GatorCountry.com brings you a new podcast as we break down the depth chart for the Florida Gators that was released on Tuesday morning.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre also talk with Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News about the Michigan Wolverines heading into the game.
Andrew and Nick talk with Chengelis about the key points to the game and also get her prediction for the game.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew:What’s up, Gator Country? Once again, your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, three days from the time people are listening to this until game day.
Nick:Andrew, I’m sorry to do this to you, spring it on you, but I will be quitting Gator Country.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:I will be moving to Vegas to become a bookmaker. My over/under line of 9.5 was right on the money.
Andrew:There was no way it could have been 9.5.
Nick:I don’t think you understand over/unders.
Andrew:You were at 9.
Nick:In over/under you don’t set a number that can be hit. You set 9.5, because that number can’t be hit. You either have to pick over 9.5 or under 9.5.
Andrew:Okay. I got you now.
Nick:So me putting the line at 9.5, and it coming in at 9, that’s perfect. Vegas in a baseball game will say, “The over/under for Braves nationals today is 7.5.” So you’re betting, if I think there’s going to be 8 runs, or, no, I think they’re not going to score 8 runs.
Andrew:Right. Okay. I see what you’re saying now.
Nick:So my line of 9.5, on the dot.
Andrew:Don’t quit your day job, bud. Yes. The depth chart was released Tuesday, and we both went under, right?
Nick:No. I went over. I think we both went over.
Andrew:Maybe so. I can’t remember if I said 9 or 10. Anyway, whatever. We were pretty close on our predictions for the depth chart. We’ll get into that more here in a little bit, but we got Angelique from the Detroit News joining us again this week. Came on last week, and gave us some good stuff about Michigan. She’s going to join us here in just a second to really talk about the game, get down to mismatches, that kind of stuff, and maybe get a prediction. Also find out if Tom Brady’s really starting for them at quarterback.
Nick:Yeah. Tom’s starting at quarterback. I think Desmond Howard’s catching passes and playing defensive back too.
Andrew:This is getting silly. I hate to just say it like that. It’s getting silly.
Nick:What’s getting silly?
Andrew:This whole Harbaugh thing. It’s getting silly. I understand you don’t want to release the depth chart. Completely understand that. But a roster? Come on, man. What are you doing here? The roster had to be turned into the NCAA, so Florida technically has that roster. What are you doing? Then to be, I don’t know, a prick and release an alumni roster. Get out of here, bro. What do you think?
Nick:I think it’s pettiness, just for pettiness sake. At this point, you’re just being petty.
Andrew:Yeah. I guess that’s the best way to say it. I don’t know. It’s gone too far with it. Harbaugh being Harbaugh, and wanting to be in the news, he’s getting it. Anyway, whatever it may be, his roster will be out there on Saturday. Who cares? He’s not announcing his starting quarterback. Florida’s not announcing their starting quarterback. What’s new? Neither one of us thought that was going to happen.
Nick:No. We got an old-fashioned pissing match between the coaches here.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Harbaugh yesterday did, it was almost like a Trump fake news. He gets out to his press conference, and he was like, “I don’t think Florida’s announced a starting quarterback. No one’s talking about that. Very interesting.”
Andrew:Yeah. That’s because your retarded self, Harbaugh, didn’t release a roster, you idiot. I mean, come on, dude. Whatever. I’m not going to get onto that train. We could go on forever.
Let’s go to Angelique real quick, let her get her Michigan stuff out there. You and I will come back after that. We’ll break down this depth chart and give some final impressions of the week before we get out of there and see everyone on Friday. We’ll go to Angelique real quick, and we’ll come back here and talk depth chart.
Nick:Joining us again, until she’s sick of us, is Angelique Chengalis from the Detroit News. Thank you again for joining us, and we’ll just go with Angelique.
Angelique:I think that’s perfect. I answer to my first name. No one gets the last name. This is perfect. I am going to miss you guys after the season opener. I don’t know what I’m going to do without my Gator fix. I’ll just have to follow you on Twitter.
