Before you jump

[ofmgator]

Before you jump off the cliff you need to go position by position and look at all of the existing players then add the new recruits in order to complete the roster for 2013. Some guys keep saying we need more Olinemen but when you look aqt the complet team youse WM's methodology.

[miamigator]

Who would jump off the cliff? Only the most pessimistic, and idiotic fan would. The gators finished wit 11 wins, are in the top 5 in recruiting, and have a good young coach.

[Gatorgiz]

Defense is going to be hurting at safety and linebacker next year

[DuPontGator]

Defense is going to be hurting at safety and linebacker next year

No

[revthejedi]

Defense is going to be hurting at safety and linebacker next year

Hurt is a bit of an overstatement.

[StrangeGator]

Defense is going to be hurting at safety and linebacker next year

Lots of options there. Morrison is the most promising young LB we've had since Spikes. He will move inside. Plenty of options at the other spots. Ronald Powell could play Sam. He was great there as a true freshman. Ball, Taylor and Kitchens are all coming along. Jeremi Powell could step up this spring. One of Hearns and McMillan could step up.

[slayerxing]

Safety and LB won't be as strong. No arguing any other way. Elam was a beast and Bostic really played well as a senior. Jenkins won't be missed as much becuase he didn't get to play much in 2012. (although he is a fantastic player).

Morrison, Taylor, Powell, and Ball are probably your starters, and Kitchens will be your only reliable depth. Players like Kedric Johnson, Gideon Ajagbe, and Jeremi Powell will have to step up and provide depth, but they haven't done much to this point in their careers (although in Powell's defense I believe he redshirted).

Bottom line, at least one of the new LB's really needs to step up and be able to be SEC caliber right away for UF not to have a BIG drop off in this unit.

Safety is a huge concern. Evans was very solid (he made a lot of TD saving tackles this year) and Elam was just a total beast. Saunders would have had a good chance to start back there but he's gone.

That leaves a whole bunch of players that have not played very much on defense. Showers, Gorman, Maye, Poole, and Ledbetter will all have a shot to take the position. Even Riggs might get a look. There is a lot of talent back there but no experience, and as Muschamp said last year, that is never a good thing in this defense.

The defense will have a significant drop off in 2013.

[thedyc09]

Safety and LB won't be as strong.

The defense will have a significant drop off in 2013.

What's the best way to help out an inexperienced secondary? A great pass rush. With Easley likely moving back inside to his natural 3-tech spot, Bullard another year older and stronger, everyone another year into the system - I think we have the making of a genuine pass rush next year. Fowler was 3rd on the team in TFL - imagine what he'll do next year. Fowler, Easley, and Powell on the field at the same time will be a nightmare for opposing OLs, so long as the middle of the defense remains stout (I have faith).

Even if the pass rush isn't much better next year, we have simply acquired too much talent at DB over the last 3 years to be in real trouble on the back end.

[slayerxing]

UF is still going to be good on D. Just not as good.

[Tebowism0823]

Our defense will be just fine. I don't see a fall off at all.

[gatordee]

I doubt a WM defense at UF will ever be worse than 10th

[Tebowism0823]

I doubt a WM defense at UF will ever be worse than 10th

Exactly. With the talent he gets, and the way they coach, it'd be very surprising.

[GATORDONE]

Sorry but Bostic wasn't that good IMO

[GataBaitx3]

Defense is going to be hurting at safety and linebacker next year

Morrison, Taylor and Kitchens all have experience from this past year. It won't be that bad.

[gator1986]

Sorry but Bostic wasn't that good IMO

Bostic was one of the more well balanced LB's this year. He can cover, he's big enough to stop the run, he can get sideline to sideline... And unlike te'O he's not afraid to hit running backs as big or bigger than him.... I loved the guts of Bostic/Elam/Evans... IMO

[StrangeGator]

What's the best way to help out an inexperienced secondary? A great pass rush. With Easley likely moving back inside to his natural 3-tech spot, Bullard another year older and stronger, everyone another year into the system - I think we have the making of a genuine pass rush next year. Fowler was 3rd on the team in TFL - imagine what he'll do next year. Fowler, Easley, and Powell on the field at the same time will be a nightmare for opposing OLs, so long as the middle of the defense remains stout (I have faith).

Even if the pass rush isn't much better next year, we have simply acquired too much talent at DB over the last 3 years to be in real trouble on the back end.

