This Gator Country podcast previews the Florida Gators fall camp that starts on Thursday when the team hits the field for the first time in 2016.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down how they think the depth chart will look come Thursday, plus some guys who will play a lot.
Andrew and Nick also discuss the Marco Wilson commitment, plus AP’s top 25 all-time football programs that was released on Tuesday.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: What’s up, Gator Country? Your man right here, Andrew Spivey, with Nicholas de la Torre. If it sounds like we’re pumped up, it’s because Fall Camp is finally here. You guys listening to this on Wednesday, that means it’s Media Days. That means one day until the pads get strapped on. Not really, because it’s shorts and t-shirts, but you know what I mean. It’s football season. Nicholas, are you freaking ready?
Nick: Yes, sir. I am ready for Media Day on Wednesday, and then I’m ready for camp to start Thursday, and already counting down to U Mass and the SEC season, with Kentucky coming in right away Week 2. It feels like it’s been a long, long off season, and I’m ready for football to get back. It’s definitely exciting, have some actual stuff to talk about. We don’t have to talk about all these conjecture and projections and guesses and prognostication. Get some actual games, actual football to talk about shortly.
Andrew: By the way, Media Days is now named Tabor Day, because it’s 31 days till the season on Wednesday. So we’re going to name it Tabor Day, because not only does he like to talk, but I think he’s going to be a little more upset. He’s been snubbed, I guess you could say, on a lot of these projection things, but he’ll make it all talk when he’s ringing in that money next year as a first round draft pick.
Nick: Yeah. Before we get into football, though, there’s a bit of pretty big recruiting news. Florida secured the commitment of Marco Wilson. He’s the younger brother of Quincy Wilson. I almost said last night, Quincy Wilson’s little brother, but he might be bigger than Quincy. So we’ll stick with younger brother. This isn’t one you’re going to have to worry about. There’s a lot of times that we’ll say a verbal commitment doesn’t mean anything. Kind of like Quincy, Marco’s done. Their father and mother would not let either of their sons make a commitment until it was going to stick. So I think that’s it. Marco Wilson’s going to be in this class, and it’s a big get for Florida, especially at a position where they need to start retooling and really restocking the shelves and restocking the depth chart there.
Andrew: I mean, barring Jim McElwain and his entire coaching staff getting fired, which is not going to happen, but barring that I think you can mark down Quincy Wilson’s going to be there. I know some people got onto Chad about the way he did his radio show. Listen, Chad’s a businessman and a dad. He understands it, but Chad is probably one of the most low key dads as far as the recruiting process goes. He lets Marco and Quincy handle it. Nick, you and I, we’re very close to Chad.
Nick: Some people, let’s just say recruits get shopped, very often, every year.
Andrew: Not this one.
Nick: Chad is catching hell from Miami fans, because that’s where he went, but Chad was never going to steer either of his sons to a school. The only thing he was steering was, when you make a final commitment, that’s it. There’s no decommitting, going back. So whenever you decide to make that final commitment, that’s what you’re sticking to.
Andrew: Exactly.
Nick: Marco could have said any of those five schools yesterday, and Chad would have been just as proud. Didn’t have to be Florida. Didn’t have to be Miami. Could have been USC, and it just would have been an expensive plane ticket out to see his son play.
Andrew: Now, Quincy might have been pissed off if he went to Georgia.
Nick: That might be true.
Andrew: Like you said, it’s a good get. Marco is a guy that can see the field early as a freshman, just like Quincy did whenever he was there. Marco is a very good player. Nick, I continue to go back to this conversation you and I had with Chad back in 2013 when Quincy was going into the Under Armour game, and then we’ve had it with him several other times, and that is that he is in belief that Marco is the better athlete. We’ll see if it translates into college, but right now he thinks that both coming out of high school Marco’s better. We’ll see how that goes. End of the thing though, you got two great guys in Quincy and Marco. Both are really good players. You never have to worry about seeing the mugshots on Saturday mornings or Sunday mornings, or any other morning. They’re going to do what they’re supposed to do. They’re going to represent the University of Florida correctly. Me, personally, I’m glad to see it, just so I can see it, and have Chad around. Chad’s a great guy.
Nick: Yeah. That can’t be understated. Never have to worry about either of these guys off the field, and Marco’s a great player. I do believe what you said, that he will be a guy that will be on the field early. Anyone that’s been listening to us for a while knows that I don’t say that often. I’ll go out of my way almost at times, be like, listen, whoever this is needs some time. They need to develop, and every kid that commits isn’t ready to play as a freshman. I think Marco Wilson’s the kind of player that is ready to make an impact as a freshman.
