August 24th edition of Spivey Senses: Florida Gators Podcast

Andrew Spivey talks about the Florida Gators position battles in this edition of the Spivey Senses Gator Country podcast, plus why he thinks that head coach Jim McElwain hasn’t named a starting quarterback yet.

Also in this podcast Andrew talks about which high school prospects stood out to him during week one of high school football season and where the Gators stand with those prospects.

Make sure to listen to this podcast and the rest of the Gator Country podcasts as Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre keep you updated on all off the latest Florida Gators news on all sports.

Transcript:

What’s up, Gator Country? Andrew Spivey, I’m back, guys. It’s two weeks now to football season, 12 days actually. It’s getting close. It’s finally high school football season. I had the opportunity to go out Friday night, watch Lamical Perine play. He had a great game. He was over 100 yards, 145 to be exact, in just the first half. Great game for him. Really a spectacular player he is. He’s up 217 pounds now. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with when he gets to Florida, a guy that I think Florida fans should be excited about. Football is definitely back in the air now that we’ve seen that. College football starts a week from Thursday. Fall camp really is done with now. Players are back in school as of Monday, so it’s kind of a routine of game week the next two weeks.

Today I’m just going to hit on a little bit of things, couple things with the team, and the AP poll. That’s the first thing I want to talk about. That came out on Sunday, and it’s kind of surprising a couple teams that made it in. Tennessee coming in at #22, or #25. I don’t see the love. I was blasted on Twitter about that, because I was supposedly a homer because I said Tennessee wasn’t there, but they were a 7-6 football team last year, same record as Florida, and they’re going to come in and be #25 in the country. Do they have a very good football team? Sure. They have a lot of talent. Josh Dobbs is a quarterback that I think can be good, but is he great? No. I mean, Jalen Hurd is a very good running back, but that’s about the extent of what has been proven so far on their offense. I’m not sold on Tennessee being #25 in the country. I don’t care what their fans say, to be honest with you. They’ll have to prove it. We’ll see what happens in the season. I still don’t think it’s a sure lock that they beat Florida in Gainesville the fourth game of the season. I think that’s going to be a very good game. Florida beating them 10 in a row, I think that’s a chip on Tennessee’s shoulder as well as a pride factor with Florida.

Another team that kind of shocked me that they were as high ranked as they were is LSU at 14. They have a lot of question marks besides Leonard Fournette on offense. Who’s their starting quarterback? Who’s really on their offensive line and receiver wise? They just had a lot of issues, and for to be 14 in the country is very surprising to me. Then Arkansas at 18 is a little surprising to me as well. I think Arkansas’s a good football team, but #18 in the country might be a stretch to me. A lot of that maybe goes to the respect of the SEC, and maybe I don’t see them as being as good because they are in the SEC. I think that maybe I sometimes see teams get beat up on because in the SEC maybe national see them differently. I

’m not sure that I would put those three teams as high up as they have them. I don’t think I would have Tennessee ranked, and probably Arkansas if they were ranked would be in that 25 range, and then I think LSU should be in the 20 range as well. Not exactly sold that LSU’s going to be 14th in the country. LSU has a chance to be anywhere from 2nd in the West to last in the West, depending on how well they do. It’ll be interesting to see. Again, it’s preseason, preseason AP poll, that means absolutely nothing at all. Florida didn’t receive a vote in the poll, not surprising to me at all. I think that Florida has a lot to prove, and everybody knows that. I think that next year you see them either ranked in the preseason poll or receiving votes, because 2016 is going to be a very successful year for Florida, as long as some things go their way.

Let’s move on though. Let’s start talking about the Gators and what’s going on in Gainesville. Will Grier, Treon Harris, they’re still battling as the starting quarterback. I don’t think either quarterback has really separated himself. I do think that Jim McElwain, Doug Nussmeier, want Will Grier to be the starting quarterback. I think they’re going to give Will Grier every opportunity, and I think they’re giving him every opportunity. I think they’re just really waiting for him to make everybody better around him. McElwain continues to say that. He continues to say that he’s waiting for Grier to make the other players better. He said he wants a quarterback that can do that. He continues to say Treon Harris is doing that with the twos. That’s a statement that lies out there. McElwain’s not going to give a lot away, but he’s a guy that you have to read between the lines. That’s something he’s doing right now is saying he wants Will Grier to step up and be that leader. Again, I think Will Grier is the starter, but I think he needs to have a solid two weeks.