Andrew:There you go. What we usually do in our Wednesday is just kind of get the mood. How is the mood up in Ann Arbor? Is it excitement, I’m sure, of getting the season going, but how’s the mood going into the game?
Nick:Well, it depends if you’re about the all-maize uniforms or the mood about the season, because it’s been really interesting since the uniform announcement yesterday. That’s what the fans have really seized on. I think the quarterback, who’s going to be the quarterback and stuff, that’s taken a back seat to, “Do I hate the maize uniforms? Do I love the maize uniforms?” That’s been kind of fun.
I think everybody here is really interested in seeing where this team is going, because nobody has really seen this team. Only five returning starters. That’s why it’s hard for me to do one of our, I don’t like doing them anyway, but a game by game prediction for the season, because usually you see a lot of these players the season before. You really haven’t. It’s hard to base a lot on spring ball and practices you’ve seen. I think the talent’s there, but I don’t know how the talent will react on a big stage like in Arlington, or even going forward. I think people are anxious and also eager to see what this team looks like.
Andrew:I guess, when you start to kind of dig deeper into this game, what are you kind of seeing as the big keys of the game? Not necessarily of who’s going to win, but what do you see the big keys? I would say Florida’s big key is their defensive backs, how the young defensive backs hold up, and then, of course, how the quarterback play holds up.
Angelique:I think you could say that about Michigan. How do these young defensive backs hold up? This is an all new secondary. There’s no Jordan Lewis out there bailing you out. I mean, the two things I’m going to be looking at is how does this offensive line play, and how do those young defensive backs play? Again, a lot of talent in both places, but young. You just don’t know how they react.
If you listen to the corners coach last week, Mike Zordich came in and just was ranting about how these corners haven’t done what he’s wanted. No one’s really kind of taken the position and run with it. It was a little bit of a sky is falling kind of approach, but I think he was doing it to light a fire under them, and they said that since he said that, and since they read those comments, they have practiced harder.
I also think it’s going to really hinge for Michigan on that offensive line. They’ve got three guys gone. Frankly, I think the guys who are filling in are more athletic, and they’ve said that too. But they’re young, again, and inexperienced. One of them’s not young, he’s a fifth year senior, Patrick Koogler, who will likely be the starter at center, but he’s never played. He’s not had any significant playing time. He’s a guy who’s been waiting, waiting, waiting for this opportunity.
I’m sure he’s ready for it, but then to his right he’s got Michael Onwenu, who’s going to be a first time starter, and he’s going to have either John Runyan, or Juwann Bushell-Beatty, who’s had a couple starts, at right tackle. So a lot of new pieces there. Those are the two position groups I think are absolutely key for Michigan if they want to win this game, how those groups play.
Nick:I think we’ve talked about that. Spoiler alert, I put that in the five questions that you sent me. I think the biggest key for Florida, you asked the biggest offensive player, it’s the offensive line. It’s a group that was embarrassed two years ago, and it doesn’t matter if you have a great quarterback or a great running back, or Jerry Rice playing receiver, if the offensive line’s not blocking anybody, none of those things matter.
I think this is really a game, and it’s kind of what was talked about before the game two years ago. Can the SEC handle the size and physicality of the Big Ten? The answer definitively two years ago was no. I think that’s a point of pride for Florida’s offensive line. I still have questions about if they’ll be able to handle that Michigan defensive line.
Angelique:I think it is a big question. I really do, Nick. I think when you look at this Michigan defensive line, and I think we touched on it last time, is the group that left. All the guys at the NFL kept saying at Pro Day that this group would be more athletic than they were, and that’s saying a lot. There were some really, really fine athletes last year, but you got a Rashan Gary and a Maurice Hurst, and Hurst is already project by, Todd McShay, I think, has him sixth or eighth pick in the Draft. Who knows from now? Certainly high praise for his play.
You’ve got Bryan Mone, who’s had some injuries, but, again, extremely athletic. He’s a guy who can be a force. I think that they are going to be really sound, and I think that they’re pleased now with the rotation, the second group coming in, because Greg Madison, the defensive line coach, does rotate a lot. That’s why these guys starting this year had so much experience last year. Rashan Gary and Maurice Hurst didn’t start, but they got significant playing time and made key differences in games.