Andrew: Let’s transition off the recruiting talk. We could talk recruiting all day. We’ll talk that maybe end of the week. We’ll talk it soon again. Nick, I want to talk to you about a couple things real quick. Let’s start with this, the AP announced its all time top list. Florida checked in at number 10 based off the points they had done. So there’s really not a way to argue, because they had a formula they went by. They’re #10. Was very surprised Ohio State was 1, but I guess Alabama’s hurting in the late 90s, early 2000s, hurt that. So pretty good list. Like I said, it’s kind of tough to argue, because they went by the formula and did it that way.
Nick: So the Associated Press has been ranking the best teams since 1936. That’s over 1,100 polls. 165 different schools have been ranked. 44 different schools have been ranked #1. To determine their list they counted every poll appearance to mark consistency. Then #1 rankings got another point to acknowledge elite programs, and they gave bonuses, 10 point bonus for AP Championships. So you really can’t argue with the list. You could say, I don’t like that formula, but I don’t know what other formula you would use, and if you go by their formula it makes sense. It’s very cut and dry. There’s a certain amount of points that you get. So to run down the top 10: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama, USC – Southern California, Nebraska, Michigan, Texas, Florida State, and Florida. It says Florida’s best decade, obviously, is in the 90s where they appeared in 98.82% of the polls.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s pretty crazy. The only thing I’ll say is this, and that is while that is a great indicator of consistency with it, to say that’s the best team would be a stretch. I guess it is by polls, that kind of stuff, so that’s the only way you can argue, but as far as consistency goes, I get it, and that’s cool. Pretty interesting to see that consistency with those teams.
Nick: Just to break down a couple more of the numbers. Florida has had 562 total appearances in the polls.
Andrew: Of how many?
Nick: 562.
Andrew: No, out of how many?
Nick: That is 50.95% of all the polls.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: Then you look at Florida didn’t have any top three appearances before 1984.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: They had no poll appearances in the 40s, but then since 1984 they’ve had 95 top three appearances, which is impressive. If you look at a school like Ohio State, so Florida had 562 total appearances; Ohio State, who was the #1 team, has 852.
Andrew: That goes back to that, and all the way to the early times of it. Pretty interesting to me. We’ll see. Like you said, thank goodness that we don’t have to talk about these anymore as of Thursday. We can actually talk about some football.
Nick: That’s true.
Andrew: Let’s move on to this one more thing. We promised we were going to talk depth chart, and we are. We’re going to spend the majority of this podcast talking depth chart, but Nick and I wanted to hit on something. Athlon Sports talked to all the SEC coaches to kind of get their opinion on the other coaches, the other universities around the conference. Nick, you and I kind of went through these, and saw some very interesting stuff. First thing is with Florida. They’re basically telling, other coaches are saying, basically Jim McElwain’s the reason Florida did well in the 2015, because it just wasn’t a very good team. One quote in particular, “I don’t know if they’re talented enough physically, but McElwain has done a great job of getting the ball in the hands of his best players.”
Nick, I want to go back, I don’t want to read the full quote, but I want to hit this one quote, and then we can discuss it. One coach said, “Out of the 44 snaps they gave us, 38 formations, and he was really, really good. I never really felt like I could get a bead on what they were doing.” Nick, that’s something you and I touched on a lot. I feel like you and I both are very football knowledgeable and understand the game, and I think that’s something you and I have talked about several times is that McElwain goes into most of these games smarter than the opposing coach. You and I were told by a couple people that he had the best game plan he’d ever had against LSU, and you see it. Treon just couldn’t execute it. I think this speaks volumes. Any time a peer says this about you it should really open the eyes of fans. It kind of backs up what we’ve been saying.
Nick: Yeah. I think that those two quotes, first off, I like that Athlon does this every year, because the only way you’re not going to get that kind of PC answer is to promise complete anonymity, and they do that.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: I think those two different quotes tie in together. The first one, they just didn’t have the same talent as anyone else on offense in that league.
Andrew: Agreed.
Nick: That’s just, they’re talking about Kentucky. Probably not talking about Vanderbilt, or maybe Missouri, who couldn’t score a single touchdown.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: But that goes into it. So then you’re saying, we don’t have the talent, and we recognize that. We’re not just going to roll the ball out there and say, I hope we win. 38 different formations out of 44 snaps, that is McElwain and the coaching staff being able to trust their players to know that much, those many different formations. You and I have talked about this before, but a lot of what offenses do is run very similar plays or very similar schemes, but you’re trying to show a different look. We might have a simple play. It might be a zone run, but we’re going to show you that zone run seven different looks. We might be able to do that zone run with two tight ends, with an extra offensive lineman, with three wide outs, with trips left, with two, with a fullback.