I don’t think Florida has a set solid quarterback until the Kentucky game. I think the East Carolina game and the New Mexico game, not in that order of course, it’s New Mexico, East Carolina, I think that those two quarterbacks will split some time, get a lot of action in that game, and may the best man win under the bright lights. When you to Kentucky, when you go to Lexington to play Kentucky in Week 3 of the season, I think that’s when you have to nail down a quarterback to play that game, and then heading to the Tennessee game the next week at home. You want to have a starting quarterback in place by then. Again, I think that Will Grier will win the job. I think that it’s just a matter of when he’ll put the pieces together.

To move to some other positions. I talked about this today on a radio show that I was doing. Receiver opposite of Robinson is a question mark for me. Ahmad Fulwood has the physical tools. He’s a big, long, lanky receiver that is very much a receiver that Jim McElwain would love to have in offense, but he’s never been able to put all the pieces together, from a speed standpoint, from a catching the ball standpoint, from just being a football player to using his tools. He’s just not been able to put that together, and that’s something that is showing this fall again. He’s out jumped by Valdez Showers in some drills that we’ve seen on the SnapChats, and that’s crazy. Valdez Showers is four inches shorter than Ahmad Fulwood. I think that CJ Worton is the guy that ends up winning that job there, if he’s healthy. Had he been healthy the whole fall camp I think it’s his job to lose, and it would not have been close at all.

Antonio Callaway’s a guy that’s in the mix. I think he’s still not going to be the starter. I think he’s still got a little room to grow with him being just a freshman and being on campus now about two months, not even two months. I think he still has a little room to grow. I think that Ahmad Fulwood’s going to be a guy that’s going to play some, but until Ahmad Fulwood shows that he’s capable of playing and catching the ball consistently he’s not going to be the starter. I think CJ Worton ends up being that guy. So it’ll be Worton, Powell, and Demarcus Robinson, those three guys with Jake McGee playing tight end.

C’yontai Lewis is another guy at that tight end position that has shown a ton. He’s a guy that is going to be a play maker. He’s a lot like Jake McGee in that he’s a long, tall tight end that can go up against a linebacker or a safety and cause problems. That’s going to be what he does. I really like C’yontai Lewis and what’s he’s going to be able to do for that. Now whether he can stay in line and block, I doubt he can. That’s something that he’s not going to be able to do, but C’yontai’s going to be a guy that’s going to be able to catch the football and do really well with the football when he does catch it, because he’s a fast athletic guy. Very excited to see him as well.

We go to the offensive line a little bit, and they’re still a work in progress, but I think they’re moving along at a pace that is better than we all expected it to be. Then defense is defense. They’re going to be good. All in all I really like the way McElwain’s doing things. They got to go in their indoor practice facility on Saturday. That was big. That was huge. It’s an amazing job that McElwain has done to be able to get that to roll so quick. Again, very promising of the way the program is going. I think that McElwain has the offense moving in the right direction, just needs a quarterback and then playmakers around him are going well so far. Can’t say enough about that at all.

I had a couple people on Twitter ask me a couple questions about the different positions, so I’m going to hit on those a little bit. One of the things one of the guys asked me, how does the O line and linebackers do? The linebacker position right now is doing fine. Alex Anzalone, Jarrad Davis, Matt Rolin is in the mix, Daniel McMillian’s in the mix, Anthony Harrell’s in the mix. Then you have Antonio Morrison who’s going to come back from injury, and he’s going to be fine. So those guys are going to be there, and the depth’s going to be fine. You have to remember that Florida’s going to play a ton of nickel back, and that means having five or six DBs in the secondary, so that’s going to be very good for Florida to only have to have two, maybe three, linebackers on the field at a time. That means a guy like Anzalone, Davis, Morrison, and McMillian are all going to split time. A position that was really weak, you thought, heading into the season has turned into being a position that’s going to be fine. Morrison’s going to be fine. He’s going to play football this year for the Gators. It’s just a matter of is it Kentucky? Is it Tennessee? Is it LSU, Missouri? What game does he get back and is he fully healthy? I think that he will be back and playing by midseason. That’s something that I’m very confident in happening.

On the offensive line, as I talked about, they’re a work in progress, and it’s going really well. Again, I still see that the line’s going to end up being David Sharpe at left tackle, Trip Thurman at left guard, and then the center position is the battle. Is it going to be Cameron Dillard? Is it going to be Tyler Jordan? Who’s it going to be? Right now Dillard has the leg up, but Tyler Jordan’s coming quickly and is going to make a battle out of that. I think one of those guys is going to pull away and win the job. Then at right guard I still see Mason Halter being there, and Martez Ivey being at right tackle, and that being your five. Then McElwain continues to say he wants eight guys on the offensive line ready to play. After those five I think you look at the loser of the center battle, either Dillard or Jordan being in that rotation. I think Antonio Riles. I think Nick Buchanan and possibly Fredrick Johnson are all in that mix as well. If Trevaris Dorsey gets back healthy he’s a guy that the coaching staff really liked a lot and is a guy that’s in better shape than he was. He’ll be able to get some meaningful time in that as well. Those four guys are looking at the backup position after the starting five, and that’s very good for Florida.