Couldn't have said it better. There's so much talent at DE I wouldn't be surprised if some of the smaller, more athletic guys like Cox and McCallister don't get a look at LB. That's probably the quickest way to get them on the field.I also expect to see a faster learning/development curve with the incoming players. This is an awfully good group of coaches, including our S&C guru.

[rserina]

I suspect everyone thought we would be hurting at safety with Josh Evans this past year, too. We already have the best cornerback depth in the nation and add probably the best prep corner in the nation in Hargreaves, so it is entirely conceivable that one or more corners gets a shot at safety. We also have our top two backups from this season in Gorman and Showers, plus Poole who redshirted after moving there, Maye who was injured, Ledbetter, and the best safety class in the nation. There may be a learning curve, but we will hardly be "hurting" there. Hurting is when WLP and a freshman Joe Haden are literally the only two corners on your roster, not when you have great depth and talent, but only moderate experience at the position.

At linebacker, we return three guys with starting experience in Ball, Kitchens, and Morrison, a guy in Taylor who has played a bunch of ball, and add a couple of solid freshmen at a position where they can contribute. It won't be as good as last year, but it is hardly an untalented or inexperienced group.

The drama queens love this time of year.

[rserina]

The defense will have a significant drop off in 2013.
Well, we were the best defense in the nation last year, so if by significant you mean we aren't the best, then I can agree. But some of you make it sound as if we are playing NFL offenses with a group of true freshmen. We only return four full-time starters, but four other kids have starting experience and a number were in the two-deep. We also return Powell to end. If Watkins moves to safety, then we will have experienced starters at six positions. We have great depth nearly everywhere defensively and a high quality of end, corner, and three-technique. As I recall, we won a national title in 2008 with a much improved defense that only started five guys from the previous season's lineup (Cunningham, Spikes, Jones, Wright, Haden) and that group was just fine because it was talented, competitive, and deep, if not terribly experienced. This isn't 2007 or 2004, where we had massive depth and experience problems.

[MadduxFanII]

The concern with the 2013 defense shouldn't really be about its absolute quality. I agree with previous posters: between Muschamp's skill and the talent we always have, our defense will, in an absolute sense, be quite solid. If not top one like this year, or even top five, probably top 10, maybe top 15, and top 20 at worst. You can move mountains with a top 20 defense.

The problem is that we needed every ounce of that top-rated defense to win 11 games this year. A merely "good" defense loses us at least an additional two games this season with the offense we put out there. So if the defense is going to fall from "extraordinary" to "pretty darn good," the offense needs to take a similar step forward if we're to avoid a fall.

[rserina]

The problem is that we needed every ounce of that top-rated defense to win 11 games this year. A merely "good" defense loses us at least an additional two games this season with the offense we put out there. So if the defense is going to fall from "extraordinary" to "pretty darn good," the offense needs to take a similar step forward if we're to avoid a fall.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but if Florida fans expect an annual 11-game season given the quality of our on-field and recruiting competition, they are invariably going to be disappointed. We lost four guys early to the draft and only return ten regular starters. It stands to reason that we won't be a 11-win team next year. I would say 9-3 is about right for a team with those kinds of losses. Given our schedule, an unexpected win might get us to ten.

Regardless, 2014 is the target year and it always has been. Depending upon attrition, we should have anywhere from 16-19 starters returning for that season, Fulwood, Roberson, and Taylor will all be sophomores, those freshmen defenders from last year will be vets, and we will have talent and depth across the board. With a senior Driskel (unless he absolutely blows up next season, which I don't expect given the talent around him), it will be our deepest, most balanced and experienced group since 2009 and one of the best lineups in memory.

[MadduxFanII]

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but if Florida fans expect an annual 11-game season given the quality of our on-field and recruiting competition, they are invariably going to be disappointed. We lost four guys early to the draft and only return ten regular starters. It stands to reason that we won't be a 11-win team next year. I would say 9-3 is about right for a team with those kinds of losses. Given our schedule, an unexpected win might get us to ten.

I don't disagree with this either; it would of course be disappointing to go from 11-1 and within a hair of playing for the national title to 9-3, but considering the losses it wouldn't be that bad a year. Hell, a bowl wins puts us at 10-3, only one game worse than this year.

The problem is that if our "true" talent is a 9-3 win team, the error bars around that projection means there's a not unreasonable chance that the team could end up 8-4 or even 7-5. That's especially true with the kind of games we're likely to play (low-scoring, close, hard-fought). And however understandable that might be, 8-4 or 7-5 would be an awfully difficult end to the current momentum.