Andrew: Every formation with that builds another play off of that.
Nick: Right.
Andrew: Whether it is we’re going to go empty backfield and with Cronkrite flat out at the X, that formation sets up, okay, we can run a jet sweep here. I think the thing that hits on me the most, and this is something you talked about last year, and I think it ties in perfectly with this. I was waiting to see if you said this, but 44 snaps on offense, 38 formations with Grier. They weren’t able to do that with Treon, because of his knowledge of the game. I think that hits on exactly what you said last year where Florida had to stop putting in and simplify the offense. To me, without the opposing coaches saying that right here, they said it. You know what I’m saying?
Nick: Yeah. I said it after last year. I asked a player.
Andrew: Wasn’t it Cam Dillard that went on record at the SEC.
Nick: No. I asked a player off the record.
Andrew: Somebody went on the record though saying like they didn’t have as much in. I’m trying to think of who it was. It was somebody at the SEC Championship game that had said there was something. Anyway, go ahead.
Nick: It’s basically along the same lines. That we didn’t have as much of the playbook available to us with Treon playing quarterback, and that becomes predictable. Then when you say, we already don’t have as much in the playbook because the quarterback can’t handle it, and we’re not executing even the limited number of plays that we now have. Let’s say you take out 20% of the offensive plays, because the quarterback can’t handle it, and now you’re not executing 40% of the rest of the 80%. Now you’re a very predictable offense, because you’re not going to keep running, slamming your head into the wall. We can’t call this, because we don’t execute it well. Take it out. We’re not going to call it. It’s going to lose yards or turn the ball over. Now there’s less, and now you’re starting to think, we can’t do that. We can’t show 38 different formations in 44 plays. We only have 20 plays that we can run now, and I don’t even know if we’re comfortable calling a different formation, because the quarterback might get confused.
Andrew: Right. Then it goes back to the thing of, okay, now you look at two of Florida’s toughest games, Alabama and Florida State. Two teams that are very good defensively. They start to see that stuff, and they’re like, oh okay, now we know we can take off this play. We can take out this play. Then it starts to come back. Now we’re trying to beat you on talent alone, and Florida wasn’t more talented than those teams last year. For me, Nick, and I’m not going to speak for you when I say this, I’ll just say it for myself. When you look at this in general, to me it speaks volumes of really what Jim McElwain’s about. Should make fans very happy for the future.
Then the second thing I want to say is one of these quotes they mentioned Geoff Collins, and they mentioned they still have Quincy Wilson and Jalen Tabor. I think that Geoff Collins is a guy that gets so overlooked, because it’s Will Muschamp’s players, that I think we forget about really how good of a defensive coordinator he really is. For me, if you get a chance to read this, read it, because I think you’ll have a whole new outlook on Jim McElwain.
Nick: It’s on our message board, so you can go ahead and read it.
Andrew: Where are those message boards?
Nick: Www.GatorCountry.com, it’s up there. One other thing I wanted to point out before we move on, and it was about Tennessee, and it’s something I think you and I have hit on. I would think the expectation for them, for Tennessee, should be to win the East, but they have to get over the mental hurdle of beating Florida. They don’t really have any excuses. They’ve been the better team the last two years and haven’t gotten it done. You and I have talked about this, just you and I talking, but I think there is a little brother mentality between Tennessee to Florida and Tennessee to Alabama. You said it to me the other day on the phone. A freshman at Tennessee was seven years old the last time Tennessee beat Florida. I think that the whole Florida talking and Tennessee getting into it on social media, and then you see Tennessee kind of backing off of it, but that might be their coaches saying no, but I think there just comes a point where you can’t keep talking crap if you’re not winning. It just doesn’t make sense to me. It was like when Jojo Kemp, I think it was my first year with Gator Country, I think it was his freshman year, and he said something about like we’re going to enjoy walking off that field with a win. I was like, what? It’s been more than two decades since Kentucky’s beaten Florida no matter what field they were playing on.
Andrew: You and I have never seen it.
Nick: Yeah. I was like, you just can’t say stuff like that. I think it’s getting to the point with Tennessee where it might be a mental thing, and you might get down into the 4th quarter and you’re up 6, and you start thinking, damn, how are we going to blow this one? Is it going to be a turnover? Is it going to be a blocked punt? How is Florida going to do it, because that’s how they keep doing it. That’s something that the coaching staff at Tennessee has to try to fight, but I think it’s something very natural that is creeping into the heads of the Tennessee players when you’re talking about Florida and Alabama, because those are you two biggest games, and you have failed to win those. I think Alabama’s won 9 in a row. Florida’s won 11 in a row. That’s nine years of getting your schedule. “Cool, we got our schedule. Why are there two losses on it already? We haven’t even started camp yet.” You’re just starting your season 0-2 every year, and that’s starts to weigh. It has to weigh on you mentally.
