Gator Country

gator7_5 · 02-12-2013, 09:02 AM

He's going to BLOW up this year. He'll be a household name and 1st rd draft pick by December. He has the physical tools and I'm assuming an EXTREME hunger to dominate. I feel very confident he will.

Remember, he was very green when he led the team with 6 sacks his So. year.

gator07 · 02-12-2013, 09:05 AM

Ronald Powell has become the Andre Debose of the defense.

**IndianaStew** · 02-12-2013, 09:48 AM

^^^^^ Is that statement a joke?

He started for us, lead the team in sacks, and was our best pass rusher before he tore his ACL. Twice. He was blowing it up towards the end of the 2011 season and was killing it the following spring before he got injured. Coaches were talking him up, his attitude had been adjusted. That comparison is ridiculous.

**lurkingator1** · 02-12-2013, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gator07

Ronald Powell has become the Andre Debose of the defense.

not !

**jms** · 02-12-2013, 10:04 AM

We want him to kick azz

rserina · 02-12-2013, 10:06 AM

There is a small percentage of posters who simply enjoy belittling these kids. Whatever.

For my part, Powell has tremendous upside, though I agree with those who say we just have no idea how quickly he will come back. He had a very solid second half of the 2011 and a great spring, so there was every reason to expect he was going to explode last season as Elam and Floyd did. I don't doubt that he eventually takes that step, but the extended period of injury, multiple surgeries, recovery, and time away from the game is reason enough to lower expectations at this stage.

tegator80 · 02-12-2013, 10:26 AM

My take: Ropo did not come in with the right attitude from HS. He probably saw that he was the best conditioned player at FNLs and just thought he was destined for greatness. I hope that he was ready to "get religion" before he got hurt and now he is ready to continue with his own personal journey. I think that having Easley back is going to help greatly, not only from a return from injury basis but from one of the Three (Four if you count Elam) Amigos of his recruiting class. I think he would be in a funk if they all left for NFL stardom and he was held back for remediation.

And in the correct way of taking the post above, Debose is not a bust but that he came in with too much hype and he has needed time to work through it, including injuries. But if you want a really good analogy of Ropo, it would be the football equivalent of Patric Young, with an injury on top of needing time to jell.

ofmgator · 02-12-2013, 11:20 AM

They say Clowney was the best but I have never seen one single defensive player completely destroy a Gator team like JJ did this year. If he wasn't in that game we'd have won by ten points. We destroyed usce.

Dreamliner · 02-12-2013, 11:21 AM

Not that Andre Debose has been a total bust. Per touches, he may be our most prolific kick-returner ever.

gator07 · 02-12-2013, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndianaStew

^^^^^ Is that statement a joke?

He started for us, lead the team in sacks, and was our best pass rusher before he tore his ACL. Twice. He was blowing it up towards the end of the 2011 season and was killing it the following spring before he got injured. Coaches were talking him up, his attitude had been adjusted. That comparison is ridiculous.

Sure, he lead the team in sacks. And Debose is our all-time kick returner. Thats great and all but when hes not returning a kick, the other 99% of the time Debose meekly runs into the pack and goes down easily. And the other 99% of plays when Powell is not making a sack, hes getting stuffed, IMO.

What I meant was every year we hear that "next year is going to be his breakout year" based on nothing but recruiting hype and very inconsistent prior on-field performances and results, just like Debose.

So certainly there are differences but I also see a lot of similarities, especially in the "boom or bust" quality of play and also the hype and perception vs actual production. These two guys seem to get the most hype on this board as compared to what they've actually accomplished in live action. Not tearing them down, just an observation. I guess Im more in the "let's wait and see" camp.

AFCyberGator · 02-12-2013, 12:16 PM

I think the difference between Debose and Powell is that Powell re-dedicated himself to the gym, practice field, and film study at the end of 2011 and in the spring of 2012 before the injury. Debose still relies on raw speed and has not dedicated time to improving the other skills a receiver needs--blocking the perimeter, breaking routes when the QB is in trouble, faking the opposing CB, studying extra film, or gaining strength in the gym.