[atlantagator86]

I don't think our defense is going to drop off nearly as much as everyone thinks.

The big thing I think we're going to miss is the big statement plays Elam made. He set the tone for the defense in almost every game.

I may be overly optimistic, but I think the offense could be significantly improved and more than make up for the drop in the defense. I expect the offensive line to be much better and I truly hope expect Driskel will do much better at reading the defenses and getting rid of the ball quicker.

I also expect our running game to get even more powerful and wear people out even more as we should have 3-5 guys who get significant touches.

11 wins may be overly optimistic (but not impossible), but I can easily see 9-10 wins next year.

[slayerxing]

Uf was a breath away from 7-5 this year and loses a lot of leadership and talent on the defensive side of the ball.

How many td saving tackles did evans make this year? How many big stops did floyd and elam have combined?

Florida will be a good defense in 2013 but you cant always count on the same clutch defensive plays year after year like the boys did in 2012, especially with the loss of team leaders up the middle of the d that uf will experience.

Florida is losing both starting dts, both starting ilbs, and both starting safties. They will take a step back.

The offense HAS to pick up the slack. And thats with the 2 best offensive players leaving in reed and gilislee. Uf fans should expect to field a good squad but should temper expectations a bit.

[tommyuf21]

11 wins may be overly optimistic (but not impossible), but I can easily see 9-10 wins next year.


I really think we exceeded our ceiling (is that possible?) in 2012.

Looking back (I know that is hard to do), we had so many question marks headed into this past season, that it was hard to know what to expect.

Would our QB play be competent? Who would be our QB? Would our running game be able to sustain drives and control the clock? Would our talented defense perform up to expectations? Would our turnover margin resemble that of a winning team? Would our punter be able to flip field position?

I'm sure many of you here could come up with other questions too.

In totality, it was hard for me to see past 8-9 wins with the schedule we had. If anything, the schedule turned out to be even tougher than anticipated, as TAMU and Vandy had excellent seasons.

I think its safe to say that many of those questions were answered and going into 2013 we have a better baseline in which to project improvement out of key positions.

I can see us being an 11 win team in 2013 much easier than last year.

[fubar1]

I fully expect Hearns and McMillan to get a fair number of snaps as backups next year and I could see McMillan pushing for a starting role by the end of the year.

[UFish]

Uf was a breath away from 7-5 this year and loses a lot of leadership and talent on the defensive side of the ball.

How many td saving tackles did evans make this year? How many big stops did floyd and elam have combined?

Florida will be a good defense in 2013 but you cant always count on the same clutch defensive plays year after year like the boys did in 2012, especially with the loss of team leaders up the middle of the d that uf will experience.

Florida is losing both starting dts, both starting ilbs, and both starting safties. They will take a step back.

The offense HAS to pick up the slack. And thats with the 2 best offensive players leaving in reed and gilislee. Uf fans should expect to field a good squad but should temper expectations a bit.

We were also a Jarvis Jones injury getting off the bus in Jacksonville away from going 12-0 with a dumpster fire offense.

The offense can't possibly be any worse next year. Three starters back on the line and really a fourth when you consider the talent Humphries brings to the table as a sophomore. Plenty of talent in the backfield, the same OC back for the first time since 2010, and surely someone can help Dunbar catch some damn passes.

We won't be as solid at linebacker or safety. That's pretty much a given. But with four corners back who all have starting experience in the SEC (Roberson, Purifoy, Watkins, and Riggs) plus VH3, we still have a lot of experience and talent in the secondary.

Fowler, Easley, and Bullard could give us the best edge rush we've had since Dunlap and Cunningham were here. Then there's our wildcard in the form of the former top recruit in the nation Ronald Powell.

We'll be ok. Depending on the growth of the offense, we could be anywhere from 8-4 or 9-3 to 11-1 again.

[619_Gator]

I fully expect Hearns and McMillan to get a fair number of snaps as backups next year and I could see McMillan pushing for a starting role by the end of the year.

McMillan will play And could start. He is that good. Hearns is an SEC sized MIKE right now at 240 pounds.

[LAGatorDoc]

We were also a Jarvis Jones injury getting off the bus in Jacksonville away from going 12-0 with a dumpster fire offense.