Andrew: I mean, in life it’s one of those things where like if you continue to lose something you’re going to go in and be like, how am I screwing this up? Here’s another quote, and I swear, Nick, I promise you on everything, I did not write this quote. I didn’t write this quote. I didn’t. I wasn’t asked my opinion, but this sounds very much like what Andrew says. “It’s a make or break year for Butch, especially with some of the off the field stuff they’re dealing with.” Okay? I would have added in there off the field and on the field, but people say the seat doesn’t get hot for Butch Jones. The seat is on fire for Butch Jones if he does not beat Florida, Nick.
You and I had this conversation yesterday, I believe, about why the pressure’s on Gus Malzahn at Auburn when he’s winning games two years ago and in the national championship. You have to beat your rival. If you don’t beat your rival, fans get the axe out, get the blowtorch on your seat, and get pissed off. For me, that speaks volumes right there for it. It just goes back, Nick. It’s just there’s just so much in this little six quote thing that says Tennessee is overrated, and it just continues to come here. People get on me about it, and it’s fine. I don’t care. I take it, but you can’t win the East if you don’t beat Alabama and you don’t beat Florida. That’s two losses on your schedule automatically. That means Florida has to lose three games in the SEC for you to make it to the title game. Three. Usually that doesn’t happen with Florida, usually. Not Will Muschamp teams. I don’t know how else to say it, Nick.
Nick: It’s why I’ve taken the stance, last year, you’ll remember, I wasn’t sold on Florida beating Tennessee.
Andrew: You were driving the Choo-Choo train of orange.
Nick: I don’t know if I was driving it, but I followed along. I drank some Kool-Aid early on. I ended up picking Florida to win the game. When it came down to our Friday podcast where you and I pick, I think I surprised you by picking Florida.
Andrew: Did I surprise you?
Nick: No. I’m on record now saying it. I will be a year late picking Tennessee. I will get the pick wrong between Florida and Tennessee, because I will not pick Tennessee until they beat Florida. So this year when the game comes in September, I will pick Florida.
Andrew: If I pick Tennessee, hell has frozen over and pigs are flying.
Nick: You would get so many tweets. That’s click bait. You will never pick Tennessee.
Andrew: You’re probably right.
Nick: You will never pick Tennessee. No one has to worry about that. They know who you’ll be picking in September when Florida goes up to Knoxville, and they know what I’m going to pick, because I’m saying. I will be a year late.
Andrew: I want you to read the Georgia quote real quick, and then we’re going to get to the depth chart. I want you to read it so I can react to it, because I think it hits the nail on the head even with what I’ve been speaking about. Go ahead.
Nick: This one, “They’re pretty solid at the #1s , but when you dig down the depth chart they don’t have the #2s or 3s like Kirby Smart and those guys are used to having at Alabama. The recruiting kind of fell off the last few years under Mark Richt.” You and I both talk about Florida and Georgia, those states.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Being very fertile for recruiting and easy to recruit, especially when you’re the state school. Sorry, Georgia Tech, if Georgia wants a player, Georgia Tech’s probably not getting that player.
Andrew: Exactly. Nick, here’s the thing. Correct me if I’m wrong here, because these aren’t my two girlfriends here, Tennessee and Georgia, but is all this shit not stuff we talked about? I mean, it just kind of seems like it’s like all the stuff will get talked about like I’m a homer. It’s right here. It’s right here. These quotes are coming from Nick Saban, from Gus Malzahn, from Les Miles. They’re saying them right here. Mark Richt, Butch Jones, aren’t good football coaches, and it’s here, Nick. It’s here. Right here in black and white on AthlonSports.com\collegefootball\ find it on our message board. It’s right there, Nick.
Nick: Yeah. This is as honest as these coaches are ever going to be, because they’re speaking their mind, and they don’t have to worry about it being attached to them. So to me, it’s 100% honesty coming out here, and it’s kind of what we’ve been saying.
Andrew: Maybe people should start listening to us, Nick.
Nick: Maybe. I don’t know if I should endorse everything that you say. I don’t know if I will endorse everything that you say.
Andrew: Okay. We’ll endorse 99.9% of everything I say. Seriously, and this is being honest in here, Nick, you know me. Do I get out of hand? Yes. I get out of hand. Andrew admits that. I also really do try to make good points in my arguments here, and that is with these two. Let’s move on. Let’s talk where we’re really going to get shit right, and that is the Gators depth chart. Starts Thursday. Mac may or may not give out a depth chart. Who knows? Who cares if he does? Didn’t he give out some bullshit depth chart last year where it was like half the thing was or?
