Danny Kanell shares early prediction for SEC East champion in 2020
College football’s national champion for the 2019 season has not yet been crowned, but the 2020 takes have already started. With some big news out of Georgia on Wednesday, CFB analyst Danny Kanell was quick to share a prediction about the SEC East in 2020.
“Florida Gators are going to win the SEC East next season. Book it,” the Sirius XM host tweeted.
Florida Gators are going to win the SEC East next season. Book it.
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) January 8, 2020
In two seasons under Dan Mullen, UF is 21-5 overall, but four of those five losses have come to SEC East opponents Kentucky, Missouri and Georgia (twice). UGA has won the SEC East three years in a row, but the Bulldogs will be losing many key players, including QB Jake Fromm, who helped Kirby Smart get the better of Mullen’s squad the last two seasons. The Bulldogs face not only the question of who will be the starting QB, but who will be protecting him.
Georgia’s offensive line update with Cade Mays entering the transfer portal (starts this season):
Trey Hill (14) sophomore
Andrew Thomas (13) NFL draft
Solomon Kindley (10) NFL draft
Isaiah Wilson (9) NFL draft
Cade Mays (8) portal
Ben Cleveland (6) academically ineligible— David Paschall (@DavidSPaschall) January 8, 2020
Kanell, also an analyst for CBS Sports and Fox Sports 1, isn’t alone in thinking the Gators may be the new favorites in the division.
With four offensive linemen, Fromm and Swift leaving UGA, there will be a lot of momentum come SEC Media Days to make Florida the favorite in the East.
— Brandon Zimmerman (@BZSEC) January 8, 2020
It’s only Jan. 8 and SEC fans can prepare for many months of debate and takes centered around the power structure in the East. It’s going to be a long offseason.
Mullen’s first recruiting class fell apart usually us see those results 2-3 years after, and I’m not sold that Trask can put a team on his back without experienced skill players.
We return Grimes, Pitts and Copeland. Toney hasn’t announced yet. I think we have some pieces thus Trask won’t have to “put a team on his back”. The real question is this: does the offensive line improve and provide the backs running lanes? If that happens, I agree with Kannell that UF will be the favorite given the UGA attrition. And I don’t like to agree with Noles on much.
@Wadeless………..UGA will be the ABSOLUTE CLASS OF THE SEC EAST AT WR and probably the CLASS OF THE SEC AT WR!!!!
As for O LINE. Yea, we have to replace a few. So does EVERYONE!!!! But we will be replacing 5 stars with 5 stars at many positions!!!! And we have 1 247 5 star still committed for 2020. And another who is listed as a borderline 5 star in 247 while that same lineman is a 5 star with another big recruiting agency!!!!
Y’all know just like I do that UGA has been just packing up on elite linemen for years now!!!! Our worst might be as good as your best!!!!
TRANSLATION…….UGA IS STILL BETTER THAN FLORIDA ON THE O LINE!!!!
At WR we are much BETTER!!!! Provided we get healthy and stay healthy. But y’all have to be healthy to. It’s not just our problem!!! We have 3 5 stars already with the team. Along with all kinds of elite 4 stars!!! And we have a boatload of ELITE WR TALENT COMING IN IN 2020. Including the fastest man in COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROBABLY!!!
Jake Fromm was a TRUE FRESHMAN the year we beat y’all 42-7. And came within 2nd and 26 and 25 terrible bad CALLS and NO CALLS, of WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
And the truth is had it not been for bad CALLS and injuries. We could have easily won 2 straight NATIONAL TITLES and competed better than Clemson for a third!!!! But it is what it is!!
But Jake is gone. So automatically uga is gone right????
Given that same logic. HOW DID FLORIDA MANAGE TO SURVIVE WHILE TRASK ROAD THE BENCH BEHIND FRANKS???? Oh yea. Sorry, I forgot. YALL HAD THE MAGIC MULLET RIGHT????? The QB whisperer himself!!!
Question. Wasn’t Danny boy the one who benched Trask behind Franks in the first place??? Is it barely possible that Trask was always the better pure QB of the two???? But Dan don’t want that. He wants the old duel threat regardless if it’s really best for the team!!!
TRUTH IS. DAN HAS NEVER WON ANYTHING BY HIMSELF PERIOD!!! So if he manages to overtake UGA which he has promised to do with all his UGA JOKES FOR 2 YEARS. Well it will be the VERY FIRST TIME that he ever won anything by himself!!!! He never won the SEC EAST. Urban Meyer did!!! And he never got close to winning the SEC WEST either!!!! He got LUCKY and had a dream team of talent at Miss State. But under Dan Mullen the at one time #1 RANKED DREAM TEAM became a CREAM TEAM in the second half of the season!!! I think they lost 4 in a row or something similar!!!!
