If two weeks ago you asked me if Florida had a decent shot at the national championship, I would've said, "Of course, why not?" We all know they are returning the only sophomore Heisman winner ever, and an ALL-SEC linebacker in Brandon Spikes.
Florida surely looked to be one of the toughest teams to beat this upcoming season, but their biggest question mark coming into this year lies in the secondary.
After the transfer of Jerimy Finch (the top-rated safety in the '07 class), the dismissal of Jamar Hornsby (who was kicked off the team for using the credit card of a deceased Florida student), and a four-star safety recruit who is likely to attend a prep school in New York due to academics, the Gators are left with holes to fill.
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To add to the question marks the Gators were hit by a brick wall last Saturday when they lost their starting junior safety Dorian Munroe and back up senior safety John Curtis. Munroe suffered an ACL tear in his right knee and Curtis suffered an ACL tear in his left knee.
Both will miss the entire 2008 season.
These two shots in my opinion just knocked Florida out of a championship run. Even without all the injuries and dismissals the Gators' road to a title was far from a cake walk.
Before you make the national title game you have to get through a brutal SEC schedule that features games against Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, and South Carolina, and ACC games against Miami and the season finale at archrival Florida State.
So the task of running the table there looks almost impossible on paper, and now is an even a harder task with new blows to the defense.
Sorry to say Gator fans, I see possibly the same result as last season minus the upset loss in the bowl game.
Florida is still going to be one of the elite teams this year and are projected to be at the top of the SEC along with Georgia. With a weak secondary though, you can only go so far with "Superman" at quarterback and a strong D-line. Without safeties how are you going to stop the pass and the deadly deep ball?
Keep an eye on the Jacksonville showdown against Georgia though; the winner of this game should end up in Atlanta and maybe in the title game.
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about 1 month ago
its gonna be tough for sure. our offense will be just as good if not better than last years with even more weapons added to the already deadly list of playmakers. we were close in our losses. if we can improve our secondary that much more then we have a shot. we need some freshmen and sophmores to stand in the gap that has been created in our secondary if were going to bring another title to gainesville.
about 1 month ago
Major Wright is one of the best safeties. Will Hill is the top rated safety coming out of HS in the entire nation. Yes it is hype but if Will Hill is as advertised then your concern is erased. Gators will go all the way again. Isn't Gainesville "Titletown"?
about 1 month ago
From the past experience, it is always better to be an underdog than the opposite.... I'd prefer us to be concerned than overconfident....
about 1 month ago
Do you really think Dorian Monroe is THE missing link to our Nationtal Championship aspiration? Please! What a joke! The other guy is just going to be on the practice squad or special team at most. I'll admit that the loss of these 2 guys will hurt but it WILL not "shattered" our title dream. The season hasnt even started, yet many people have thrown the Gators under the bus already. As long as they can get decent pass rush up front, the secondary should be okay barring any major injuries to Haden & Wright. Watch out for Will Hill, that kid is gonna be a freak!
from about 1 month ago
Don't ever remember saying "THE" missing link, just too many injuries.
about 1 month ago
I think this will hurt the Gators DEPTH in the secondary, but it could result in a better STARTING LINE-UP.
Pre-injury, the two safeties were Monroe at strong safety and Wright at free safety. I don't think that was a great safety combination. Wright is sort of out of position at FS. I've met Wright and he is stout. He looks like a run stuffer. He is only about 6' tall and doesn't have the speed to be an elite FS. But he has the frame and the hard-hitting ability to be an elite SS.
Post-injury, the two safeties could be Wright at SS and Hill at FS. Starting a true FR at FS is not ideal, but Will Hill is 6'3", over 200 lbs and very fast. He also has a lot of experience at the position (unlike putting a guy like Haden at corner last year). I think that could, by the end of the season, be a very strong safety tandem.
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