Nick: There will be no depth chart. I don’t get it.
Andrew: He did give out something that was like…
Nick: I don’t need it, because it doesn’t mean anything. Even if you give a depth chart out tomorrow, you can have a different depth chart Thursday, a different depth chart on Friday. College coaches just act like they’re like in the UN, that they’re dealing with matters of national security when they’re talking about so-and-so’s our second string slot receiver. It’s just like, it’s not that serious. I don’t know why you wouldn’t put out a depth chart. You don’t put out a depth chart, and then you have people like us, different reporters, maybe people who don’t know as much as us, throwing out their depth chart. That makes no sense. Then you’ve got players reading that. You’ve got parents reading that. Why is my son third team? Then Mac has to say, he’s not. This is what it says on the internet. You put out your own depth chart, and it ends that.
Andrew: Let’s just be honest here. Some people should never put out their depth charts. Just pay attention to Gator Country. There’s a reason why we’re where we are. Just do that. I’ll say this, Nick. In defense of Mac and the coaching staff, when we coached our backups changed a ton. We used to change our depth chart every day after practice. We would come in. Our head coach would say, “Here’s the depth chart,” and he’d be like, “Coach So-and-So, quarterbacks? We still looking like 1, 2, 3?” “Yes, sir,” or “We’re going to switch it.” “Andrew, tight ends, what have we got?” “Let’s switch 2 and 3 up.” “Okay, that’s what we’re doing today.” I get it. Not the starters.
Anyway, let’s give our depth chart, Nick. Let’s start on the offense. Offense is where the points are scored. Coach Mac’s got it. Quarterback, Steve Spurrier named him for me. Luke Del Rio’s the starter. I’m going to go Appleby at 2, Trask at 3, and Feleipe Franks at 4. If Del Rio’s out for a long time, I bump Trask to 1 and Appleby to 2. What you got, Nick?
Nick: Yeah. I think it comes out 1 is Luke Del Rio. 2 is Austin Appleby. 3 is Kyle Trask. Like we’ve said before, it would depend on how long and when Del Rio would be unavailable. That would depend on if you’re going to get Appleby or Trask.
Andrew: There you go. Running back. You and I are going to disagree like hell here. So here we go. Here’s where it’s going to get interesting. 1 Mark Thompson, 2 Jordan Cronkrite, 3 Lamical Perine, 4 Jordan Scarlett. Go ahead.
Nick: We’re not going to disagree, and it hurts my heart, because it’s my St. Thomas boy.
Andrew: Really?
Nick: Yeah. I would agree. I would agree with that top four. This is where we’ll disagree. I don’t think all four of them will carry the ball. I mean, maybe a couple, but there’s going to be one guy that comes out, like there was last year, like there was when Mac was at Colorado State, and like it was every year but one year at Alabama. There’s going to be one guy that carries the bulk, more than 50%, and the other three guys, or two guys, that get the ball will carry the ball, split that other percent, other 40 some odd percent, but it’s going to be one guy. I don’t know how many guys are sticking around after the way the carries shake out this year.
Andrew: Yeah. Here’s my thing. 2, 3, and 4 will change. I’m sure it will change. I think Mark Thompson’s your guy starting. 2, 3, and 4 could change. I run through it real quick. Perine’s a freshman. We’ll see how he reacts. Scarlett, off the field maybe not caring as much. Cronkrite, maybe not a true running back as far as getting in the middle, running over people, the vision. So that’s the three things that will determine that. If Perine can adjust, if Scarlett can get his head on straight, and Cronkrite can go. So that’s the three there.
Receivers, Nick. Man, I’m just going to go ahead and tell you. Confused as hell. Know Callaway, 81, is going to be a starter. I’m going to say Dre Massey’s your slot receiver starter, and, God, if Tyrie Cleveland didn’t do something stupid as hell I was ready to name him that. Nick, I’m going to say Josh Hammond. No. No. I’m going to throw this out there. CJ Worton, Callaway, Dre Massey is your three starters. If Tyrie Cleveland can keep his head on straight and stay away from the stupid bb guns, he’s your starter at X, or Z, excuse me.
Nick: I don’t know even if he hadn’t done something stupid if he would have gotten the start. I mean, you look at Antonio Callaway. He got the start right away. I don’t know if he would have, but I, frankly, have seen enough from Ahmad Fulwood that I’m fine saying Josh Hammond or somebody else could earn that start.
Andrew: Fulwood wasn’t even in contention for me.
Nick: Your boy, Mac, says a lot about Fulwood. Heard his name a lot in the spring. I’m sure I’ll hear it a lot tomorrow.