Other than off-field effort, they are both hype based on high school prospect evaluation. RoPo's additional effort to improve will translate to improved production on the field as long as he is not injured.

mdfgator · 02-12-2013, 01:47 PM

its a fair comparison, powell is nowhere near the top recruit in the country in terms of production, heck, i would put fowler and bullard above him in the rankings. not saying he is not good or won't be good, but number one player in the country? percy? not even close.

geauxgator1 · 02-12-2013, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ofmgator

They say Clowney was the best but I have never seen one single defensive player completely destroy a Gator team like JJ did this year. If he wasn't in that game we'd have won by ten points. We destroyed usce.

No doubt JJ was a difference maker, but if we would have limited the turnovers to maybe 2, we win that game.

Gatorwood · 02-12-2013, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ofmgator

They say Clowney was the best but I have never seen one single defensive player completely destroy a Gator team like JJ did this year. If he wasn't in that game we'd have won by ten points. We destroyed usce.

This is really an unfair comparison. The circumstance of the S. Carolina game was much different. S. Carolina essentially handed us that game with sloppy play and turnovers some of which we helped create but still we were up on them so fast it seriously compromised Clowney's ability to make a huge difference in the game.

Conversely the UF/UGA game was sloppily played by both teams thus giving Jones an opportunity to significantly contribute in the outcome of the game which he seized upon and delivered.

Personally I blame our staff for not having an answer or making an adjustment to account for Jones. We all saw what he was capable of doing in the Mizzou game. We should have had a better gameplan on how to neutralize Jones.

At the end of the day both kids are absolute studs and I'd love to have them on my team!

rserina · 02-12-2013, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdfgator

its a fair comparison, powell is nowhere near the top recruit in the country in terms of production, heck, i would put fowler and bullard above him in the rankings. not saying he is not good or won't be good, but number one player in the country? percy? not even close.

But how can you hold him to that standard? He didn't set it for himself. His coaches didn't set it. A bunch of recruiting website administrators set his ranking. It really has nothing to do with him. Maybe you could compare him to other similarly ranked players, but even that assumes these rankings are directly related to the kid's potential.

Even if you were to compare him to other top-ranked prospects, then you would have to compare him to more than Harvin or Clowney. What about Bryce Brown? Lorenzo Booker? Everson Griffen? Where were they after their sophomore seasons?

I think the only legitimate measure of his success is to compare him to his upside. To date, he has certainly not capitalized on that, but it is fair to say that as a fall entry shuttling between two positions under a new defensive coordinator, then a sophomore starter and leading pass rusher under a different defensive coordinator the next season before losing an entire year to an ACL, we hardly have a representative sample of what he could do.

**sec1** · 02-12-2013, 09:32 PM

if he stays healthy this year he will be a beast by the 6th or 7th game ..

socraticsilence · 02-12-2013, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hgators

What does one do to justify #1 coming out of HS? Let's just see.

Vince Young, Clowney, Harvin- not too bad.

socraticsilence · 02-12-2013, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gator07

Ronald Powell has become the Andre Debose of the defense.

He hasn't lived up to the hype but that's unfair.. He led the team in sacks his last healthy year.

socraticsilence · 02-12-2013, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ofmgator

They say Clowney was the best but I have never seen one single defensive player completely destroy a Gator team like JJ did this year. If he wasn't in that game we'd have won by ten points. We destroyed usce.

Give us the ball at the UGA 20 or so 4 grimes in the first 25 minutes and Jones isn't a big factor in the 2nd half either. Didn't Clowney have like 3 first half sacks?

theologator · 02-12-2013, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ofmgator

They say Clowney was the best but I have never seen one single defensive player completely destroy a Gator team like JJ did this year. If he wasn't in that game we'd have won by ten points. We destroyed usce.

Fair point - spurs a few thoughts.

Nightmarish memory of Vince Wilfork coming to mind... But he wasn't alone. Al Wilson. I thought Kevin Minter was superb until he hurt his knee. He went out, UF started moving the ball and he appeared to have come back in at 80%. I actually thought Minter was the best LB I saw this year.

Clowney reminds me of Kearse, who personally destroyed a few teams. Freakishly fast and athletic for his size, but also great instincts and preparation.