Gator Country brings you a new podcast as we preview the Florida Gators football team’s second scrimmage that takes place on Friday, plus look at some key position battles.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre also look at the suspensions of Teez Tabor and C’yontai Lewis and what happened to cause the suspensions. Andrew and Nick break down the situation and explain why they don’t see it as a huge deal.
Andrew and Nick also start a new segment called “buy or sell” where they discuss several topics and several players this fall camp.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: Hello, Gator Country. Man, once again, Andrew Spivey, here with my man, Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, it’s 16 days, when we’re taping this. 15 when they are listening to it. Almost into single digits, and when it hits single digits, the time is there.
Nick: Yeah. It’s getting closer. Getting very close, and maybe the players are starting to feel camp and starting to get excited about the new season coming up. At least it seemed like they were excited this week.
Andrew: I think it kind of hits when the players go back to school. Players are about to get out of camp. They’re about to start what I call game prep, where they start to kind of focus in on U Mass instead of focusing in on each other. Once it kind of hits that, then it kind of seems like things go. You got the start of high school football season this weekend, so that means football’s back, and it kind of goes. I mean, it’s two weeks from Saturday that kickoff against U Mass. We’re finally here, and it’s good.
Yesterday was kind of, I’m talking about Wednesday, of course, it’s kind of what camp’s all about. There was a fight that took place on Tuesday. Tabor and C’yontai are both suspended for Game 1, are both suspended from activities right now. Nick, what we know is that it was a fight between the two of those guys, and it turned a little ugly with helmets being thrown. Tabor reportedly had to have stitches to his head. Here’s the thing. I think Mac’s right in suspending them, because he had to have stitches, but everything I’ve been told was it just simply a fight that took place. It got out of hand because they didn’t stop when Mac and the coaches told them to, and they’re suspended. I just don’t like the narrative that these guys are thugs or punks, because they got into a fight. It simply happened. It was two guys that are whooping each other’s ass all day. Tabor talks a lot of shit. We know C’yontai talks a lot of crap. It happens.
Nick: Yeah. So the sentiment among fans, of course yesterday was probably like Christmas for Tennessee fans on social media, but what really turns this, so everyone, if you’ve ever played football, there has been some kind of fight. I can’t remember what player it was, but last week told us that…
Andrew: Cronkrite.
Nick: Cronkrite said that there fights at practice. He thought it was, or it was Jordan Scarlett said that there were fights at practice; he thought it was a good thing. At times it shows that guys care. It shows that you’re invested, and you get beat in a play, you’re invested, and you care that you got beat. You’re playing an emotionally charged sport, a lot of testosterone out there. I get it. There’s going to be fights. It’s going to happen. What makes this different is the suspension. I think, so the headline of two Florida players get into a fight at practice gets swept under the rug, not a big deal. Almost a boys will be boys kind of thing. Once you start dealing with a suspension, that’s when you’re getting into now this is different, and it becomes another bad headline, after the Callaway stuff and players transferring. There’s just been a lot of negative attention for Florida this off season.
Andrew: I agree with it. I mean, is it a good look? No. It’s not, but first let me say this. The first thing everyone thought, and, Nick, I’ll go ahead and say it, I’ll ride us out when we say this. Everyone thought, was it another drug positive test? That’s the first thing that pops in your head on a one game suspension. So it was good that that wasn’t it, because this would have been Jalen Tabor’s second, but the thing that just bothers me is you get some people calling these guys thugs and punks. Nick, I mean, honestly, you’ve played. I’m sure you’ve at least gotten into a fight. I mean, I was there. I know I did. When I was coaching, I know we saw stuff. We used to make fun of people when they would throw their helmets at each other. It was like, hey jackass, that other guy that you’re throwing your helmet at has a helmet too; you idiot.
Nick: My favorite is the throwing a closed hand, throwing a fist at someone wearing a helmet. What are you punching a helmet for? Idiot. Don’t do that. That’s what a coach would say. Hey, idiot, you’re going to break your hand. What are you trying to do here?