I think that they like some of these younger guys who are backing them up. A guy like Carlo Kemp is going to have significant playing time, as well as Laurence Marshall, a guy who’s been sort of waiting his time to get in there. I think that will definitely be the position group of strength for Michigan. I think linebackers will be okay too, but just go back to that secondary. I just don’t know how they’re going to react.
Andrew:If you were picking a focal point of the game, McElwain said on Monday it was going to be the trenches. Is that where you’re pointing as to the game will be won and lost in the trenches?
Angelique:I am so old-school, and emphasis on the old, so yeah, of course. I do. I guess, to extrapolate from there, I would say the run game. I mean, Michigan’s running game, they have not had a great running back since Mike Hart in 2007. They’ve had some decent backs. I’m not trying to disparage the guys who’ve come after him, and I’m not sure that’s going to be Harbaugh’s approach with this group. It’s going to be tailback by committee, but I still think you find that one guy who’s really going to carry the load, and you use him.
There are a couple options. Harbaugh said last night on his radio show that Chris Evans is the guy. He played as a freshman last year, and he’s very quick. He’s gained some weight. Being a capable back in pass pro is very important here. That was his focus in the off season. He got stronger, gained about 12 pounds, because he was sort of small last year, kind of scrawny. They you got a guy like Ty Isaac, who’s your bigger back, a guy who transferred from USC a couple years ago. This is his last go-round, so he’s very eager.
So, yes in the trenches, and I really want to see if Michigan’s run game is finally going to be a group that’s going control games and control things, the clock. I mean, it’s just been a part of Michigan’s game that has been somewhat lacking over the last couple years. Been there, but not like what I think Michigan fans were used to seeing 10, 12 years ago.
Nick:That was the old Big Ten, 3 yards in a cloud of dust, and stop us if you can.
Angelique:Told you. Old school.
Nick:Yeah. It’ll be interesting to see. Florida, talking about Michigan’s running game, their defensive line coach has a saying. He said he learned at Alabama, “Those big guys in the middle, those defensive tackles, nose tackles, they only have one gas tank, and you have to learn how to move them in and out.” There’s freshmen behind the two seniors that they have starting. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle their first game, how they handle that big physical offensive line that Michigan has, and handle everything that goes along with the spectacle that is a college football game day on Saturday.
Angelique:I’ll add this too, Nick. I’ve said this. The one thing I’ve always appreciated about Michigan football, and I’ve covered Michigan for 26 years, this will be my 26th season, is the great offensive lines. Maybe they all weren’t All-American’s across the board, but they were big, and they were what you just talked about, the big Big Ten offensive linemen, what the league’s always been known for. Michigan was pretty much the premier team in that area.
Then three was a bit of a drop-off. When Rich Rodriguez took over, that wasn’t the style of offense they were running. It’s taken time, for lack of a better word, to recover from that three-year era where they’re recruiting smaller, lighter offensive linemen, I guess is the way to describe them. It took some time for Brady Hoke to bring in a few guys. They’ve inched along, and now they’ve recruited really hard on the offensive line.
I think they’ve brought in that kind of talent, and those big bodies that you used to see at Michigan years ago. That’s another reason I want to see this group of five, because I do think they’re very talented, and I do think they kind of represent that old-school Michigan offensive line.
Andrew:In your opinion, this game is getting a lot of pub, but not as much pub as other games, the Florida State-Alabama game being the biggest one. How important is it for Harbaugh and Michigan, and how do you see this game as a national level game?
Angelique:First of all, I’m grateful it’s not a night game. I don’t like night kickoffs. I know you guys are more into it than I am.
Nick:Me either.
Angelique:I just don’t think they’re that much fun. I mean, if you’re not home having a good time watching it. It feels more like a bowl game kind of feel among the fans. A lot of people are traveling down there. A lot of people are looking forward to the tailgating before the game in Dallas. I know they had a great experience, not so much during the game, when Michigan lost to Alabama five years ago, but I think everybody who went down there for that trip really enjoyed it.