TRUTH IS. LAST YEAR WAS THE VERY BEST SEASON HE EVER HAD ANYWHERE ALONE!!! But face it. HE RIGGED THE BOWL GAME. HE MADE SURE THAT UVA WAS THE OPONENT AND THAT THEY PLAYED THE GAME IN THEIR OWN BACKYARD IN FLORIDA!!!!
He made sure with his media pals and everyone else. That he picked a team from THE VERY WORST CONFERENCE IN THE BIG LEAGUES!!! The ACC!!!! UVA was a 4 loss or was it 5 loss opponent from the weak ACC???? Either way. They have 5 losses now if they didn’t before!!!!
I wonder why MULLET chose UVA as opposed to say even UCF??? How about Minnesota??? Heck, if he wanted to rig the game or make 100 % sure he don’t lose. How about simply refuse to go to a bowl game??? That way the record remains the same. HE KNEW HE WOULDN’T LOSE!!! But they played y’all better than you hoped.
Oh and while we are at it. UGA PLAYED A REAL TEAM WITH 2 LOSSES. TO A PLAYOFF TEAM. THE FIRST BY 3 POINTS AND THE OTHER IN OT!!!!
And with pretty much half our team either out with injuries or sitting it out. WE DOMINATED THEM!!!! I love Fromm. But this year Fromm was NOT THE REASON WE WERE 12-2!!!! Carson Beck will be just as talented in every way from day one!!! But we will have Jaime Newman if needed or 4 star Dwan Mathis. Even Stedson Bennett is better than y’all would believe!!!! There are RUMORS that Chase Brice from Clemson might be coming to UGA soon. We are in a position to SELECT BASICALLY ANYONE WE CHOOSE!!!
You can bet. Our QB ROOM will be just fine and probably a lot better!!! Carson Beck was called by many experts. A TALLER JAKE FROMM WITH TREVOR LAWRENCE ARM AND DEADLY ACCURATE!!!! And like Fromm he is EXTREMELY FOOTBALL SMART AND LIVES IN THE FILM ROOM!!!!
He is good enough that both MULLET and SABAN WERE DROOLING OVER HIM!!! Saban would probably take him today over his fancy 5 star!!! Carson Beck would easily be the #1 RANKED PRO SRYLE IF HE PLAYED ON A BETTER TEAM!!!
BEST NEWS YET……
UGA looses little and gains a whole lot. On our #1 RANKED DEFENSE!!!! We are high up in nearly all defensive categories. But POINTS or rather keeping points off the board. THAT IS THE NAME OF THE GAME. AND UGA OFFICIALLY RANKS #1 IN SCORING DEFENSE. OUR OVERALL DEFENSE WAS AND IS THE BEST AND WILL BE BETTER IN 2020!!!!
PS. We will DESTROY a better UVA TEAM THAN Y’ALL PLAYED and probably beat Alabama in TUSCALOOSA to!!! After that happens. THEN I WANT TO HEAR ALL THOSE MULLEN LOVERS BACKTRACKING AND MAKING EXCUSES!!!! LOL. Oh, I hope y’all enjoy watching UGA probably sign the #1 or #2 class in February. Even though we have smaller numbers. But Mullen has got a #7 ranked class going. DO THEY ALL HAVE THEIR VISA YET??? Can they all write their name??? At least good Tudors to take their test for them????
TO ALL THE HATERS……WE AIN’T GOING NOWHERE BUT UP. BOOK IT!!!!!
King Negan
Mullen’s first class didn’t fall apart, his second class did. When did we lose all our skill position experience? We have the second leading rusher in Dameon Pierce returning on top of Malik Davis who looked like the best RB we had before injuries. We have 3 receivers returning with a combined 108 receptions this past season, and that’s not even factoring in Toney who is yet to make a decision. This whole idea that we’re depleted of skill players is completely false. That’s not even factoring in returning basically every starter on the offensive line that was finally starting to gel by the end of the season.
The production from Dameon Pierce, Malik Davis definitely doesn’t show all SEC type of numbers, and 108 receptions isn’t that much when Mullens offense throws the ball 30 times a game. How many TDs do the returning WR have ?
Kyle Pitts
Pierce had 4 rushing TD’s to Perine’s 6 and only had 371 less yards with 78 less carries. The kid is a beast. Not a huge loss in production there. Between Pitts, Grimes, and Copeland with those 108 receptions, you’ve got a combined 10 TDs. We lose 16 receiving TDs. The part you’re missing is with the exception of Pitts, those guys were producing pretty well as role players. So their production will only go up as primary players and the guys who were behind them will step up into the role player positions.