Andrew: Exactly. I guess that’s the thing that bothers me the most is just the simple, Nick, you know I can’t. You know I don’t know my words. What’s the word I’m looking for? Basically, I mean, they’re being framed and called stuff for something that we don’t know about, and maybe you and I don’t know all the story. Maybe it was more to the story than we know. What we know from talking to several people, I do feel like we have a pretty good grasp on it. I just don’t like the segment that they’re thugs or they’re punks for stuff.
I mean, let’s just be honest. C’yontai Lewis is from a bad part of Tuscaloosa, and he’s a guy that probably doesn’t take crap, and Jalen Tabor’s a guy that likes to talk crap. It could have simply been Tabor break up a pass from C’yontai, or C’yontai caught one over Tabor, and trash got talked, and it escalated more so than it should have. It’s something that could be as simple as that. I think maybe what you said about the negative thing, and it happening and continuing on is maybe why they were suspended. Mac trying to set an example that I’m sick of this nonsense. Maybe I’m sick of this negative publicity and stuff around there. Maybe that’s why it was. I’m not sure exactly why the punishment came, besides Tabor getting stitches.
Nick: That’s really the question. Is there a girl involved? Is there money involved? What makes this different, I guess is the question. Fights will happen, so what makes this different? I don’t think it would be fair, and I don’t think it’s McElwain’s way of saying, he got stitches, so now we have to suspend someone. McElwain doesn’t seem to be the guy, not to say that he will unfairly punish or discipline somebody, but he doesn’t seem to be the guy, “Well, if he would have just given him a black eye it would have been fine, but there’s stitches now. So now we have to go ahead and suspend them.” Not a kind of guy where the severity of the issue isn’t what he’s looking at.
He’s looking what was the problem? How do I teach somebody from this? I don’t think the stitches are the thing, if he did get stitches, the stitches are the thing that causes a suspension. I think it’s kind of just maybe a way to say, “Knock this crap off. There’s a lot of stuff going on right now that doesn’t need to be happening. I don’t think you guys are focused, and this is proving it to me that you’re not focused. I’m going to do something drastic, in an attempt to show you guys that the season is coming.” The stuff we’re doing right now, kind of like if you watch Hard Knocks, Jeff Fisher in the first season, or the first episode, kicks a guy out because he had a girl into his room.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: The same day, or the same week that Fisher explicitly said, “Don’t bring any women into your room. Don’t bring any visitors after curfew.” He goes ahead and cuts the guy right away. It’s kind of just, he goes into this whole rant of that’s 7-9 stuff, that’s 8-8 stuff. That’s not what we’re going to do. Maybe this is McElwain’s way of saying, “The stuff you’re doing right now is not going to get us 10 wins. It’s not going to get us to the SEC Championship game. You need to realize that before it’s too late.”
Andrew: Right. The thing I was going to say also is this, and that is you had the team meeting with the vets on Tuesday night, so maybe that is the case. Maybe it was simply Mac told them to stop, they continued on, and, as Mac says, “You have the freedom to do what you want, but you don’t have the freedom of consequences.” That’s kind of maybe what it was. I don’t know. My thing is this. A fight’s a fight. It’s on practice. It’s not like them going to club and just whipping some random guy’s butt. It’s a fight because they both care. They both are very, from everything we know, Nick, and correct me if I’m wrong, but these are both very competitive guys that winning means a lot to them, and their name means a lot to them. So my biggest thing on this talk is chill with the thug talk. Chill with the punk talk. That’s bull crap. It happens. Being a guy that has not been on the field, if you’re someone that hasn’t, you don’t know about this, so just chill. Chill with it.
Nick: You don’t know the people. You don’t know the players. I don’t know how, it’s social media, so that’s how, but I don’t know how you go ahead and say, “He’s a punk.” How do you know he’s a punk? “Because I read this story about him.” Have you met him? Have you talked to him? Do you know what his situation was growing up? Do you know what the situation was completely that led to the story that you read? Were you at practice? Were you there? Sitting behind a keyboard and tweeting or calling somebody a punk, I don’t agree with it. You don’t know these players. You know them as a player. You don’t know them as a person.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Until you do, you don’t have enough to make a statement, a declarative statement like that.
