2009 Outlook:
The Florida Gators return 11 starters on defense from the 2008 national championship team. Senior Brandon Spikes, the pound-for-pound best defensive player on this Florida squad returns for his last hurrah in Gainesville. The other standout on defense is Joe Haden who is the leader of the secondary. This year’s squad looks poised to be better than last season.
The defensive stats for 2008: 9th in total defense, giving up an average of 285.29 yards per game; 4th in scoring defense with an average of 12.43 points per game; 20th ranked secondary, surrendering an average of 179.86 yards per game.
It is not easy to duplicate productivity from the previous season, but Florida is poised on defense to have some breakout stars that will keep this defense getting better every year, even after the graduation of seniors. Looking at the two national championship years, from ’06 and ’08, the defense allowed an average of 13.2 points per game from the opposing teams, opposing quarterbacks completed an average of 53.2% of their passes, and the running backs averaged 89 yards per game with a measly 3.05 yards per carry. What is evident is that when the defense is stingy and put up numbers like in ’06 and ’08, they will undoubtedly be in the national title game and win it.
Defensive Ends:
The spring saw dynamic play by Jermaine Cunningham. It seemed he was always in the backfield, getting at Tebow. He was very good in containment of the quarterbacks and running backs. Cunningham showed his strength and quickness throughout spring practices. He will clearly be the key in the defensive pressure put on the offensive lines that they will face in the fall.
Redshirt Freshman Earl Okine stepped up during spring practices. He is huge like Carlos Dunlap, both these guys hovering around 6’6 and averaging about 280 pounds. Okine showed good body control and toughness. He was not in the backfield as much as Cunningham, but he made plays when he had to.
With the injury bug hitting Dunlap early in the spring; it is understandable that he was not that productive. Returning at the end of spring practice, he made it a point to make couple of plays. With a healthy Dunlap for the fall, this will cause havoc for any offensive lineman.
Justin Trattou was injured for most of the spring. He showed flashes of playmaking ability in the beginning of spring practices. In his absence, Duke Lemmens stepped in and showed a relentless attitude to his playing style. With Dunlap and Trattou being injured this was Lemmens moment to shine and he did. Florida has a viable short-term solution if either Dunlap or Trattou fall prey to injuries this season.
Linebackers:
Weakside linebacker:
Senior Ryan Stamper continued his dominance of the position in the spring. In 2008, he had a total of 45 tackles on the year. In spring practice, he was good against the run and in pass coverage as well.
Dustin Doe is battling Stamper for the starting position. Before injury hit Doe in the spring, he showed quickness and solid tackling. This will be a good battle in the fall and make each player push themselves.
Middle linebackers:
True freshman John Bostic has shown the true grit to play middle linebacker. He is fast, powerful, and delivers bone-jarring hits. Meyer and the staff are in love with this kid, and the redshirt has been taken off. He is already number two on the depth chart and vying for the number one spot with Brandon Spikes ahead of him.It is clear that when Spikes moves on to the NFL, Florida is very secure at this spot.
Spikes has played sparingly during spring practice. Meyer is very concerned about keeping his playmakers injury-free and fresh for the start of the season. Spikes will provide leadership and guidance to the young linebackers.
Strongside linebacker:
A.J. Jones, who played in 13 games in ’08 and had a total of 35 tackles, looked good especially in pass coverage throughout the spring when he attended. Most likely, he will be the starter or Brandon Hicks. Hicks has been out of spring practice due to an injury. The team will likely watch his recuperation in the fall and thereafter.
Sophomore Lerentee McCray, having played only 8 games in his career due to who is ahead of him on the depth chart, was quiet this spring, but he is still young and learning the position.
Junior Lorenzo Edwards was quiet as well, but he is a big asset. He has played every linebacker position and this provides versatility to his game. In the time of crisis, it will be easy to plug him in with no worries.
Defensive Tackles:
Sophomore Jaye Howard looked good in pursuit and showed great agility throughout the spring. He was good at stopping the run and causing hurries to the quarterback. Howard had the most production among interior lineman throughout the spring.
Omar Hunter spent 2008 as a Redshirt Freshman due to a recent injury and nagging injuries from high school. Hunter was healthy this spring and showed improvement at attacking the offensive line. He will provide power and quickness at the nose tackle position in the fall. He needs to keep working with the strength and conditioning coach to maintain an injury-free tenure at Florida.