On a national level, I think you’re right. I think the other game is getting the bigger spotlight, and probably rightfully so. For both teams, this is an important game to springboard into your season. The loser’s not going, it’s not going to cost them. I mean, I think you’ve seen Ohio State had an early season loss a few years ago, didn’t seem to hurt. It just gives you a better idea of the baseline for where this team is, where Florida’s team is going forward.
I don’t think it’s something that’s going to cost either team as they head into their conference play, but I think for Jim Harbaugh it’s important to get that mark on the road. I mean, coming off of the way that season ended last year, the whole team has something to prove, even the freshmen who weren’t there. They know how much it bothered the upper class that they lost three of their last four by five points, and close they were in that bowl game with Florida State. There’s definitely a lot of that for this team going in, emotionally, going into this game.
Nick:I think that is a big thing. Win or lose this game, it’s not a conference game. One fan base is going to be very unhappy, but getting into that, it’s prediction time. We don’t need a score. You can give one if you want, but who will be the winning team come Saturday around 8:00, 7:30?
Angelique:Well, it is going to be tough. I mean, Florida’s playing like 15 different quarterbacks, so it’s going to be very tough for this Michigan defense to get ready for that offense.
Nick:Yeah. I’ll let you know that I have a couple plays that they’re going to bring me down from the press box. I’ve been warming up my shoulder. I’m going to play some quarterback too.
Angelique:Okay. Me too. I think it’s going to be low scoring. I don’t want to lie. I just think because there’s so much youth, at least on Michigan’s side on the offense, and I think because Florida’s quarterback. I mean, I think it’s going to take some time for both teams, offenses, to break in their offenses. I’ve got Michigan winning 17-13.
Nick:That sounds like a stinker. I’m hoping someone breaks into the 20s.
Angelique:I hope so too. It’s funny, as much as I focus on the offensive line, I like great defensive games too. I don’t need, like what was it, one Rich Rod game. I forget how many overtimes against Illinois, and it was like 62-61. I’m like, enough. Enough scoring. It was fun to watch, but the 30 points. After that it was like, where is the defense? I’m always going to err on the side of great defense.
Andrew:Well, we appreciate it so much. Tell everyone where they can follow you real quick, and we’ll see you in Dallas.
Angelique:I’m at Twitter at @Chengelis. I had to think about how to spell my last name, so forget about pronouncing it.
Andrew:There you go.
Angelique:That’s pretty much it, on Twitter.
Andrew:We appreciate it so much. We’ll see you in Dallas. Safe travels down.
Angelique:Likewise. I look forward to it. Thank you so much.
Nick:Thank you, Angelique.
Andrew:All right, Nick. Good stuff from Angelique. She’s looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be good. It’s going to be good football in Dallas. I know it’s something you and I have been looking forward to since we found out it was going to happen. A lot of that has to do with AT&T stadium, but it also has to do with a good game early on.
Question to you, Nick. Does this game get as much hype if it’s at one of the teams’ home field, or does it get that extra hype being a neutral site game, like Alabama-Florida State, for instance?
Nick:I don’t think that it is a good of a game as Alabama-Florida State.
Andrew:No. I don’t think so either.
Nick:I don’t even think that’s debatable. But I think the game would get hype just because of the programs. Michigan’s the winningest football program in college football history. You’ve got two coaches that are kind of lightning rods for the media, as far as how they get covered, and two fanbases, quite frankly, that are a little crazy. So I think yeah, if this game was in the Big House, I think it’s a big hype game. If it was in Gainesville in the Swamp, I think it’s a big hype game. Does having it in Dallas, for the Advocare Classic, add to it? Sure. Definitely does add to it, but I think it would have been a big game no matter where they played it.
Andrew:I think so too. I was just kind of meaning like I think it makes it even bigger, even for the Alabama-Florida State game, to have it in Atlanta. You’re not going to have a split crowd. I mean, let’s just face it. You’re not going to have that, but to have it more split than if it was at one of the two home teams, that’s what I’m saying. I think it adds to the hype for that. Like I said, I know you and I are both looking forward to, because it’s at Dallas, but also because of the two teams playing.