Andrew: He’s still talking about how Treon Harris is your starter, and we know how that is. Coach Mac, sorry, don’t believe that.
Nick: I’m going to go, obviously Antonio Callaway. I think Dre. I think Dre is the starter in the slot, and then on the outside I think it’s going to be between Worton and then those two freshmen.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: It’s just who’s going to make more plays in practice, and is there going to be any suspension for Cleveland.
Andrew: And Callaway.
Nick: Then also, first game of the season always seems to have a couple suspensions. So who else will be suspended for that?
Andrew: Well, Callaway. You and I disagree big time on this, and it’s what makes our podcast great. I do think Antonio Callaway will serve a one game suspension. I do. That has not been told to me. Do not say Andrew is confirming this shit. This is strictly my opinion. I don’t even know if Mac knows what’s going on. I do think Antonio Callaway gets a one game suspension, just for the sake of him getting suspended. I know you say no, but I’m going to say that. I’m going to say him and Tyrie miss Game 1.
Nick: I don’t think I say no.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: He could.
Andrew: In the past you had said you didn’t think so. So that’s the reason I said that. Let me throw you a curve ball, Nick. What receivers do you think play this year? I’ll throw out mine. I think Powell plays. Ahmad will play some. Some. Dre will play. Josh Hammond will play. CJ Worton will play. Callaway will play. Chris Thompson will play, and Tyrie will play. I’m leaving out Kalif Jackson, Rick Wells, Freddie Swain. I’m leaving those three out. Not to say they won’t play, but I’m leaving those three out right now.
Nick: Now, those are guys that, I think Rick Wells would play special teams. So you’re saying just they’re not going to play receiver.
Andrew: I don’t think they play at receiver.
Nick: Okay.
Andrew: Maybe they get in when they’re beating U Mass. Hopefully we get to see some blowouts this year. Maybe they get in there. I’m saying LSU crunch time, 4th quarter, I’m saying Brandon Powell’s on the field. Hammond’s on the field. CJ Worton’s on the field. Callaway, Chris Thompson, and Tyrie, those guys are all rotating in and out.
Nick: I think I disagree with Freddie Swain. I think Freddie Swain could get on, but the main guys you’re listing are the guys you’re going to have to depend on. Brandon Powell’s going to play. Dre Massey’s going to play. Josh Hammond’s going to play. I think CJ Worton is going to play. Antonio Callaway, obviously. Tyrie Cleveland. I think Chris Thompson could play, not anywhere super significant minutes, but I think he could be someone that is going to get some run, then also run on special teams. I think Rick Wells not really factoring in. Kalif Jackson’s definitely not factoring in. There is a solid group. I still don’t know what to expect from Ahmad Fulwood in his last year, if anything.
Andrew: I can’t say I disagree. At tight end I’m going to say the three that play are Camrin, Goolsby, C’yontai.
Nick: I think yeah, but two of them are going to be catching passes. The other one will be blocking a lot. Goolsby and Lewis will be catching passes, and Cam Knight will be doing his best to block.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying.
Nick: That’s if those are your three.
Andrew: Yeah. Goolsby’s your starter at H. Lewis is your starter at what I call the F, or the flanker, or the traditional tight end. Goolsby’s going to do a lot like he was last year. That’s those three. Like you said, C’yontai and Goolsby, that’s your two.
Offensive line, Nick, I think it’s pretty cut and dry where you and I stand here. Sharpe, Martez Ivey, Cam Dillard, Tyler Jordan, Fred Johnson are your starting five. I do think you’ll see Antonio Riles come in for some for Ivey at left guard, and Ivey go play some right tackle. If Riles ends up better than Fred Johnson, then you move Ivey to right tackle and Riles to left guard. Antonio, if you’re listening, sorry buddy, but you’ve got to prove that you can play in the SEC before I’m going to let you start.
Nick: You were hot on Antonio Riles last year.
Andrew: I just gave him a nice rub on the back. Prove it.
Nick: Hot.
Andrew: It’s the same thing with Tennessee.
Nick: I can see TJ McCoy getting some run. I really liked him in the spring. Need to see how he keeps coming.
Andrew: Where do you see him playing?
Nick: Center, which would be backing up Dillard.
Andrew: Okay. Give me your starting five, and then we can run down our backups.
Nick: I agree with the starting five, so Sharpe, Ivey, Dillard, Jordan, Johnson is that.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: But when you start to say guys that can come in, maybe Riles. I think TJ McCoy could spell Dillard. He also played a little left guard, because Ivey wasn’t there in the spring.
Andrew: McCoy?
Nick: Brett Heggie’s a freshman that you didn’t mention that could get some run. It all depends on what rotation.
