Cole Cubelic with some rational thoughts about the 2024 Gators football team

Thanks for sharing. When the media has been very hard on the Gators in the past (and rightfully so), this is excellent analysis! And, of course, Cole has no motive for hyping the Gators! He's simply paying attention!!!

 

As a follow-up to Rick's video: ‘The kid is going to be special’: Jadan Baugh predicted as SEC breakout freshman

 

RE: Cubelic's assessmet of our schedule, that's the same feeling that I've had for a while. Collectively, it lookks difficult, but indiviually, there are a lot of winnable games.. I hope that he's correct in his assessment of the players.

 

Lots of optimism in this thread.

It is definitely the time of year for it.

 

Think about who Urban had. On offense, a Heisman winning QB who contributed behind one of UF's best ever passers, with Percy Harvin for 3 years, and some guys like Aaron Hernandez, a starter at TE for the NFL champ Pats, along with other NFL WRs, like Louis Murphy and Riley Cooper. Even David Nelson got NFL time. The OL was average with guys like Drew Miller, et al but the talent everywhere else on offense was incredible.

Defense? Brandon Siler ex Charger starter, then Brandon Spikes (Pats), along with DL guys like Marcus Thomas, Jarvis Moss, Harvey, etc. Reggie Nelson ring a bell? Major Wright? Ahmed Black played in NFL as a starter for a few years (Bucs). Urban's teams were loaded.

Spurrier only had two of the greatest SEC passers ever, Danny and Rex and behind them Shane (13 years in NFL). His RBs one year were Terry Jackson, Fred Taylor and Eli Williams with guys catching passing name Ike and Reidel (see NFL years).

I could go one but to think that Steve and Urban did not have All Star talent is crazy.

 

I dont "want" Billy run out of town. I truly want him to succeed, but he has not proven to me that he is capable of succeeding. He has proven (imho) that he is able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Talent? Yes we have better talent than 2023. But does a "solid" 2024 team equate to winning 9 or 10 games? He has not proven that with some "better" talent that he can actually WIN. See Utah and it's QB last year. See the Mizzou game last year. See how he coached the fsu game. Kentucky have better talent than UF? Not really....but Billy managed to make them look so much better. Yes, Uga was going to beat us in 2023 based simply on talent....but with the game still being contested on 4th down he calls a pass by ETN (huh?). I want him to succeed but he has to prove it before I believe he can actually do it.

 

It's proving your point but I don't think the Pouncey's were average. We had a lot of talent on those Olines.

 

If we decide that we do have a top 10 roster, seems reasonable to expect to finish this season in the top 15-20. So we fans have to decide if we believe our roster is on that level. If we do, and staff has the process working, we should be able to have a decent season. If game management is similar to last season and we drop a game or two due to it, that will be a shame.

 

Let's try not to turn this otherwise positive thread into another bash Napier thread. Thanks!

 

There has been a lot of ups and down and drama during this last recruiting cycle, but if you add Grimsley and Zandamela to the 2024 recruiting class, where they belong, then it is a highly ranked class. Then add in the 11 highly productive and experienced players from the portal this year (which most will contribute to the team this year), then you simply have to take your hat off to Billy. That is a massive infusion of talent in one year!

 

College superstars get drafted, didn't say anything about their NFL career.

 

Thank you for admitting they weren't all all star players, which is what I was responding to and what is nearly impossible to achieve and unnecessary forchampionships, as you ably illustrated with those examples.

 

My original response was in agreement with your statement that the level of talent currently is better than it was the past few years. The comment about Mullen's lack of drafted players was only to further illustrate your original position. I think it was Gator Online that did a quick list of potential draft picks this coming year as a comparison vs this year, and they listed like 10-12 guys.

 

Heard an interview on the radio with Josh Pate as he came through Gainesville. He said that the team and organization doesn't act like a losing program. He said the atmosphere around the program is more like Bama, OSU and UGA. One thing in particular was that he said in visiting all the schools, that the ones that are not super competitive have messy buildings and locker rooms with jerseys and things all over. The Bamas of the world are neat and tidy and the players have an attitude to match. He said he got the same vibe from us. Encouraging, just need to see if it translates into wins.

 

SHOW ME THE W's!