Nick:Yeah. I think the two teams, with the fanbases they have, you’re not going to have a small game if Michigan and Florida are playing. I remember the hype before the bowl game. That’s a pretty meaningless bowl game, to be honest with you. I think they made the playoff, and they didn’t think it was going to take away from the other bowl games, and to me it’s just, this is kind of worthless now. You’re in the playoff, or you’re not, and everything else I whatever.
Andrew:Right. Exactly. All right, Nick, let’s do this depth chart real quick.
Nick:I’m surprised by a couple things.
Andrew:All right. You want to save your surprises as we go through?
Nick:Yeah. I’ll say what I’m surprised about as we go through.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:Yes. Surprised by a couple things.
Andrew:Okay. Let’s run through it. I’ll do offense. You do defense. Quarterback, Franks or Del Rio or Zaire. No surprise. No surprise whatsoever.
Nick:Nope. Nothing surprising there.
Andrew:We’ll give our prediction on what we think happens on Friday with the quarterback position. I think most people will be surprised on what we think.
Nick:Maybe.
Andrew:Maybe. Here’s my surprise, Nick. Running back. Was this one of yours?
Nick:Yes.
Andrew:Okay. Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine, or Mark Thompson. We have heard zero about Mark Thompson. Actually heard negative things about Mark Thompson. Is this simply he’s a redshirt senior, so he’s on there as the or? I think so.
Nick:Well, here’s my other thing. Yesterday, I don’t agree with the way Jim McElwain answered the question about is James Robinson suspended, because he was cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana on Monday of last week, and then we saw him practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mark Thompson was cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. His answer would indicate I have a clear policy, which if you follow along, he’s never said suspended, it’s always choices. You’re caught with pot, you miss the game. That’s kind of been the clear path. Why is Mark Thompson on the roster? Robinson’s not. It seems handling things different ways, and also just on the field there shouldn’t be an or between Perine and Thompson.
Andrew:Right. I think that’s where it is. I have made it clear that it’s Scarlett, Perine, Malik Davis. That’s the three guys we hear. We’ve been told by multiple people that 90% of the carries probably go to Perine and Scarlett, with the rest going to Malik Davis. I’m sticking to that. I’m calling bullshit on the or.
Nick:Yeah. That was a surprise to me. I don’t think there’s an or there.
Andrew:Okay. Receiver. X is Hammond, Swain. No surprise. Z, Cleveland, Green. I think we hit the nail on the head on both of those. No surprise on either one of those.
Nick:Hit it here too.
Andrew:Yeah. At Y we said Powell or Massey, with Kadarius Toney as, I guess you could call it backup. We think Kadarius is going to play a ton. We think Powell and Massey are going to play a ton. No surprise there whatsoever. It wouldn’t even surprise me if you see two of those guys on the field at the same time in different shapes and fashions.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:Tight end. I think we hit this one as well, Lewis or Goolsby, and then Kemore Gamble, who’s questionable in the game. No surprise. Lewis and Goolsby were or, I think, all of last year.
Nick:Yeah. Unless someone gets hurt, it’ll be that same way.
Andrew:Right. Exactly. Kemore, when he’s healthy, probably sees playing time as well, but no surprise there.
Through the offensive line, Ivey, Heggie, McCoy, Fred Johnson, Jawaan Taylor, from left to right. We hit that nail on the head. Only thing that we didn’t have was we had Jordan backing up all five spots. The depth chart has Antonio Riles backing up at right guard, and Stone Forsythe backing up at right tackle.
Nick:I think Tyler Jordan, like we said yesterday, is the first guy off the bench. I think though Antonio Riles at that right guard spot could play. If you’re moving Fred over to left, or Jawaan to left and Fred to right, maybe Antonio Riles before Tyler Jordan. If Florida makes it through the entire season with only having one offensive lineman missing at a time, they probably take that. I think Antonio Riles would be number seven, the seventh offensive lineman. I don’t see nine on that list. There’s people listed, but I don’t see nine on that list.