Andrew: Right. I completely agree. You and I have talked about it. Probably the biggest one we talked about, not to get off track, we’ll move on after this, but is Dalvin Cook. People talk about him because of what he did. Nick, I agree with you. You and I both say this. We like Dalvin Cook. Dalvin was nothing but nice to me. Not to get off subject, but that’s just one.
Nick: I agree with that. Dalvin kind of, we’re asking about Florida. You can disagree with the way he handled it. I’ve said many times, that last chance you have to have power is during recruiting, and he had that power. Listen, Dalvin knows what I’m doing. I’m a journalist. I’m writing stories. I want people to read my stories. So I come over, and I ask him a question about Florida. He’s going to give me an answer, and he’s almost the whole week smiling, like, you can’t be mad at me, from a reporter, maybe a fan can be mad that he didn’t pick their school. That’s a different story, and a whole other can of worms that’ll set me off, but I’m not mad at him. Dalvin Cook was great for Gator Country. We were writing stories about him, and people were reading them. Then he flipped, and we were writing stories about it, and people were reading them. Dalvin Cook was good for business, whether you like that he went to Florida State or not, whether you like the way he handled it or not. That’s his decision. He’s a kid that came from a very rough neighborhood down in Miami. He’s making a better life for himself, whether it’s at Florida, whether it’s at Florida State, Georgia, University of Wisconsin. It doesn’t matter where he is. He’s making his situation better, and you can’t knock him for that.
Andrew: Right. I mean, he was nothing but nice to me the whole time. Again, that’s something, that’s a different story. At the end of the day it’s this. I think the guys will be back, probably by Monday. I’m sure they’ll be back by then. They’ll still miss the first game, but they’ll get back to practice, and this will probably be swept under the rug. It’ll be whatever. Tennessee fans, don’t think it’s Christmas morning. Jalen Tabor still knows about that, about 12. Don’t get happy.
Now, to move on to this. Nick, Friday, you guys are listening to this Friday, so tonight the Gators will have a scrimmage, second scrimmage of the fall. Nick, I know Mac will talk about this more on Friday morning, but I think this second scrimmage is huge. I know when I was coaching, for instance, our second scrimmage was when we wanted to kind of get things going. We wanted to have a decision made on a lot of different things, special team wise, after that scrimmage. I think this is big. I think this will decide a lot of position battles, maybe not all of them, but I think it will decide a lot of different things. Where do you stand in that, with that?
Nick: The first scrimmage is probably used to see who’s coming ready. I think each additional scrimmage is probably bigger in the sense of, we’re getting closer. Maybe that last scrimmage less so. Yeah. I guess the last scrimmage might just be dotting I’s and crossing T’s, and really the reps start getting eliminated for some guys. The second scrimmage might be your last opportunity to make a big impact.
Andrew: I know, for instance, like our last scrimmage was kind of a scrimmage of this is a game, treat it as a game. No bullshit. Coaches are going to be on the sidelines. They’re not going to be helping as much. I mean, of course they’re going to help. It’s still a teaching moment, but it’s more about 4th and 7 we’re going to be hollering at the guys to be lined up on the sidelines to be ready to go into the huddle, so it was more of that. That’s kind of how it was.
Of course, I’m sure if that’s exactly how Mac does it. I would say probably so. I mean, I think it’s big. You got some key battles still going on. We can talk about that. I think some big battles that are going to go on is, of course, the quarterback battle. Mac’s going to say it’s going on, so we’ll play along with it. Running back, I think it’s kind of maybe been a change in tone a little bit. Scarlett’s getting some work with the ones. Perine’s still getting a lot of work. Cronkrite’s still getting a lot of work. Mark, with his fumble issues, is maybe losing a little bit of work. Big day for the running backs.