The offense can't possibly be any worse next year. Three starters back on the line and really a fourth when you consider the talent Humphries brings to the table as a sophomore. Plenty of talent in the backfield, the same OC back for the first time since 2010, and surely someone can help Dunbar catch some damn passes.

We won't be as solid at linebacker or safety. That's pretty much a given. But with four corners back who all have starting experience in the SEC (Roberson, Purifoy, Watkins, and Riggs) plus VH3, we still have a lot of experience and talent in the secondary.

Fowler, Easley, and Bullard could give us the best edge rush we've had since Dunlap and Cunningham were here. Then there's our wildcard in the form of the former top recruit in the nation Ronald Powell.

We'll be ok. Depending on the growth of the offense, we could be anywhere from 8-4 or 9-3 to 11-1 again.

Fowler, Easley, Bullard, and Powell in likely passing situations... Aren't there some NFL teams that put 4 DEs on the field at the same time on 3rd and long? Sound good to me

[DieAGator]

What is this thread about?

[AndyGator]

^^^ The-sky-is-falling festival?

[mikehev]

WR- Improved
TE- Drop off, but mitigated by significant improvement to WR
OL- Improved
QB- Improved
RB- No real drop off with Jones, Taylor, and Lane and Brown getting some work

DE- No drop off at worst, at best improved
DT- Drop off, not that they will be bad, they just won't be Sharrif and Omar
LB- Drop off, mainly because of Bostic leaving; as Jenkins didn't really play. That said, while he can't cover like Bostic, Taylor should be fine stuffing the run. He is a scrappy, reliable player. Looking for McMillan to have a year that was similar to Morrison's; which adds he and Kitchens when it comes to depth.
CB- Improved
S- Drop off, main concern here is not talent but potentially blown coverages because of experience. IMO this is the most vulnerable spot when it comes to the drop off we may see. We hardly saw any blown coverages this year. It would not bother me to see one of our 3 experienced corners moved to safety simply because they probably have a better feel for getting us in and out of the right coverages.


In Christ forever,
Mike
John 3:16

[gator07]

Don't forget about kicker. Hardin comes in highly-touted, but that could be a huge drop off.

[SmootyGator]

The offense can't possibly be any worse next year.

I said this three years ago and learned my lesson. It amazes me that people still say this.

[SavageGator]

Doom and Gloom anyone?

[sbcg8r]

The success of our defense in 2013 will rely on our success on 1st and 2nd down, just like every other year. It won't matter how great our pass rush is with Easley, Bullard, RoPo and Fowler if it's consistently 3rd and 2. With our CBs and DEs, teams will not try and pass on us unless they're forced to. My point? Our defense will try and do the same thing it's always done regardless if our DC was Mattisson, Strong, Muschamp, or Quinn: stop the run first, get the offense in 3rd and long, and rush the passer. Jacobs, Cummings and Q Williams better come to play next year. And hopefully Riles and Ivie can surprise us and give us 10 quality snaps a game.

[ofmgator]

The 2013 Gators will be just fine...I did this thread because evry year the skeptics rise up and do the "woe is me" scenario and then there's those who think we'll win it all.If Jeff improves his reads and he gets protection we'll be more then all right..."IF" some Wr's come to play.

[thedyc09]

Our schedule should be easier next year also. What else helps a struggling offense? Georgia's defense will be much worse next year. South Carolina's defense will probably be a little worse next year despite Clowney's improvement. Missouri (weird to mention them) loses some big guys off their defense. LSU just lost half their team to the draft it seems like. No A&M next year. Tennessee is a dumpster fire. Even in Vandy's best two year run in that schools modern history, they are still Vandy. Kentucky is still Kentucky.

[rserina]

I said this three years ago and learned my lesson. It amazes me that people still say this.
Did you say it last year? If so, then your presumption was proved correct because it was a far, far better offense, despite an absolute lack of playmakers, a terribly green quarterback, and a new offensive coordinator and system. That doesn't mean it will necessarily be better, but it has improved and stands to do so again.

[candymanfromgc]

We could be better overall and have more losses.

The O-line could be our best since the Pouncy-lines. We may keep the defence off the field or at least attempt to do so.

[themistocles]

Regarding Defense
You can't lose 6 starters off your Defense (2 of All-American Quality) and 2 more off the 2-deep without showing some drop off.

Personally, I think the biggest questions lie in the DLine and at LB (loss of 3 starters), although, obviously, Elam and Evans are a loss as well. If Cummings can perform, that will help shore up DLine depth, but young kids are going to have to play better than they should have to so early for a top defense to reappear.