Lawrence Marsh, the starting nose tackle in 2008, suffered an injury that cost him the majority of spring practice. He had 3 sacks in 2008 which ranked third on the team behind DE Jermaine Cunningham (4 solo and 0 assisted) and sack leader of the team, Carlos Dunlap (8 solo, 3 assisted).He will be pushed in the fall by Hunter and this will motivate him to speed up his recovery to get back on the field.
Defensive Backs:
Strong Safeties:
True Freshman Dee Finley showed that he has a nose for the ball. It seemed like he was in on every tackle and pass break up. He will continue to grow as a player and will contribute on the special teams as he matures physically and mentally.
Dorian Munroe looked good in couple of pass break ups and he hits hard. But after missing 08’ with an ACL injury, he won’t surpass the instinctive Ahmad Black as the starter.
Black led the team with 7 interceptions in ’08 and this ranks him 7th nationally. He had a quiet spring of practices but made plays sparingly throughout. He will remain the starter because of his instincts at the position.
Free Safeties:
Will Hill looked good breaking up passes and intercepting four balls, from Tebow. He had the best spring out of the safeties, and this sophomore will see playing time this season as he continues to learn the position. This kid is poised for breakout success in the future.
Junior Major Wright missed some of spring with an injury but showed his playmaking ability on a couple of plays.
Cornerbacks:
Redshirt freshman Adrian Bushell looks like a smart football player, considering his youth. Good ball pursuit and catch-up speed to his target. He will be a force in a year or two.
Junior Moses Jenkins looked good in the spring. He is a good tackler and is always around the ball. He has very good size at 6’2, 184 pounds. He does not have the speed like the other corners on this squad, but he will use his size and body to aggravate smaller wide receivers.
Starting corner Joe Haden looked fast and aggressive in the spring. In 2008, he led the defense with 61 solo tackles and 87 total tackles was second on the team. He is the unquestioned leader at corner and if the spring is any indication, he will be extra aggressive in covering wide receivers this fall.
Senior Markihe Anderson looks good. He swatted passes away and picked off a couple of passes this spring. He has been injured in the last two years, dealing with knee injuries. He showed his smarts as he was always around the ball during the spring.
Sophomore Janoris Jenkins showed tough physical play this spring. And the team believes that he will be a great asset when they play a spread offense team with quick slot receivers. Jenkins has a penchant for not letting wide receivers off the line of scrimmage.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
2009 Florida Gator Preview-Defense
2009 Outlook:
The Florida Gators return 11 starters on defense from the 2008 national championship team. Senior Brandon Spikes, the pound-for-pound best defensive player on this Florida squad returns for his last hurrah in Gainesville. The other standout on defense is Joe Haden who is the leader of the secondary. This year’s squad looks poised to be better than last season.
The defensive stats for 2008: 9th in total defense, giving up an average of 285.29 yards per game; 4th in scoring defense with an average of 12.43 points per game; 20th ranked secondary, surrendering an average of 179.86 yards per game.
It is not easy to duplicate productivity from the previous season, but Florida is poised on defense to have some breakout stars that will keep this defense getting better every year, even after the graduation of seniors. Looking at the two national championship years, from ’06 and ’08, the defense allowed an average of 13.2 points per game from the opposing teams, opposing quarterbacks completed an average of 53.2% of their passes, and the running backs averaged 89 yards per game with a measly 3.05 yards per carry. What is evident is that when the defense is stingy and put up numbers like in ’06 and ’08, they will undoubtedly be in the national title game and win it.
Defensive Ends:
The spring saw dynamic play by Jermaine Cunningham. It seemed he was always in the backfield, getting at Tebow. He was very good in containment of the quarterbacks and running backs. Cunningham showed his strength and quickness throughout spring practices. He will clearly be the key in the defensive pressure put on the offensive lines that they will face in the fall.
Redshirt Freshman Earl Okine stepped up during spring practices. He is huge like Carlos Dunlap, both these guys hovering around 6’6 and averaging about 280 pounds. Okine showed good body control and toughness. He was not in the backfield as much as Cunningham, but he made plays when he had to.
With the injury bug hitting Dunlap early in the spring; it is understandable that he was not that productive. Returning at the end of spring practice, he made it a point to make couple of plays. With a healthy Dunlap for the fall, this will cause havoc for any offensive lineman.
Justin Trattou was injured for most of the spring. He showed flashes of playmaking ability in the beginning of spring practices. In his absence, Duke Lemmens stepped in and showed a relentless attitude to his playing style. With Dunlap and Trattou being injured this was Lemmens moment to shine and he did. Florida has a viable short-term solution if either Dunlap or Trattou fall prey to injuries this season.