Nick: There’s no excuse for fumbles, and turnovers will get you put on the bench. It’s something that if Mark Thompson’s going to continue putting the ball on the ground, they’re going to give him less opportunities to do that in a game, quite frankly. Running back’s still going to play out. I still can’t buy into the thought that there’s enough carries to go around for all of those guys. I still think that Mac likes one guy. I went back and looked at the numbers, and I think it was five out of the last seven offenses that Mac has run there’s been three guys that have at least 300 yards, but, to me, 14 games, 300 yards, you’re averaging 21 yards a game.
Andrew: The same Will Muschamp’s offense.
Nick: Yeah. To me, if you’re getting 300 yards, that’s 21 a game. You’re not a big piece of the offense.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Even if you’re getting 500 yards, 35 yards a game, you’re probably not a big piece of the offense. I think Florida will have someone close to 1,000 yards this year. I think there’s going to be one guy. Are we getting closer to that? On the field, maybe not, but on the calendar we’re getting closer to someone having to step up.
Andrew: Maybe that’s a thing that doesn’t get resolved in fall camp. Maybe it’s something that kind of gets resolved after the season gets going. Maybe the first game against U Mass is kind of open competition kind of deal. I don’t know. Maybe that’s how it is. That’s there. Receiver, receiver is kind of a position where I think it does work itself kind of out in the game, where you’re going to have a rotation that’s going to be deep anyway. The guys are making the plays will get rotated in more. I’m not so set on that at all, but the offensive line, that’s the position where I think will be big. Mac’s saying there’s guys that need to step up with the injuries that took place. I think that’s there. So who are the guys that they can count on to be rotated in? I think that’s decided kind of during the scrimmage as well. I think that that’s something that’s still to be determined. When you listen to Mac, it doesn’t seem like he’s set on the rotation right now, or feels comfortable with a rotation. Maybe that’s just the vibe I’m getting, but it definitely doesn’t seem like he feels comfortable with the rotation he’s got going right now.
Nick: In my opinion, at receiver you’ve got a couple guys, dudes. You’ve got Antonio Callaway, obviously. You’ve got CJ Worton, who I’ve been a fan of for a while.
Andrew: The question is, does his fall camp carry over to the season?
Nick: Yeah. He’s not a guy that has looked great in camp, and it hasn’t translated. Kind of maybe, I’ve taken hard stances on someone like Ahmad Fulwood, seen enough. I’ve seen it. I hear about you every fall camp, every spring camp, and nothing happens during the season. Probably on my last go around riding the CJ Worton train. I still see it though. I see the potential. I see the raw physical ability. So I think it’s him, Dre Massey, Brandon Powell, if he can stay healthy, and then you got to start wondering what the freshmen are going to look like. What is Freddie Swain going to look like? What is Rick Wells going to look like? What’s Josh Hammond going to look like? Tyrie Cleveland, what’s he going to look like? There’s opportunity. I really think you’ve got three, four guys. Really four guys, and then after that a ton of question marks.
Andrew: Right. Then the offensive line?
Nick: I’m becoming less confident with the offensive line.
Andrew: What I’m saying is, you’re in agreement that that’s a position that will be big tomorrow.
Nick: Yeah. I think the starters are kind of cemented though.
Andrew: Absolutely.
Nick: To me, it’s really about, the next scrimmage, where are the other three, four, five guys? Who can step up there? I think, when you look at the starting five, not a huge day for them, but after that I think that’s where you really start getting into guys moving up, moving down, playing time being earned, or being lost.
Andrew: Yeah. We shall see where it is. Defense, that’s huge. It’s huge, especially for the secondary, in my opinion. It’s going to be big for that, because I think you’re going to see a lot of guys rotating and moving around. Duke Dawson probably playing some corner. Chauncey Gardner probably playing some corner. There’s going to be some guys that are moving around and in different spots in the scrimmage that I think is going to be very big. Defensive line, linebacker, I think you’re pretty set there. So I’m waiting to see kind of where things are at on the secondary.