Davis and Pierce are both explosive backs and could start for many SEC programs. There are several factors to consider though. 1. Can Pierce stay healthy as an every down back. He is violent at the point of contact (Which I love) and that can cause problems for a smaller back in the SEC. 2. Can Davis hold onto the ball 3. Most importantly can we adjust our blocking scheme for the types of backs that we have. If you can not get a push off the line, you need consider more stretch and zone schemes.
Kanell is an embarrassment to the human race. I’ve got several door knobs that are sharper than that clown.
He is and so are you, birds of a feather
nice one CO
Don’t you put that evil on us Danny Kanell
No, drown them in it.
haha
GA has no O line and Gators are over hyped.
GBO
So the Vols then?
I mean opinions vary but same thing was said when Florida started out the season in the Top 10…
UGA has no O-line????
So, UF is not the only crackhead magnet.
UGA is still loaded on the O-Line. QB not so much but O-line is aok.
Shouldn’t you be doing something other than obsessing over the Gators? I think you need someone to talk to. Your team just made its last circle around the bottom of that bowl. If you hurry you might can grab it inbred.
In all honesty I think UF will be better next year. O-line will have more experience (disaster this year), Trask more experience, Grimes and Copeland I’m very excited about at WR. Defense will be the only question mark in my opinion.
Copeland is going to have a breakout year. He is a beast.
Georgia has an OL, the recruiting has been great the past few seasons. It’s just going to be younger and less experienced than previously thought.
Boxster, we can always count on you for rational thought and analysis. You’re a good man (and Dawg).
Mudragon, I greatly appreciate it and think the same about you too.
Kanells kiss of death. Why cant he stick to the ACC.
Georgia is losing a lot. They have a ton of young talent but they are very young and inexperienced on offense. Florida was easily the second best in the east in 19 so they will probably be favored and rightfully so. I don’t think they lose nearly enough to drop them from the likely first place prediction. Vols can contend if our QB play improves. That is a big if I know, but I like our chances.
We didn’t send for your opinion ole Danny boy!
It’s there on a silver platter for them. No excuses next year at all. Best returning SEC QB, loaded WR corps, gelling o-line, all of Mullen’s recruits, etc.
End of the Georgia era? Oh how magnificent it was…
If we win again it will certainly be the end of “Mullen is a better coach” talk.
Nope
So if we win again after losing this much you still will claim Mullet is a better coach?? Wow ok
But Kirby has all those recruiting national championships.
How could there be such a drop off when UGA gets nothing but 5* recruits and Dan is only good for 3*s according to many of you UGA fans?
So you’re avoiding the question.
I’ll ask again
If Kirby beats Dan again will you still believe Dan is a better coach?? How many consecutive losses would it take? How long will you use the “more talented” roster excuse?
If Georgia wins again, it will certainly question Mullen’s big game coaching, assuming we have a healthy roster at the time.
That’s what I was wondering. It feels like this might be the first year Kirby will have an uphill battle, at least on offense.
Well since I really can’t say my confidence is high in UGA 4 peating…and idiot Kanell has jinxed the Gators… why can Kentucky win it? Injuries took a couple wins from them this past year…and they have a lot of talent returning…and a coach thats probably one of the top 2 or 3 in the conference…
Can’t
good call G fan. They certainly could.
*Eyeroll* What a homer pick. Almost as insufferable as LSU sportscasters
Homer? Danny Dumb@$$ went to FSU.
*Eyeroll* Do some research before you post and display your ignorance
This guy is totally deserving of one of your nicknames CO
Nahh it’s bad enough for him he roots for Vandy.
Hey congrats I saw in one of your articles there’s a troll named after you. That’s what you get when you sound just like universally despised idiots like Corch and TDOW. When you associate with Morons you risk becoming one yourself
Thanks?
You guys win the internet today for these comments.
UF, UCF, USF, FSU — same difference.
You forgot FIU and FAU
And UM
Lol! ScUM doesn’t even get an honorable mention in an insult thread. That program truly should drop down to FCS.
He’s right…Florida Gators are GUARANTEED to win the East! Start the hype machine!
I always like being the underdog.
Excuse me, underdawg.
When have you been the underdog except for the SECCG this year?
Last off-season you were supposed to win it all this year.
Most had Alabama winning the sec…why do all you trolls say same $hit?
Curious, how is CO a troll? You realize this is a Florida article, right?
That would make you the troll by negative commenting here….
I didn’t say we were. I just always like being the underdawg, that’s all. You are reading too much into it Company Jones.
A troll isn’t someone who negatively comments……..