Andrew:Right. I’m with you on that. This happens a lot with offensive linemen in general, but a helmet come off, I think Tyler Jordan is the one that runs in there and fills in for that one play. I just think so, and I think so even at right guard, a position he started at last year. Yeah. I feel as if Jordan is the guy, first guy off the bench. If something was to happen and two guys go out, then you put Riles in, and you hold your breath.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:Overall take of the offense, Nick, is not surprised?
Nick:Not surprised. I think we hit the ors kind of the head there, outside of running back. We had the or with Davis, I think, maybe Lemons. I didn’t see two of them being there. I saw maybe one. Surprised on the defensive side more.
Andrew:Okay. That’s your side of the ball, so roll with it.
Nick:I’m surprised that there were no ors on defense.
Andrew:Especially at end, because didn’t you call two?
Nick:Yeah. There’s so many guys at end. I don’t know how you distinguish them.
Andrew:Here’s my take too, Nick, and that’s this. At end I think you have five guys that can play, and you feel very good with them playing. That’s Jabari. That’s Sherit. That’s Antonneous Clayton. That’s Cece, and that’s Jachai Polite.
Nick:I think you’re comfortable with Zach Carter too, in a limited role.
Andrew:I think so, but you know what I’m saying. I think Zach’s a guy that is your typical freshmen, in that he’s going to have a role, but do you really want him out there for every play 1st down, where it could be a draw? It could be a passing play where he has to think a lot. Probably not. I think he’s your typical freshman in that they have packages for him and plays for him. I think they have five guys that could start, and they say, “We feel good going into this.”
Nick:Yeah. That’s, to me then, why I question, just wonder why there wasn’t an or there, but I’m not out here clamoring for more ors.
Andrew:Guess what, Nick? Ors don’t get to start. You might as well say who’s starting.
Nick:There you go.
Andrew:The or that I was surprised didn’t happen was Khairi Clark and Kyree Campbell. Just because I really thought that would be, because Kyree Campbell’s come on so strong lately that I thought there would be an or there, but, again, I understand it. Khairi’s your returning guy there. So I understand it, but I just thought it would. If I was making a prediction, later in the season.
Nick:Yeah. I wasn’t riding with you on that one. Maybe later in the season, but not Week 1.
Andrew:Let me ask you this then. Let me turn it around and ask you this. At the end of the Michigan game, who do you think has more reps?
Nick:Khairi.
Andrew:Okay. Then that’s fine. I thought it would be Kyree, just because I have more faith in Kyree. That was my reasoning for that, but I was wrong. We can all be wrong at some point in time.
Nick:Okay.
Andrew:Go ahead. Linebackers. I know you got a surprise here.
Nick:Linebackers. Weak side, Vosean Joseph. Middle, David Reese. Strong side, Jeremiah Moon over Kylan Johnson, which was surprising to me. I wonder if it’s how much that is injury related, versus how much of that is just we’ve been impressed with Moon while Johnson’s been out for most of fall camp.
Andrew:Right. I think it’s a little bit of both. I think Moon’s had a really good fall camp.
Nick:He’s had a ton of opportunity to have a great fall camp, with how much time. Kylan’s basically missed everything.
Andrew:Now here’s the thing. Kylan’s one of those guys, he’s a smart player, played the game. He can step back in, and he’s not going to miss anything. I do think Moon has impressed. Remember this, Nick, though. There was some rave reviews last year about Moon, before he had the thumb injury. Is it totally surprising?
Nick:Yeah. He was not going to redshirt last year. He was going to play last year.
Andrew:Yeah. He’s one of those guys that you would have seen a lot in the Florida State game, the Alabama game, the Iowa game, where Jarrad Davis and Alex and those guys were down. You’d have seen him a lot. Not surprising. If Kylan’s able to play, I expect that they’ll play a lot. Both of those guys will play a lot. That is that.
Nick:Then, kind of like we said, behind them, uh-oh. Garcia, Rayshad, and a freshman in Brunson.