Nick: Defensive line I think things are pretty set. Not really super sold on linebacker. David Reese is only a freshman. I’ve seen enough of Daniel McMillian and Kylan Johnson. It’s still a tough transition, and you know this, to play safety your whole life, and then get to a level where everything is faster. The playbook is twice as big, if not bigger, and you’re trying to learn a brand new position. It’s hard enough to play a position for your entire life and then go to college and adjust. That’s hard, and then to play a position, get to college, have that position changed, and now try to learn a position while doing that same adjusting. I think it’s tough. Is one year enough for that, enough for Kylan to be able to come in and be effective? Maybe it is. Probably not a question that you’re going to get answered until you’re thrown into the fire.
Andrew: What I was saying was you kind of know who those guys are going to be.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: It’s going to be Anzalone. It’s going to be Davis. That’s going to be your starters.
Nick: Then my question would be about the secondary, are there the guys?
Andrew: I mean, I don’t know. I don’t even know if we know the answer to that. I mean, you got really the same guys are going to have to be rotated to get there, Duke, Chauncey, those guys are going to have to be moved around. Putu, it’s starting to become more and more needed that Putu be ready to go. I think Chris Williamson’s going to play. How good he’s going to play is a big question. We don’t know. I still don’t know the answer to that. Putu and Williamson are going to play. Going back to linebacker, Jeremiah Moon’s been a guy that’s been getting talked about a lot. He’s probably your two now at outside linebacker, simply because of Matt Rolin being gone. So I think, you only have a few guys at linebacker, and those guys are going to play. That’s going to be Anzalone. That’s going to be Davis. That’s going to be Reese and Kylan, and that’s going to be Moon and D Mac, and Rayshad Jackson.
Nick: Yeah. Rayshad’s a guy that, and just because we don’t hear about someone doesn’t mean they’re not playing well, or not getting better, but just someone that I haven’t really heard much about when asking about the team.
Andrew: Sometimes that’s a good thing. Sometimes that’s a bad thing.
Nick: Yeah. I don’t know. In the secondary, like you said, Chris Williamson’s going to have to play. I’m not confident that he brings that same level that Florida fans are expecting, have grown accustomed to, or that those three starters, Tabor, Dawson, and Wilson, are going to bring. So, in my opinion, first game against U Mass, Tabor is out. You’re probably going to slide Duke Dawson over, and he’s going to play some outside. I think Joseph Putu might be more of a safety. He’s worked at both. Can Putu play outside? Williamson is going to have to, but right now I’m more comfortable putting Duke Dawson outside, or putting Chauncey Gardner outside, than I am with Williamson.
Andrew: It’s the way it is. I don’t know. I think there’s still a lot of question marks. The thing for me is this, and that is that there’s still some very, very good players. There’s still a lot of question marks surrounding depth, that kind of stuff, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Depth is something that can come, and I think will come. I think that depth sometimes is something young guys do and step up. Had you told me last year some of the young guys that stepped up would step up, I’d have told you were crazy. I think Antonio Callaway, for instance. Did we expect Antonio Callaway to be as good as he was last year, Nick? I say no. You’re agreeing with me, right?
Nick: Yeah. Absolutely.
Andrew: I mean, we expected Martez Ivey to be better than he was. He didn’t, but that’s just to say, that’s not to say anything bad. Quincy Wilson, for instance, did we expect Quincy to take as big a step forward as he did last year? No. Marcus Maye the same way. So I think that while some guys may struggle a little bit in practice, or maybe we don’t know as much about them and talk about as much. There’s guys that step up. Cronkrite, I mean, at running back, last year if you’d have told me, pick one of the Jordans that’s going to rise to the be the guy, I would have said Scarlett. You would have said Scarlett. It was Cronkrite.
Nick: I think I even did say Scarlett.
Andrew: What’s that?