Regarding Offense
Loss of the leading rusher and receiver, plus the #3, #4 and #6 receivers - respectively Hammond, Hines & Gillislee. These players together accounted for 47% of all rushing yards, 58% of all receptions and 66% of all passing yards - Plus 3 of the 2-deep on the OLine, and people somehow expect the offense to magically get better???????


Optimism is always a good thing, but a "realistic" evaluation of next year's team suggests something of a drop off, although, it is difficult to suggest which might be greater, defense or offense or Place Kicking.

If this doesn't occur, then we have excellent reason to think that Muschamp is an outstanding coach.

[UFish]

I said this three years ago and learned my lesson. It amazes me that people still say this.

We ranked like 108th in the country in passing offense. Several of the teams finished behind us because they were triple option offenses. It can't and won't get worse than that so as far as being amazed, way to go?

In 2010, it was the square peg in a round hole.

In 2011, injuries derailed an offense already in transition from spread to pro.

This year, a first-year starting quarterback and a new system (again) hindered any unlikely chance of the offense showing significant improvement from '11 to '12.

This will be the first year since 2010 we've had the same play-caller for consecutive seasons. And we'll actually be running a system that makes sense with the players we have. If for no other reason, the offense should at least be minimally better because of that.

[rserina]

The problem is that if our "true" talent is a 9-3 win team, the error bars around that projection means there's a not unreasonable chance that the team could end up 8-4 or even 7-5. That's especially true with the kind of games we're likely to play (low-scoring, close, hard-fought). And however understandable that might be, 8-4 or 7-5 would be an awfully difficult end to the current momentum.
Well, I would argue that is no such thing as a direct relationship between your record and your "true talent." It is all relative to who you play. Next year, there are three teams I see as having talent/experience/matchup/venue/scheduling advantages over us in our head to head matchup (LSU, UGA, South Carolina), but in none of those cases do they have us by much. LSU loses ten underclassmen to the draft, UGA has plenty of losses on both sides of the ball, and SC is very low on playmakers. So, when I say 9-3, I am taking into consideration that we could very easily win one or all of those games, just as we might drop a surprise.

But who would those surprises be? A 7-5 Miami team? Tennessee, Arky, Kentucky, all going through coaching changes? Vandy at home? Mizzou in Columbia and FSU in Gainesville are about the only candidates and I think by then the inexperience factor will have worn off a little. It isn't like we are starting a team full of freshman next season. The majority of new starters will be second- and third-year guys who came in under Muschamp.

[UFreak]

Well, I would argue that is no such thing as a direct relationship between your record and your "true talent." It is all relative to who you play. Next year, there are three teams I see as having talent/experience/matchup/venue/scheduling advantages over us in our head to head matchup (LSU, UGA, South Carolina), but in none of those cases do they have us by much. LSU loses ten underclassmen to the draft, UGA has plenty of losses on both sides of the ball, and SC is very low on playmakers. So, when I say 9-3, I am taking into consideration that we could very easily win one or all of those games, just as we might drop a surprise.

But who would those surprises be? A 7-5 Miami team? Tennessee, Arky, Kentucky, all going through coaching changes? Vandy at home? Mizzou in Columbia and FSU in Gainesville are about the only candidates and I think by then the inexperience factor will have worn off a little. It isn't like we are starting a team full of freshman next season. The majority of new starters will be second- and third-year guys who came in under Muschamp.

Good assessment. This spring will certainly shed some light on this subject. If during spring someone like Kelvin Taylor is looking like someone who could be special as a freshman, same with D-Rob, then perhaps we measure slightly better than 9-3. If RoPo comes back strong and is proving to be unblockable, perhaps it gives us reason for optimism. I think at linebacker we know what we have. But we should expect a clear and significant step forward from Morrison who had an exceptional freshman year. He could prove to be a special type talent who overshadows weaknesses on D.
Lastly, safety will be also very revealing of how this defense will look in 2013. We have recruited so well at safety. I would like to think a pair will emerge who we are very happy with.
Spring will give us a good indicator.

Then it's all on scheduling like rsrina stated. Of the big three he mentioned, I like us winning at least one of those. That gets us to 10-2 in my head.

Not too shabby

[GuyWhiteyCorngood]

Hoping Mayes and Neal give immediate depth at safety.