Yikes. Has this word been co-opted too?
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Danny. You’re still a nobhead.
“book it” Danny? Exactly how much are you putting on that bet? May be a good wager, may not be, time will tell.
I’m sure vegas stopped taking Danny’s bets a long time ago
As much as I have absolutely zero respect for Kanell’s opinions, he’s not really going out on a limb with this prediction and I expect most media members will echo the same thing eventually this offseason.
Yeah I think Uf will be the favorite by most analysts
Yes, FL will be, but that’s OK with me.
I like the bulletin board material.
None of this matters. We all know that despite the status of each team going in, cocktail party is never really predicable. We’ve seen it go either way too many times, its the best part of rivalries.
Please Danny, go away.
Poison.
Danny is FSU nuthatches. The guy is a jinx on anything he says. First thing I thought of when I seen headline
Thanks, but no thanks. Seriously.
Why would SDS even take a quote from and ACC perennial. He’s probably still wondering how the Crimi-noles got left out of the NY6 bowls. I think the SDS boys tend to throw gas in the air and sit back and watch the fire
Why? Because clicks.
Big tool with a little tool, that criminole he be a fool. He hates us all cause he’s a hater, to win it all he picked a Gator. Spend that money, take that cash, watch that bank account burn and crash. Mullet’s a genius, that’s what they say. Danny say good things coming your way. I don’t believe it cause I haven’t seen it. Kiss of death and I really mean it. Makes me happy, makes me glad, Gators fall short. Sad. So sad. Go ahead place that bet. Don’t let me scare you. Waste that cash. Go ahead. I dare you.
Well done DoubleOsevn. Wishful thinking, misguided and wrong. But very well done, nevertheless.
Not really going out on a limb there considering how Ga’s program is having issues and UF returns a good portion of its team.
Not to change the subject here, but can someone please tell me for the love of christ just how you become academically ineligible at a school like georgia or tennessee? These are not academic institutions by any means. If you can properly spell your name by the time your 4 years are up, you graduate with highest honors from these places. Nobody that can count past 2 goes to these schools for the academics, so how is this Ben Cleaveland ineligible? What the heck did he do? I mean there are football factories and then there are football factories. Deion Sanders bragged about never once having to step inside of a classroom in his 3 years at FSU and he was never academically ineligible, and georgia/tennessee are nowhere close to FSU for a quality education. So if you can get through and still play at FSU, what is georgie doing so wrong here?
According to US News, UGA is the #50 university in the nation, FSU is #57.
You have no idea what you talking about.
And you use poor grammar and are a very weak writer.
He’s an idiot. Best to ignore him since nothing he says is of any real significance.
There you go again name calling, grow up
Lol. Stalker
Hey you guys made it to the top 50! Congrats!
Sorry, I know it’s beneath me but sometimes I can’t resist.
The last time Georgia started a true freshman QB against Florida, the dogs won by five touchdowns.
See you in Jacksonville. ;)
Well then, if you can get THAT Florida roster and head coach to show up next year, you’ll be in good shape.
It’ll be interesting to see if UGA makes any significant changes to open up the offense with so many new personnel changes coming. Seems like a great opportunity to do something big. I know a lot of SEC fans would love to see it. And it may be necessary with Florida continuing to rise.
This isn’t a big stretch. I think most will have Uf picked to win the East. Difference is Kanell is just talking out of his azz and his “book it” comment implies it’s a forgone conclusion. He’s a FSU guy so he has no love for Florida but the guy really hates UGA since we fired Richt. His opinion matters to me as much as Finebaum or Cowherds.
Florida should be favored , and Georgia is still loaded , but I also believe Tennessee and UK will be in the mix and South Carolina may show improvement as well . As a Kentucky fan , I am excited about the next 2 years and our chances to compete for the SEC East . We have better talent than we traditionally have , our coaches can develop players , and the team is buying into system .
Sounds liker the east is rising up. If they all end in a tie what happens, do they give it to Vandy just because ?
Dude, this is a football article….
Go away Kanell, I hate this guy
Here come the Vols fans. You beat 1 bowl eligible team and a big 10 cupcake in a miracle. TN is not in the conversation, sit down.
AND BEN CLEVELAND IS NOT INELIGIBLE FOR THE 2020 SEASON!!!!! It was only the sugar bowl!!!! He has been fine and will be again!!! His grades probably dropped because he took a break. He probably didn’t really care to play in that game!!!
PS. I like it when the team plays for pride!!!! But face it. UGA HAS HIGHER GOALS THAN FLORIDA. AND WE DON’T CARE ABOUT PADDING OUR STATS LIKE Y’ALL EITHER!!!!
King Negan