Nick: I think I even did say Scarlett.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying. Tyler Jordan is a guy. Had you told me Tyler Jordan would end up being the right guard last year, I would have told you, oh shit; Florida’s in a lot of trouble, and he ended up not doing bad at right guard.
Nick: Yeah. You never know. I guess recruiting is not an exact science.
Andrew: What I’m saying is while we sit here, and we talk about this picture, and there’s a lot of question marks, it’s not just this year. It’s every year. You can go to Bama right now, and Bama, in my opinion, is the best team in the country. There’s huge question marks there. They have an even more unclear quarterback situation. They have kind of an unclear running back situation with Bo Scarbrough being hurt a lot. Their defensive secondary, who knows what’s going on there? Three guys transferring, they may be relying on Aaron Robinson to start, and I think Aaron Robinson’s a good player, but had you told most Alabama fans a true freshman that is a three star, mind you, was going to start at Alabama, they’d probably have laughed at you.
Nick: I don’t think Alabama has as pressing questions as Florida.
Andrew: I didn’t say as pressing. I’m saying they still have question marks surrounding their team. That’s all I’m saying. Everybody has question marks surrounding everybody. You go to LSU. I’ve read a story, our boy Barrett. Barrett, if you’re listening to this, you’re my boy, but he posted a story from Bleacher Report, and I’m not sure if he wrote it, or who wrote it, that said, “If Brandon Harris is a good quarterback, LSU can win the national championship.” That’s a huge, big if. I ain’t seen nothing to tell me Brandon Harris is a national championship quarterback.
Nick: That story, I think I know the one you’re talking about, that’s not saying he’s a national championship quarterback. That’s saying LSU is good enough that with a good quarterback, and Leonard Fournette in their defense, which is nasty.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: That they could make a run, but that they need to get productivity. You can’t be turning the ball, kind of the same thing you were saying about Florida. Everyone, Florida fans are saying, if Luke Del Rio gives a similar performance to Will Grier, Florida can run the table.
Andrew: What ifs.
Nick: Yeah. It’s what ifs.
Andrew: Exactly, and that’s exactly what I’m saying. Anyway, Nick…
Nick: Goodness. While we’ve been doing this, I’ve just been scrolling through Alabama’s roster. My goodness.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: It’s like Nick Saban would be on an episode of hoarders. He’s just collecting five stars. By the way, how’s Alabama going to play so-and-so? Oh, they have a redshirt sophomore who is the #2 defensive tackle in the country that’ll be coming in, or they just have five stars riding the bench for years.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s there. Except for the quarterback position.
Nick: Except for quarterback. I mean, I’m riding through, and it’s just like, my goodness. Tony Brown, Deshawn Hand. What has Deshawn Hand done?
Andrew: Right. It’s exactly right. Nick, we’ve been talking about wanting to do this segment, and we are finally going to do it. You want to do the buy and sell segment. If you’re buying something that means that you’re buying into it, that you agree with it. If you’re selling it, that means you’re disagreeing with it. We’ve got some hot topics to discuss in this buy and sell. If you guys like this segment, hit us up. Tell us that you like it, and we’ll continue it. Nick and I have both talked about it, and we think it’s going to be a really cool thing. Let us know if you liked it or not, and if you have any other segment you’d like to see. Nick, I’ll give you the first topic. What’s your first topic?
Nick: McElwain was asked, I believe on Monday, when we talk about above the line, below the line, it’s really a Geoff Collins term of, if you’re above the line, you’re in the game plan. You’re playing. We have plans for you that week. If you’re below the line, you’re going to be sitting on the sidelines watching the guys who are above the line play. McElwain was asked, does Florida have nine offensive linemen that are above the line right now? He responded, yes. Are you buying or selling that Florida has nine offensive linemen that you would be comfortable, or that Coach is comfortable with right now? If Florida played U Mass today.
Andrew: No. I’m selling. I’m selling, and I’m selling for this reason. Here’s the guys that I’m comfortable with, Nick. I’m comfortable with Sharpe.
