Nicely done and thank you…Go Dawgs!
Always nice to get an attaboy from a DGD!
cb, you’ve got that right – once toe meets leather there’s REAL football to jaw about, and the sniping level subsides. It never goes away, but becomes more of a dull roar rather than the predominant form of posting it seems to be in the off-season.
Classy take. Agree. It’s what we are hoping for.
“Overall: Better” Ha!
Florida’s o line isnt going to be as bad as people think. the starters are 3 RS Jrs and 2 RS seniors (if any of the true freshman don’t turn out to be studs)and they may not have many starts between them but they all have played (hardly untested) and will have another year of real strength and conditioning . Taylor is the only loss that really hurt Ivey never lived up to his billing
Chizik, won a natty 1st season at AU, gone after 3rd seasons.
The Gus Bus, 2 freak wins and a natty appearance in 1st season. Now on the hot-seat for the um-tenth time. Neutered by AU Admin with contract renegotiation – dead man walking in Auburn-Opelika.
Dancing mullet 1st season. Barely beats Miss St, loses to UK and Mizzou. Catches LSU flat-footed and not taking UF serious. Gets dirt stomped by UGA. Comes from behind to barely beat SCAR. Beats worse ever FSU team. Beats deflated, untalented U of Mich team. If 5-6 plays flip the other way UF finishes with 6 wins and bowling in a corn field. GIMMICK SEASON.
2019 – UF gets Caned in Orlando. UT closes the gap, probably wins. Between UK, Mizzou, Vandy and SCAR – 2 loses. UGA sets UGA/UF series scoring/margin record, Coach Smart slaps $h!t-eating grin off mullet’s face at midfield post-game, LSU gets revenge, Auburn beats UF, FSU vs. UF goes down to the wire. Will UF even be bowl eligible?
NCAA sues UF for breaking portal. Dancing mullet recognized as the first one-hit-wonder who actually never had a hit. The term “mullet” listed on urbandicitionary..comm – “a person who creates a facade of success without any prior success.”
Paul Johnson comes out of retirement to put his hat in the ring for the UF job, Coach Johnson’s pitch – “I’ve actually won championships and I beat mullet like a rented mule in the Orange Bowl.”
—————————–
Serious questions heading into 2019 Season – who will last longer Gus or the dancing mullet? Will Mullet be the first SECE coach fired? Who will be the 1st coach in State of Florida fired – mullet, Taggert or Kiffin?
wwww…FireRonZookFireCoachBoomFireMcSharkHumperFireDancingMullet….commm
Bro you are seriously challenging 31 year old corch as the most delusional moron from Georgia
what’s the deal with you and the other crackheads endlessly mentioning Corch is 31????
Is that like meaningful or suppose to be insulting to Corch?
You crackheads sound like a bunch of parrots that all just learned the same, new word.
Most 31 year olds have a life outside of sitting on a computer and trolling every day.
31 acting like an 8 year old, guess in Georgia that’s normal
You just described nearly every season of nearly every good team. It’s a bit like me saying …”if we had Reese and CeCe healthy for KY …if Wilson didn’t blow up his ACL …if CJ didn’t go down in the 1st Q in Jax …if Scarlett didn’t fumble on the first possession…we could be looking at 12-0 instead of 9-3”. It’s a dumb argument either way. He’s not your coach and it’s not your team …so not sure why it matters so much to you. We’re ok with it.
Crackhead
Don’t read me wrong – I am definitely ok with mullet being UF’s HC. I along with 99% of Dawgnation hopes mullet is there for 20 years.
Jackass
Then I guess we’re all good then.
Dan Mullen made the above listed improvements before his transition to Danielle Mullen in the last few weeks. Now, she is nothing more than Henry Winkler’s character in “The Waterboy”. A gun shy, sniveling coward who wears high heels and lipstick…
Cute but not as stupid as corch or TDOW, keep trying you are still in fourth place
If you ever needed proof uga fans are worried lol.