Andrew: How they adjust.
Nick: What rotation are you going to have? Because last year there was a very clear cut rotation where they were trying to get nine guys into the game. Me and you were sitting here saying, I don’t know if that’s because you have four freshmen that you’re thinking forward to the freshmen aren’t worse than the older guys who are playing. Do we get them in now, and how much can that benefit them? Tyler Jordan hugely benefitted from being able to play as a freshman. Same thing with Ivey and Johnson. Do you continue to rotate them, or do you say, we’ve got our solid five right here? I feel good when they’re together and in the game, or are there going to be times where you’re putting in Heggie, McCoy, Riles, maybe sliding in Harkless. Is there a time where you start to put these other guys in, these younger guys, and rotate?
Andrew: I think it depends on how some of these freshmen come in and adjust. For instance, I think Riles is your sixth offense lineman there. I just think he is. TJ McCoy is a guy that I think can play. Heggie’s a guy that I think there’s high expectations that he can come in and play. That wrist surgery kind of set him back a little bit. We’ll see how he adjusts when fall camp opens up. Nick Buchanan’s a guy you and I were high as hell on last year, dropped off after his injury. So we’ll see where he factors in, if he’s back to there. Richard Desire-Jones is a guy that I think is a guy that could potentially get in some at tackle there. You look at a guy like an Andrew Mike, this is his third year on campus. Does the light finally click and he gets some playing time there? I would say that Florida’s looking for one or two guys to step up this fall to solidify that nine man rotation that Mac says he would like to have. He says he would even like to have 10, that way you had a backup for every position. I say right now the five we named and Antonio Riles are the only six that I could pencil in that are going to play against U Mass, Game 1. The rest are prove it.
Nick: It does get to a point where it’s you can say what…
Andrew: Do you agree with that?
Nick: Yeah. It does get to a point where you just have to look somebody in the face and say, hey, you can tell me all you want, but I need to see it, and you’ve got to prove it.
Andrew: You know what I’m saying? Does that make sense that six you would say are going to play in the U Mass game? Desire-Jones and Heggie and those guys are just kind of in that next tier that if they do well they’re going to get in.
Nick: Yeah. To me it’s kind of, the way the schedule worked this year is a little bit different. So you say, yeah, U Mass, sure, but then it’s not just like, that’s our first tune up game, then we have another tune up game. It’s you’re going from U Mass directly into your first conference game. So I think there’s also a kind of a mix of, U Mass is going to, that game’s going to get out of hand. Florida’s going to win that by double digits, by 20 or more. There’s going to be a point where you’re going to put backups in, but you’re also trying to say, these guys are still young. Tyler Jordan is still young. Do we need to let him in, because he’s about to start next week against Kentucky? So I think that’s where the U Mass you might kind of be like, I’m not sure how much rotation there is, because there’s not going to be that rotation in the following week against Kentucky.
Andrew: But you need to find a guy this year to be able to rotate in for Sharpe and in for Cam Dillard.
Nick: Okay. So you’re selling me on, I think you find that out, because those guys are going up against monsters in practice. They’re going up against Caleb Brantley, so how are you standing up against Caleb Brantley?
Andrew: Right.
Nick: How are you standing up against Bryan Cox, Cece Jefferson, Taven Bryan? How are you standing up against these guys? I think that’s where you really find it out. Then U Mass is going to get out of hand, so there’s going to be some healthy rotation there.
Andrew: Right. That’s what I’m saying. You’ve got to find out who is ready to go.
Nick: I see what you’re saying now.
Andrew: A lot like Fred did last year where he got in to help this year. We got about five minutes here, Nick. We got to go through defense, but defense is a lot easier than offense. Defensive line, Nick, I’m going to say Jordan Sherit, Caleb Brantley, Joey Ivie, and Bryan Cox start, with Cece Jefferson still getting a ton of time there rotating in a lot with Bryan Cox, and that could go either way as the starter. I’ll say Jabari Zuniga gets in. I’ll say Keivonnis Davis gets in for a lot of time. Justus Reed gets in, and Khairi Clark gets in as well, all for playing time.
Nick: Yeah. I’m really excited about Bryan Cox. St. Thomas kind of bias aside, really looked to have turned the corner in the spring, and maybe it’s a situation where you feel like you’re in the shadow getting left behind. There’s so many really good guys. He came in with a very talented group and has kind of had to bide his time. Really excited what he can do at that brush linebacker spot. Starting in the middle, I think Caleb Brantley and Joey Ivie, obviously, are your 1, 2. Then you’ve got Cece Jefferson, and that rounds out your four. Jordan Sherit is a guy that I think’s going to come on, and then you’re really trying to figure out what are you doing behind the guys in the middle? What are you doing behind Ivie? What are you doing behind Brantley? Because you’ve got a ton of guys, Keivonnis Davis, Luke Ancrum. You’ve got guys that can get to the passer, but where are the backups?