Andrew:I think they feel comfortable with Rayshad and Garcia.
Nick:At some point you got to wonder about Rayshad.
Andrew:When’s the light turning on?
Nick:Yeah. When’s the light turning on? He’s a redshirt sophomore now, a redshirt junior?
Andrew:Redshirt sophomore.
Nick:Redshirt sophomore.
Andrew:You know, he had some decent times last year. It didn’t like the lightbulb had fully came on for him yet, but maybe that’s there. Hopefully you have some opportunities for him to get in some late game situations and get that experience up for him. Go to defensive back then.
Nick:Are you surprised at all here? I think no one on Gator Country is, that’s for sure.
Andrew:No. I’m not surprised. I guess I’m surprised that he has Marco starting at nickel and corner. I thought he would probably just put him at nickel to have Putu starting at corner. I don’t think of us is surprised Marco Wilson’s starting. The guy is a smart guy. Someone asked me today, “Describe him and Quincy.” I would say they’re different players as far as body style goes, but they’re both smart as hell. Quincy’s a long corner. Marco’s more of a fast corner, an athletic corner. Not that Quincy’s not athletic. He’s very athletic, but he was more long, and Marco’s more quick, but they’re both smart as hell.
Nick:Yeah. Both smart. Chad made sure the technique is right. That’s something you’ve never had to worry about with Quincy, and you won’t have to worry about with Marco. Their hips, their footwork. Football IQ. They will be competitors on the field as well. To me, it’s no-brainer that he was going to earn playing time. Not surprised at all that he’s starting.
To explain how it is, how is he starting at two positions? It’s basically saying, Marco Wilson’s going to be on the field whether we’re playing two corners or three corners. If we’re playing six defensive backs, he’s on the field. However many defensive backs are on the field, Marco Wilson is one of them. If they go out of base and into nickel, Marco comes in and plays that nickel spot, or stays in and plays that nickel spot, and somebody else plays corner.
Andrew:Right. Putu plays corner there. It’ll be interesting to see. I was talking to a few people. It’ll be interesting to see if by the end of the year Marco’s not your starting corner, and then Donovan Stiner or Quincy Litton are your starting nickels.
Nick:Yeah. Stiner. It wasn’t really until Fan Day, right around that week, that I first heard Donovan Stiner’s name as someone who’s going to play. Shame on me as someone that overlooked him. I’ve said that before. Kids like that, coming from Texas, coming from far away, don’t get the same kind of hype, or get overlooked, and I overlooked him. Like you said, interesting. If Putu’s not getting the job done, or Marco’s just flat out outplaying him, do you feel comfortable enough say, “Stiner, you can stay there. We’re going to leave Marco back out on the outside, put him on island. Let him just take somebody out the game.”
Andrew:Right. Then, again, with Quincy Litton, if he can continue to stay healthy, I feel pretty good in saying they’re going to find him a spot to play. You and I had heard last year that after Chauncy, Litton was the guy they felt most comfortable with out of the young guys. If he can just stay healthy.
Then on the other side, Duke and CJ Henderson. No surprise there. In my opinion, no surprise at safety.
Nick:No. No surprise for me either there.
Andrew:The surprise to me was, after Mac said CJ Henderson was working with the kickoff return, it’s actually Kadarius Toney that is that unknown fast freshman.
Nick:I call bluff there.
Andrew:You do? I call good move.
Nick:I think, yeah, he could. I think CJ Henderson. You find a way to get him on the field.
Andrew:If it was me, and of course, it’s not me. I’m not making Mac’s money. It would be one of the three of Massey, Toney, and Henderson back there. I wouldn’t put Tyrie Cleveland back there. Not that Cleveland’s not very good back there. I think Cleveland’s a good player back there, but Cleveland’s a bigger guy, not as fast as Toney, Massey, or CJ Henderson. Me personally, I’d like to have one of those three back there. Toney’s quick, shifty, can stop on a dime, move. Henderson’s got track speed, and Massey’s a little bit of both.
Nick:I think, yeah.
Andrew:I just don’t like Cleveland back there.
Nick:You don’t like what?