Are they going to be the best offensive line in the country? I don’t think so. They’re not going to be that. Are they going to be the best offensive line in the SEC? No. Are they going to be better than a lot of people thought? Absolutely. That’s something that’s very positive for Florida. McElwain just needs the offensive line to help him get the running game moving and then allow him to throw the ball shortly, throw screens, throw little hitch routes, curl routes, inside routes, slants, that kind of stuff. If they’re able to do that, then Florida’s going to have an offense that’s good. They’re not going to be what they’re going to be in three years or two years, because the offensive line will be better under McElwain.

Again, I think that the offensive line is better than it was. I think Sharpe, Ivey, those guys are going to do fine, and they’re going to move along and be able to do what McElwain needs them to do. I think Kelvin Taylor, Jordan Scarlett are both going to have really good years. My question is, who’s the third back? Is it Case Harrison, who just picked up a scholarship from being a walk on? Is it Jordan Cronkrite? Is it possible Mark Herndon? Who’s it going to be there? That, to kind of answer the question on how the offensive line and the linebackers are doing right now.

Here we go. The next question comes in. It’s the same thing. They want to know about the offensive line. Everybody wants to know about the offensive line. Again, can’t say enough about Mike Summers, the staff, what they’ve done. Tremendous, tremendous job of getting in and getting these guys going. They’re going to be fine. I really think this offensive line is going to be better than a lot of people expected it. They’re going to be okay.

One question comes in on Twitter. What players do you expect to have a breakout year, and what freshmen do you expect to have an instant impact this year? That’s a good question. I think this freshman recruiting class for Florida that they had is a good class. I think it’s a class that McElwain ended up doing really good for only having seven commits in the class when he was hired, and then going into January. He put together a good class that was not just loaded with numbers to get them in the class, to have a full class, but it was loaded with some very talented football players, highlighted by Cece Jefferson and Martez Ivey. Both of those guys are going to see some extended minutes this year. Martez Ivey, in my opinion, is going to be a starter. Cece Jefferson may end getting a start in the first game, if he’s able to beat out some guys for that buck position with Alex McCalister suspended. Maybe he gets a start. I doubt he does. I think a guy like Bryan Cox gets there, or maybe even, I hate to say Jordan Sherit. I don’t think Jordan Sherit’s going to be there. I don’t think Jordan Sherit starts. Maybe Bryan Cox gets that position, or maybe Cece does get that position at start with Alex McCalister out.

A couple more guys that I think will see some time this year. I think Callaway sees time at the receiver position. I think Jordan Kronkrite sees some position there. I think that you’ll see Frederick Johnson, another offensive lineman. I think you’ll see him getting a little bit of action. Then we already talked about Tyler Jordan. He’s going to get some action as well. Scarlett’s going to get some action. Then the other guy that I think is going to get some action is Jabari Zuniga. I think Zuniga’s going to be a player, guys. He is going to be a player. Him and Cece Jefferson are going to be two guys that are going to be All SEC football players by the time they leave Florida. That’s not even a stretch for me to say that. Zuniga is a very good football player and a very good defensive end. The question is how much time he will see. He’s still adjusting. He’s still a young kid. He’s just now 17 years old. He’s coming in. He’s a guy that hasn’t played football but for three years now. How much will he see? I think he still sees time at 3rd down where you just tell him to go get the quarterback and knock the quarterback out. He’s going to be a good football player, though, and he’s going to be a guy that’s going to fit into this Florida defense and this Florida program very well going forward.

One more question comes in. What freshmen do you think will steal, if you want to do all of those? I’m not sure what you’re asking here, except for what freshmen I just talked about. The freshmen are going to be a good class. I think that when you start to look at some guys that are going to redshirt, I think a guy like Nick Buchanan is a guy that will play, and if he doesn’t play early on he probably redshirts a little bit. Keivonnis Davis is going to redshirt because he was a late add to the roster because of some academics, unless Florida gets in trouble with some guys going down for injuries. I think he’s a guy that’s going to redshirt. Kalif Jackson’s going to probably end up redshirting, as well as safety Kylan Johnson and tight end Camrin Knight. I think those guys are going to redshirt most likely, barring any significant injuries at the position that forces them to have to get in and play some with the twos. Again, very good freshman class for Florida for McElwain. The whole coaching staff has just done an incredible job. Mike Kent, the Strength and Conditioning Coach has done an incredible job getting these guys in shape and ready to go.