Nick: One.
Andrew: Ivie.
Nick: Two.
Andrew: Jordan.
Nick: Three.
Andrew: Dillard.
Nick: Four.
Andrew: Fred.
Nick: Five.
Andrew: Wany, Jawaan Taylor.
Nick: Six.
Andrew: And Desire-Jones.
Nick: Seven.
Andrew: I think his two more he was talking about were Sandifer and Buchanan, and I’m calling bullshit on that.
Nick: Nope. That’s a sell for me too. Also, you can throw TJ McCoy into that mix. That’s probably still a sell to me. Brett Heggie, just a freshman. There’s just not. There’s not nine. There’s not nine that you’re comfortable with. I mean, we got seven, and one of those is a true freshman.
Andrew: Yeah. Now here’s the thing for me. I think that he very well could end up upseating Fred, but that’s still six. No, selling completely. No way am I buying that, Coach. No way.
Nick: Hard sell.
Andrew: Okay. My one is going to be pretty simple when you and I talk about it. Are you buying or selling Marcell Harris this year?
Nick: Man. Yeah. I’m buying Marcell Harris as a valuable special teams contributor.
Andrew: Okay. Let me rephrase the question. Are you buying that Marcell Harris will contribute at safety in 2016?
Nick: That’s a negative, Ghost Rider. I think Nick Washington has really taken over that starting spot, next to Marcus Maye, and then next up is Chauncey Gardner. Marcell plays if Tabor or Wilson, or there’s an injury to a cornerback that causes Gardner to have to go down to nickel.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: Then you get into a rotation with Harris and Washington. If Marcus Maye gets hurt, oh my, but, no. No, I’m not buying it, other than an injury. I’m not buying it.
Andrew: I’m selling as well. Fool me once, which you never fooled me. Fool me twice, you never fooled me. Fool me three years in a row? I sure as hell ain’t buying it. No. Not happening, captain. The best safety in that class is playing for the Atlanta Falcons right now, and that’s Keanu Neal. Negative, Ghost Rider. Selling it. Marcell Harris, special teams guy.
Nick: Very good special teams guy.
Andrew: Oh, what’s your topic, my good friend?
Nick: I keep hearing the name Moral Stephens.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: I want to go on the record saying that Florida has three tight ends. Two of them will be catching passes. One of them will be blocking. None of them are named Moral Stephens.
Andrew: I’m going to surprise you here. I’m going to surprise you here, Nick. I’m going to buy Moral Stephens, and I’m buying for this reason. He’s gotten big, and I think he can be a goal line blocker. Is he a pass catching guy? Negative. Not happening. Never, ever going to happen. I will buy that he will be a pass blocking tight end for the Gators, because he’s big. I’m selling the catching part. Blocking, I’m buying.
Nick: I don’t see anything.
Andrew: You’re selling, period.
Nick: I’m selling, period.
Andrew: Okay. Here’s a guy, and I know both of us are going to say this, so I’m going to throw it out there, and we can go quick. Ahmad Fulwood.
Nick: Sell. Done. Seen enough.
Andrew: That’s me. Sell. Not happening. No way am I going to buy that he’s gotten it. No. Sorry. Ain’t happening. No way, shape, or form. Selling that he is going to be a guy. Not happening.
Nick: Negative. That’s all I got. We’ve hit on all of mine that I had.
Andrew: You’ve hit on all of them.
Nick: I want to do it from a week to week basis.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: And so we’ve only had one press conference with Mac, so I made the notes while the press conference was going on, but I think once we get into a game, or a game week, we’ll have more to go off of there.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: Yeah. Right now, preseason edition, we’re talking about who is going to make an impact, because every coach, coaches aren’t talking bad about players. Every spring you hear, Ahmad Fulwood’s doing this. Ahmad Fulwood’s doing that. You hear, so-and-so’s doing this, and it’s just like, that’s not what the fall shows. When the games start mattering, that’s not what the history shows. We’re doing a little buy, sell preseason edition.