Linebackers:
Weakside linebacker:
Senior Ryan Stamper continued his dominance of the position in the spring. In 2008, he had a total of 45 tackles on the year. In spring practice, he was good against the run and in pass coverage as well.
Dustin Doe is battling Stamper for the starting position. Before injury hit Doe in the spring, he showed quickness and solid tackling. This will be a good battle in the fall and make each player push themselves.
Middle linebackers:
True freshman John Bostic has shown the true grit to play middle linebacker. He is fast, powerful, and delivers bone-jarring hits. Meyer and the staff are in love with this kid, and the redshirt has been taken off. He is already number two on the depth chart and vying for the number one spot with Brandon Spikes ahead of him.It is clear that when Spikes moves on to the NFL, Florida is very secure at this spot.
Spikes has played sparingly during spring practice. Meyer is very concerned about keeping his playmakers injury-free and fresh for the start of the season. Spikes will provide leadership and guidance to the young linebackers.
Strongside linebacker:
A.J. Jones, who played in 13 games in ’08 and had a total of 35 tackles, looked good especially in pass coverage throughout the spring when he attended. Most likely, he will be the starter or Brandon Hicks. Hicks has been out of spring practice due to an injury. The team will likely watch his recuperation in the fall and thereafter.
Sophomore Lerentee McCray, having played only 8 games in his career due to who is ahead of him on the depth chart, was quiet this spring, but he is still young and learning the position.
Junior Lorenzo Edwards was quiet as well, but he is a big asset. He has played every linebacker position and this provides versatility to his game. In the time of crisis, it will be easy to plug him in with no worries.
Defensive Tackles:
Sophomore Jaye Howard looked good in pursuit and showed great agility throughout the spring. He was good at stopping the run and causing hurries to the quarterback. Howard had the most production among interior lineman throughout the spring.
Omar Hunter spent 2008 as a Redshirt Freshman due to a recent injury and nagging injuries from high school. Hunter was healthy this spring and showed improvement at attacking the offensive line. He will provide power and quickness at the nose tackle position in the fall. He needs to keep working with the strength and conditioning coach to maintain an injury-free tenure at Florida.
Lawrence Marsh, the starting nose tackle in 2008, suffered an injury that cost him the majority of spring practice. He had 3 sacks in 2008 which ranked third on the team behind DE Jermaine Cunningham (4 solo and 0 assisted) and sack leader of the team, Carlos Dunlap (8 solo, 3 assisted).He will be pushed in the fall by Hunter and this will motivate him to speed up his recovery to get back on the field.
Defensive Backs:
Strong Safeties:
True Freshman Dee Finley showed that he has a nose for the ball. It seemed like he was in on every tackle and pass break up. He will continue to grow as a player and will contribute on the special teams as he matures physically and mentally.
Dorian Munroe looked good in couple of pass break ups and he hits hard. But after missing 08’ with an ACL injury, he won’t surpass the instinctive Ahmad Black as the starter.
Black led the team with 7 interceptions in ’08 and this ranks him 7th nationally. He had a quiet spring of practices but made plays sparingly throughout. He will remain the starter because of his instincts at the position.
Free Safeties:
Will Hill looked good breaking up passes and intercepting four balls, from Tebow. He had the best spring out of the safeties, and this sophomore will see playing time this season as he continues to learn the position. This kid is poised for breakout success in the future.
Junior Major Wright missed some of spring with an injury but showed his playmaking ability on a couple of plays.
Cornerbacks:
Redshirt freshman Adrian Bushell looks like a smart football player, considering his youth. Good ball pursuit and catch-up speed to his target. He will be a force in a year or two.
Junior Moses Jenkins looked good in the spring. He is a good tackler and is always around the ball. He has very good size at 6’2, 184 pounds. He does not have the speed like the other corners on this squad, but he will use his size and body to aggravate smaller wide receivers.
Starting corner Joe Haden looked fast and aggressive in the spring. In 2008, he led the defense with 61 solo tackles and 87 total tackles was second on the team. He is the unquestioned leader at corner and if the spring is any indication, he will be extra aggressive in covering wide receivers this fall.
Senior Markihe Anderson looks good. He swatted passes away and picked off a couple of passes this spring. He has been injured in the last two years, dealing with knee injuries. He showed his smarts as he was always around the ball during the spring.
Sophomore Janoris Jenkins showed tough physical play this spring. And the team believes that he will be a great asset when they play a spread offense team with quick slot receivers. Jenkins has a penchant for not letting wide receivers off the line of scrimmage.
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