That’s kind of all the football football talk that I have really about the team. I want to get a little bit into recruiting a little bit, as always. Was able to see a lot of game action this weekend, was able to watch IMG versus American Heritage, and that was a great football game. A thriller of a football game, come to the final score being 19 to 7. Shay Patterson and IMG scored a touchdown to tie it at 13, but it was called back for holding. They had to go again, and then tight end Nick Eubanks that is a Florida target picked him off in the end zone as time expired and ran it back for a touchdown to win 19 to 7 for American Heritage.

To talk about the guys on American Heritage first that are prospects is tight end Nick Eubanks. He’s a big guy at 6’5”, 215, 220 pounds. He’s a guy that’s a C’yontai Lewis, Jake McGee kind of player that’s a flexed up tight end. He’s just going to be a huge asset to whichever program he goes to. I personally think Florida is the school to beat right now. Alabama was the school that a lot of people thought was going to be the school to beat, because his brother was going to school there, but now that his brother’s not going to school there as a basketball player Florida, in my opinion, is the team to beat.

The other player on that field that was impressive on Saturday night was defensive end Bryan Burns. There’s not a thing I can say about this guy negatively. He is a stud football player. He’s a guy that maybe needs to add a little bit of weight, but he’s just an athletic freak coming off of that defensive end buck position as that rush in kind of guy. He’s a guy that is an absolute disaster for offensive tackles to mess with because of his first step. He’s got a first step that’s incredible. The one question mark I do have is whether he can play in coverage at that buck position at the next level, but that’s something I haven’t seen yet out of him. I can’t say that he can’t. It’s just something I haven’t seen a lot out of.

Florida’s definitely making him a priority. Georgia was the team to beat for a while, but Bryan’s now pushed the decision back to January, and Rumph and those guys are going to do an incredible job at getting him on campus. Rumph’s done a great job of really making him feel at home, mentoring him a little bit, and that’s something that I think is going to end up helping Florida out a ton in the future with getting him on campus and potentially landing him. Florida State’s another school in the mix there as well as LSU is, but in my opinion it’s going to come down to Florida, Florida State, and Georgia. Who wins out there? Florida has Quincy Wilson recruiting him. Georgia has Joystick Isaiah McKenzie recruiting him. Which one of those guys wins out there?

Then IMG had a defensive lineman Shavar Manuel. He didn’t play due to team rules or coach’s decision. Not exactly sure why he didn’t play, but tight end Isaac Nauta did play. Didn’t have a great game. Had some drops in the game, but not something that should really define him as a player. He’s a guy that’s going to come out and going to catch most footballs, and is a guy that I think a lot of people need to remember. Don’t write him off for Florida yet. Florida’s a school that, as one person told me, fits Isaac Nauta in that he’s a good guy and the offense fits him really good. He’s made some surprise visits under the radar to Florida, and I wouldn’t be surprised to continue to see that happen a little bit in the future. Don’t right off Nauta yet.

Then I talked about Perine from Theodore. I watched him play. He’s a good football player. He’s a guy at 217 pounds he really fits the mold of Jim McElwain’s offense. A good weekend for high school football. It’s finally back. The teams that didn’t play this week will start their season next week. All Florida teams will start their first week. This week was preseason football, so it’s going to be an interesting time going forward. Of course, Florida will continue to add guys on the board as they have successful senior years. It’s a fun time to be covering recruiting for me, because there’s a lot of good football players in the state of Florida, and Florida’s doing a really good job of doing that.

Have a couple more questions coming in on Twitter about the football team. So I’m going to answer those real quick before I sign off. Couple people want to know about how the special teams are looking, mainly Hardin and Johnny Townsend. Everything I’ve heard is Austin Hardin is doing better. Mark Nudleberg, the guy that came in as the Quality Control Coach that’s helping with special teams a little bit, has done a really good job with Austin Hardin from a mental standpoint behind the scenes. I think that’s going to help a lot. Johnny Townsend’s a very good punter. He’s won the job from Kyle Christy as a freshman, and then redshirted last year when Christy came back. He’s a guy that in my opinion is going to be fine. I think special teams are going to be good.

