Before you jump

[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]

Originally Posted by atlantagator86

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[LAGatorDoc]

Originally Posted by UFish

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]

Originally Posted by UFish

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]

Originally Posted by SmootyGator

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.