Andrew: Can Cece Jefferson slide in? I think so.
Nick: He can. He can. They were really trying to do that in the spring. He just kept getting hurt in the spring, and so I don’t know how much he’s shown and how comfortable they are.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: It comes down to Taven Bryan, Khairi Clark, where are these guys? Are they ready to, not be I’m the third string defensive tackle, so I might get seven plays this game. I’m in four packages. It’s you need to know every package, because if Caleb Brantley taps his helmet and needs some Gatorade, you’re in, and it doesn’t matter. It’s not up 10 in the 4th quarter, you’re playing. Up 20 in the 4th quarter, you’re playing. It could be, we’re down 7, we need a stop here, and you have to go in.
Andrew: Right. Let’s move to linebacker, Nick. The obvious ones are Davis and Anzalone starting. At outside linebacker I think it will be either McMillian or Matt Rolin there. This is my opinion. I do think you’ll see some Rayshad Jackson this year, and I think Kylan and David Reese will both play a lot as well. I think you redshirt Vosean and Jeremiah Moon. I’ll say the six that play are McMillian, Rolin, Kylan, David Reese, Anzalone, and Jarrad Davis, sorry, Rayshad, so seven play.
Nick: Yeah. I’ve got nothing for Daniel McMillian.
Andrew: He’s going to play though.
Nick: It’s the kind of situation for me though is that’s an Ahmad Fulwood situation. You’ve been here so long. At this point, to me, you show me what you are, and you’re not one of the four best. You’re not one of the five best. Kylan Johnson I think really gets into that mix. David Reese in the middle, definitely into that mix. Anzalone and Davis are your first two. Florida’s still going to be in the nickel a lot, so a lot of times you’re only going to have two. When you go to that third guy, I think Kylan Johnson and Matt Rolin are those next two, with maybe Rayshad Jackson, but I think Rolin and Kylan Johnson might sneak ahead of Rayshad at this point.
Andrew: There you go. DB pretty easy, Quincy and Tabor at corner.
Nick: And Duke at nickel.
Andrew: Duke at nickel, and I’m going to throw a shocker out there and say Chauncey Gardner and Marcus Maye are your starting safeties.
Nick: Does Chauncey do that? I won’t say no to that, but does Chauncey get to that point before Week 1?
Andrew: Yes. I think so. I think he was there already. I have no belief in Marcell Harris and Nick Washington. Those are guys like Ahmad Fulwood, where I’ll believe it when I see it. Of course, Marcell and Nick will play some. So will Chris Williamson, and so will probably McArthur Burnett will probably play some. We’ll see how much. Then, of course, we’ll all see what Joseph Putu does when he arrives on campus, how quick he picks things up.
Nick: It’s really bad, just to be honest. It’s really bad after those first three. The drop off at cornerback is bad, and if any one of those three guys, Dawson, Wilson, and Tabor, can’t play, you’ll see it. You really need those guys to be healthy and well-conditioned, because they’re not going to be able to come out of the game a lot. Punter, kicker, we can just run through that. It’s going to be Townsend punting, and it’s going to be Eddie kicking.
Andrew: I agree with that. At return game, I’m still a little torn on where I want to go with return game. I think Callaway’s definitely your punt returner.
Nick: Punt returner.
Andrew: At kick return I just don’t know. I think Chris William—
Nick: Chris Thompson.
Andrew: Burnett will get some time there. I think Chris Thompson will get some time there.
Nick: I wouldn’t mind seeing Tyrie there either.
Andrew: I was going to say Dre Massey. Those are all guys I could see getting there.
Nick: Jalen Tabor keeps saying he wants to try, but I don’t know if you do that.
Andrew: You don’t risk Jalen Tabor on return. Nick, we’re pushing the clock. I need you to run through quick where to find us. Media Day coverage Wednesday. Practice starts. Shit’s going on around here. Get to Gator Country. Tell the people where they can find us.
Nick: Www.GatorCountry.com for all your latest, greatest Florida news. Wednesday will be packed. Every day from Wednesday until the end of the year will be packed, so follow along there. Instagram is @TheGatorCountry. On Facebook it is Gator Country. NickdelaTorreGC, he’s AndrewSpiveyGC on Twitter. Follow us up.
Andrew: Definitely. You want to join us before it gets done. Hit us a message. One of us will get you on. We’ll get you a good deal. Don’t miss out on the best coverage there is. As always, guys, go Braves and chomp, chomp.
Nick: You stay classy.