Expectations are that the Florida Gators will field themost explosive offense in the nation in 2008. With a big, mobileoffensive line to clear a path for a Heisman Trophy quarterback andsome skill players with as much speed and elusiveness that you canfind, the Gators look like a team that is loaded and ready to slice anddice any defense in the nation. At Monday’s first practice, it was hardto determine how far the Gators have come since last year since theyweren’t in pads but the speed was astounding.
Here are observations about Monday afternoon’s practice:
QUARTERBACKS: The obvious place to start is reigning HeismanTrophy winner Tim Tebow. He looked very good from what I saw today. Hethrew the underneath routes better than any quarterback and showed hisusual outstanding touch on the long ball, hooking up with Louis Murphymultiple times. The slant routes were the best ones Tebow threw. Ican’t recall a single bad throw on a slant.
The first day of the John Brantley-Cameron Newton battle for the backupposition was pretty much a draw since neither quarterback had anextraordinary day. Both of them showed off their strong arms butneither one of them had what you could call a breathtaking moment.Newton struggled putting touch on his passes. He has incredible armstrength, but sometimes that becomes his worst enemy as he loses touchwith his accuracy. Brantley threw the only interception I saw all dayafter Brandon Spikes tipped a pass into the air that AJ Jones came downwith. Sometimes it looks like Brantley is thinking too much but when herelaxes and simply cuts loose, you’d be hard pressed to find a betterpure passer.
RUNNING BACKS: The pads aren’t on yet so it’s difficult to judgethe running game. One thing that was encouraging was Kestahn Moore. Heseems to have improved from last year, something he’s done every yearhe’s been here. Even with the Gators running out of the shotgun I wasamazed at how quickly Moore was hitting the holes. He shot through theline and the added quickness that teammates have been talking about wasclearly evident. His arms are noticeably bigger, and he looks to bemuch stronger than last season.
Chris Rainey looks like the same Chris Rainey we saw during thespring, with maybe a few added pounds. You never have to worry abouthim hitting the hole hard, and he was also a reliable option for thequarterbacks to dump off to sometimes.
Emmanuel Moody took a majority of the snaps after Moore left practiceearly. It was a very impressive showing. He’s gotten bigger since thespring but he hasn’t lost any quickness or agility. It’s almost clichéat this point to claim him as the big time back the offense has beenlacking, but when his game is at the level it needs to be, he has allthe tools to live up to the hype.
Mon Williams participated in all the drills and did well. He has hadtrouble in the past catching the ball out of the backfield, but I can’tremember him dropping a pass Monday.
FULLBACKS: I almost skipped this position because there was solittle usage of them for the most part. Steve Wilks worked a good bitwith Coach Hevesy on blocking drills at the beginning of practice. Itook notice of freshman T.J. Pridemore showing up at the afternoonpractice in shorts and a T-shirt just to learn more about the positionfrom Hevesy.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Percy Harvin didn’t participate much. He got ina few reps but most of his time was spent lightly jogging and talkingwith trainers. I don’t think there is much to worry about. He’s goingto be just fine. The leader is Louis Murphy. I can’t watch him withoutthinking that he will be a productive NFL receiver. He gets easyseparation from defensive backs on the longer routes, and caught twotouchdowns from Tebow with very little visible effort. He is smooth ineverything he does. Some have labeled him as the possession receiver inthis group, but he’s got multiple tools besides just catching thefootball. Deonte Thompson made an impressive catch today on an outpattern where got his feet down inbounds after making a leaping grab.Riley Cooper seemed to be moving slowly at the beginning of practice,but he was going full speed by the end. He was Tebow’s favorite targeton the slants. Carl Moore continues to catch everything in sight.Brandon James spent almost the entire day working with the widereceivers. It looks like their plan is to use him consistently in theslot position this year. Justin Williams is a receiver I think wouldget more touches if there were more balls to go around. He’s gotelusive speed for his height and above average hands.
TIGHT ENDS: These three spent most of their day with the widereceivers in passing drills. Cornelius Ingram used his huge hands toswallow a few footballs for some nice gains. He stays low after thecatch and is able to have good balance after that. Aaron Hernandezstill boggles my mind with his quickness combined with his size. He diddrop a pass today in the flats as he heard footsteps from WondyPierre-Louis. Tate Casey spent more time working with Coach Hevesy onblocking than the other two
