GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Quincy Wilson deserves to be a star cornerback in the SEC. Unfortunately, he won’t get the chance.
Blame his teammate for being one of the best cornerbacks in college football.
Late in the first quarter of Saturday’s game, Kentucky tried to take a shot deep. Wildcats QB Drew Barker looked for Jeff Badet roughly 40 yards down field, but his pass ended up in Wilson’s hands after the junior cornerback made an improbable one-handed grab.
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“I noticed from the split what type of route he was running, so I just covered it, turned, and the ball was coming so I threw my hand out and it kind of just stuck there. So I said, ‘Oh it’s time to go,’” Wilson said after the game.
For most defenses, Wilson’s interception would be the highlight play of the day. Wilson doesn’t play for your average defense – he suits up alongside future first-round draft pick Teez Tabor.
While Wilson had the best catch of the day, Tabor outdid him for the most impressive interception.
In the second quarter, Tabor just missed a pick when he misjudged the timing of a tipped pass. It ended up working out just fine.
On the next play, Tabor jumped a screen route for a jaw-dropping interception. It’s a pick that can only happen when the cornerback does his homework and times his move perfectly, something Tabor was able to do because he knew exactly what was coming.
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“Boy, that was a big-time play by him,” coach Jim McElwain said of Tabor’s interception. “When you see what (Tabor) did and how quickly he reacted – that was film study. … He knew the tendencies, he knew the look, he knew the split and broke on it perfectly.”
In 2016, it’s Tabor’s turn to shine. He spent the past two seasons playing in the shadow of Vernon Hargreaves III, one of the most decorated cornerbacks in school history (three-time first-team All-SEC, two-time first-team All-American, No. 11 overall 2016 NFL Draft selection). Many will note Tabor actually had a statistically better 2015 season than Hargreaves (more pass breakups, more touchdowns), whose media hype carried over from an outstanding 2014 campaign.
Unfortunately, Wilson, who is 6-1, 213 pounds, won’t get his year in the spotlight as Florida’s top cornerback. Like Tabor, he’s a junior who will almost certainly skip his senior season to play in the NFL – so don’t feel too sorry for him.
To their credit, Tabor and Wilson’s teammates are pushing the narrative that one shouldn’t be mentioned without the other.
“I think we have the best corners in the league: Quincy and Teez,” QB Luke Del Rio said after Saturday’s game.
Del Rio’s lucky. He doesn’t have to face Tabor and Wilson when it counts. But seven more SEC quarterbacks do, and if they think their team has the advantage when throwing away from Tabor, they’re in for a surprise.
Just ask Barker how it goes throwing at Wilson.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