Andrew: I want to go, I got a couple more that I want to throw out at you, and I’m going to cheat a little bit, because it’s more of some of it’s this week, and some of it’s just in general. Do you buy or sell that Bryan Cox could be the #2 defensive lineman in the SEC, like Booger McFarland had?
Nick: No. No. I sell that. I don’t think he’s the best defensive lineman on his team. I think he’s the second best defensive lineman on his team.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: But second best in the SEC? No.
Andrew: I’m going to buy this. Here’s why I say this. Bryan Cox has shown some abilities to be dominant. I really think, and Austin wrote this, or Jackson had this story on Gator Country on Thursday that could this be the breakout year? He described all the guys that have been ahead of him. I’m going to buy this, Nick, because I’m thinking a big year. I’m thinking a big year, and as Booger pointed out, there’s some guys that will come off the field a lot. Miles Garrett doesn’t play a lot when it’s big run teams, because he’s not a good run stopping end. I’m going to buy the fact that Bryan Cox can be the #2 guy.
Nick: In the SEC?
Andrew: In the SEC. I’m going to buy that. I think he has a breakout season, and I’m going to buy that. I really do. I think he’s going to be a guy that when teams game plan, Nick, they’re going to say, I’ve got to stop Brantley. I’ve got to stop Cece off the edge. Bryan may end up getting one on one guys, and he’s shown the ability to do well. I mean, he may have enough in the Tennessee game to set a career high. He loves playing Tennessee.
Nick: Okay. You’re saying second in the SEC.
Andrew: I’m saying second in the SEC. Could be. Could be. Not right now. I’m saying when the season is over.
Nick: Arden Key, Charles Harris, Caleb Brantley, Derek Barnett, Marquis Haynes at Ole Miss.
Andrew: Yes.
Nick: Jonathan Allen at Alabama. Deshawn Hand at Alabama. Miles Garrett at A&M.
Andrew: I know, Nick. There’s a lot of good names. End of the year, at the end of the year, Bryan Cox could have had a good enough season to place him there. I’m saying he could. That’s all. Let’s end this thing real quick.
Nick: By the way, shout out to St. Thomas. That’s my Raider brother over there, Bryan Cox.
Andrew: There you go. Real quick, and this just popped up on my news feed, Dante Fowler was kicked out of Jags practice for a fight. So it doesn’t just happen in college.
Nick: I wonder if he’s suspended for the first game.
Andrew: No stitches were thrown. I mean, no stitches were had to have. Alright, Nick, we got a lot of things coming up. If you’re not a member of Gator Country, come check us out. Just like we did last week, we’ll have it this week, and that will be plenty of notes from the scrimmage on Friday. Have no problems saying that our notes were by far the most detailed and in depth there was. Come check us out, and get ready. It’s going to be a wild ride in recruiting and football, and it only gets hotter day by day.
Nick: All that info is at www.GatorCountry.com. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. @GatorCountry on Twitter. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC on Twitter. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC on Twitter. If you’re listening to this on iTunes, listening in the car or wherever you listen to your iTunes podcasts, leave us a like, a comment, a rating down there. If you’re listening to this on the website, thanks for coming to Gator Country.
Andrew: There you go. Come check us out. Let us know. I know there’s some new people on the site and listening to us. Let us know if there’s anything you want to hear. Nick and I, we’ll shoot the shit on about any topic you got, and we have no problem with it at all talking about. Let us know. On the site, if there’s any new features that maybe you want to see, or something like that, let us know. We can always talk about it. Nicholas, before we leave, my guy, Dansby Swanson, debuts for the Braves on Wednesday night. Goes a cool 2-4. To me, that just proves SEC dominance.
Nick: I enjoyed watching him when he was at Vanderbilt.
Andrew: It’s awesome. It’s awesome. SEC dominance is always there. We’ll get out of here and see you guys on Monday. Let us know if there’s anything you want to talk about. As always, go Braves and chomp, chomp.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.