“Florida returns a stable of wide receivers that is as good as any unit in the conference…”
Are they as good as Bama’s? That sounds like an opinion that isn’t obvious or universal enough to assert without justification.
I wouldn’t say as good …but only because of the QB. We are extremely deep. There is no drop off thru the top 9. Lots of options.
I don’t know about depth, but Bama’s starters are far and away better than any other group out there. And it isn’t particularly close. It would take an all-star team to compete with them.
…it’s an opinion shared by nearly everyone. It’s a top 5 unit in the country.
It’s not, at least not outside of Gainesville. Besides, even if it was, there can be a huge drop-off between 1 and 2, much less 1 and 5.
You must not follow SEC football that close …because it is. Literally every CFB mag has Bama/UF 1&2 in the conference and top 5 nationally.
What magazines? (Also, there are plenty of relevant opinions outside of magazines)
And your argument still doesn’t address the fact that 1=/=2 and 1=/=5. The difference in talent between a ranking of 1 and 2 can be bigger than the difference between a ranking of 2 and 20. Most of the WR rankings I’ve seen have Bama starting 2 or 3 top 10 WRs and all of their starting WRs are solidly top 20. No one else has anything “as good as” that, either in second place or last. UF may have better depth, I don’t know, but based on what we saw last year, Bama pretty clearly has an edge over everyone at WR.
I can’t explain it anymore clearer. EVERY mag has them 1 & 2
A quick google gave me a top 3 of Clemson, Bama, OU, with a Clemson site giving the edge to Bama.
Per 247 sports, top projected WRS:
Bama: 4 total, #s 1, 7, 10, 15
UF: 1 total, #20
That isn’t “as good as;” that’s UF’s best WR not even starting at Bama
Other teams with more top 35 WRs than UF:
Clemson: 2 total, #s 2, 8
Texas: 2 total, #s 17, honorable mention
OSU: 2 total, #s 18, hm
UM: 2 total, #s 19, hm
USC: 2 total, #s 21, hm
Depth matters, but starting talent is pretty important too. And Bama is lapping the field with starting WR talent. UF may have the second best unit in the SEC (though LSU #14 and VU #16 have higher ranked top WRs), but they aren’t anywhere close to as good as Bama’s.
If it’s every mag, it should be easy to name one.
You still seem to be ignoring/not comprehending that 2 is not equal to 1.
Lindys, Athlons, S&S …reread my initial response – I said “not as good”, and I iqualified my answer when I said the QB is the real difference between the 2 units. If you swapped Tua & Franks the order probably changes.
Still doesn’t address the fact that any rank less than 1 is not equal to 1. And Athlon also says “The Crimson Tide’s receiving corps is the best in college football.” I’m pretty sure that if you read my initial comments, your complaints don’t make sense.
You seem to be arguing both “not as good” and “as good.” Unqualified, Bama has better WR. Switching QBs would narrow the gap in passing stats (for whatever reason we’re doing this hypothetical), but a ranking of WRs shouldn’t be based on QB anyways (besides, how much of Tua’s success is due to the WRs?). The gap is significant enough that it exists beyond the QB.
But feel free to continue ignoring what I and others say when it doesn’t fit with your opinion.
Whatever. You asked the question. I answered. If you don’t agree with it, why ask it in the first place.
GO GATORS
2019…
One look at all of the inbreeding UGLY rednecks from UGLY in these messages tells you all you need to know, Florida will be better and is on track to take over the SEC East and lead the pack, it’s rightful place in The SEC. All of these leghumpers wouldn’t be here if they were confident that 4th and Dumb had paid off enough recruits to build enough talent advantage to make up for his coaching disadvantage. If they truly thought they were better than Florida, you wouldn’t see a single one of them here. They are almost as bad as Tennessee fans. BTW, God hates Georgia. It’s in the bible, go look it up.