Andrew:I don’t like Cleveland back there.
Nick:I don’t think we’ve seen enough of him back there.
Andrew:I just don’t like my big receiver, that’s supposed to be my big play threat, to be back there taking the hits. That’s just me.
Nick:I see that. That’s another reason why I think Henderson’s an option.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:What do I know?
Andrew:I mean, like I said, those three would be my picks. At punt return, Massey and Powell. That’s there, until Antonio Callaway comes back. We’ll see how that rolls. No surprise Eddy and Johnny. Eddy holding the ball. It would be there, and Ryan Farr’s your long snapper.
In my opinion, not too many surprises. Really no surprise, except for the or at running back, and then the defensive end. I thought Sherit may get the leg up, being a senior, but Jabari’s earned it, and Sherit hasn’t played much. Overall, for me, no surprise.
Nick:No.
Andrew:That’s that. You’ll have Mac on Wednesday afternoon. You guys are listening to this on Wednesday. Do not hold your breath. No quarterbacks being announced. Nothing will come out of that. You’ll also have Tim Skipper breaking down the linebacker position. Nick, I don’t know about you, but I love listening to Skip break down, whether it was running backs or linebackers, just because he’s knowledgeable, and he really breaks it down to the points that you can see things.
Nick:Yeah. He’s great. No one complains about getting Skip in the media room. We love getting him. He’s great as far as being informative, also a great quote. The way he cares for the players really comes across as well, when he’s talking about them.
Andrew:Right. Exactly. That’s kind of what’s benefited him so far in recruiting. So that’s that. Kind of wrap it up as we get there. We’ll be back Friday. We’ll have our breakdown of who we think’s going to do well, our players of the week, and all that stuff. We didn’t do the recruiting podcast this week, simply because just ran out of time with it, and decided we were going to wait till next week when there was really some news, some reactions to talk about, that kind of stuff. That’ll be on Tuesday of next week. We’ll get that done. Zach says there’s more basketball recruiting news next week and all that good stuff. We’ll have more of that next week on the recruiting show.
Nick:Good stuff. What else do we have coming this week? Hook me up with your travel recommendations.
Andrew:You haven’t got enough yet?
Nick:No. I need food. I need drinks. I need them.
Andrew:All that good stuff. We’re excited about it. If you’re going to be there in Dallas, let us know. We’ll try to say hello to you guys. We’ll be there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning, before we get out of town. I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited for it, excited to see AT&T stadium. Hadn’t been there. Just excited for football to be back.
If you hadn’t joined us yet on Gator Country, let us know. We’ve had a good many subscriptions lately, honestly, over the last week or so. People are jumping on board, so things are going to be good at Gator Country. Let myself know, or you can ask Nick, and he’ll send you my way. You can ask me, and I’ll get you that code. We’ll have plenty of stuff from Dallas, maybe some Snapchat, Instagram, Nick’s food pictures. You name it, we’ll have it all throughout the weekend. Nick, tell them where they can find us.
Nick:www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in written and audio forms, in case it’s not there on iTunes, where you can find it. Search @GatorCountry on iTunes. Hit the subscribe button, and as soon as the podcast publishes to iTunes you’ll get a little notification popup on your phone. Get you through your workday on Wednesday. You can find us on social. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. Myself, @NickdelaTorreGC. Andrew, @AndrewSpiveyGC.
Andrew:Soundcloud. Somebody asked me about it. We’re waiting on Soundcloud to get back to us to find out what we’ve got to do that. As soon as they get back to us with what we’ve got to do, that’ll happen. We’re ready. We have to move a thing or two around on the backend of how we load it, but won’t bore you guys with that details. As soon as we get that figured out, we’ll have it on Soundcloud. Should have iTunes. We don’t know what’s going on with iTunes, but it’s being like a 2-3 hour delay. As Nick said, hit us up on the site for that.
Guys, as always, we appreciate it so much. Chomp, chomp. Go Braves. Mark, Butch, sorry your season’s going to suck.
Nick:You stay classy, Gator Country.
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Transcript by Five Stars Transcription