The one question I am a looking for is to see who’s going to be the return guy on special teams. Is it going to be Brandon Powell? Is it going to be Demarcus Robinson? Is it going to be Jalen Tabor or Vernon Hargreaves? I personally think it should be a guy like Brandon Powell or Antonio Callaway, somebody like that, or maybe even a Chris Williamson. Don’t like Vernon Hargreaves or Robinson being back there because of injury concerns. First of all, I don’t think Robinson has the skill set really to do it. I think he runs too tall to be a return man. Then Vernon Hargreaves is a guy that you want somebody with a little more shift and shakiness back there as a return guy. Special teams are going to be good in my opinion. Austin Hardin just needs to become more consistent in his field goals, but Johnny Townsend’s going to be a really good punter.

Somebody else asked me, corners after Vernon Hargreaves, Tabor, Poole, Quincy, are they viable offense options or massive drop off, or are we depending on incoming recruits to reload? I think it is a drop off. I do. I think it’s a drop off. Guys like DeAndre Porter are back there, Chris Williamson. Those guys are still developing. Chris Williamson’s a guy that’s just developing as a player right now. So I think it is a drop off somewhat. There is some talent back there still. You still got a guy like Duke Dawson back there that can play safety or corner. Then you’re going to look at some guys coming in in the recruiting class, a guy like Chauncey Gardner is a guy that should be able to play as a freshman. A guy like Javon Myers can potentially play as a freshman. It is a drop off, but you got to remember Jalen Tabor, Quincy Wilson and Vernon Hargreaves are three elite cornerbacks in the country, and Brian Poole’s up there as well as a very good cornerback, nickle back kind of guy. Again, I think that there is a drop off, but not a huge drop off. I think those guys can play, and then recruiting wise they’re going to add and get some recruits in this year that can play ball. Kirk Callahan’s a very good defensive back coach. Jenoris Jenkins credits him for getting him into the league. We all know Jenoris Jenkins is a heck of a football player now for the St. Louis Rams.

Anyway, that’s kind of all for my show today. I didn’t have a ton to talk about, but had a little bit of things to talk about. Wanted to talk about that AP, Tennessee being overrated. Tennessee Twitter, you get on my nerves blasting me on Twitter because I have a comment. No I’m not a homer. I’m a realist. I see the things the way I do it, and Tennessee’s overrated in my opinion. Should Florida be ranked? No. I’m strictly going to tell you that as well. So stop talking trash. I don’t like hearing about it. Don’t call names. We’re all grown adults here. We can all have opinions here.

That’s all for this edition of Spivey Senses on the Gator Country podcast. Remember, Nick, he’s doing a great job. Myself doing recruiting. Cassidy’s doing a great job with basketball and some football stuff as well. We’re going to have a lot of things coming. I’m doing a little bit of basketball recruiting now as well. Cassidy’s doing more of the basketball team. She’s going to be heading out to some Gator clubs hearing Michael White speak. Stay tuned to Gator Country, guys, and for this edition of Spivey Senses thank you for joining me. Peace out, Gator Country.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.

2 COMMENTS

  1. This QB battle is really not getting a lot of media play outside of local media coverage. However, it’s important to us Gator fans. I am curious, and want to understand how Will Grier has been dubbed the favorite to start. There’s this assumption that Will fits into the offensive scheme better becuase (someone fill in the blanks). If it’s because the QB is going to be expected to come from under center that’s horse pucky. If I understand correctly, Grier played in an offense dominated by shotgun formations the same as Harris. So, what makes him a better fit (Oh, it must be because he’s taller)? I’ve heard some say he delivers a better ball. I went to the spring game, and yes his delivery is sweet, but I did not see much separation from Harris. Maybe he practices better. Well we all know how that goes (remember This guy named Jeff Driskel). The last thing we need is a QB that can practice well and then put them under the lights and they freeze up. I think that Treon’s getting a raw deal, only because he could not be a savior as a (true) freshman. This guy has a lot of skills/talent as a QB, but they are being deminished, because of this proverbial fit into an offensive scheme that some fans and all of media says that Mac is looking for. I can recall Mac stating that he would develop schemes to fit his talent. Treon has more experience, and not only is he competing, but he’s a year older and prepared to handle what teams will throw at him. If Will is assumed to be the starter, what is keeping Mac from naming him the started now? I can’t possibly believe, it is because he’s not being a leader and taking control.

    • Treon being only 6-foot tall and has never had to go through a true progression of a pro-style offense or even take a snap under center. Grier has done that some plus his skill set of being a pocket passer is much more developed than Harris. Harris is more of a quick tempo/spread offense quarterback. If you listen closely to my podcast I explained that the reason Grier hasn’t been named the starter is because Mac wants to see his leadership skills progress the last two weeks of camp.