The Florida Gators signed their third straight top five recruiting class in 2008 and the receiver position had a lot to do with it. Of the four receivers in the signing class, one was considered the top junior college receiver in the country, another was an Under Armour All-American who catches anything thrown his way, there is a Texan that might be the biggest sleeper in the country and a south Florida kid that can flat out fly. Talk about a haul, this is it and Florida wide receiver coach Billy Gonzales was clearly happy when he talked to Gator Country about his new recruits.
The juco is Carl Moore from Sierra College in Rocklin, California. At 6-4 and 220 pounds he is imposing and he is already on campus, ready to contribute in the spring as he prepares for real action in the fall of 2008. Gonzales liked what he saw from Moore, early in his college career.
“As a freshman at junior college he came in immediately, made impact plays and did the same as a sophomore,” Gonzales said. “He is a big kid at over 220 pounds and is very athletic. We are extremely excited at his ability to be another exciting receiver. Everything I hear since he has been on campus is that he is fantastic. He learns like a sponge, wants to learn, wants to compete and has a great desire to be the best.”
Corsicana, Texas is home to one of the best receivers that few outside of Florida and Texas have heard about. The truth is Omarius Hines (6-2, 205) wanted to be a Gator from day one in the recruiting process, so no one else got a chance to really recruit him. That may have cut down on his national notoriety, but it certainly didn’t effect how the Gators looked at Hines.
“He is another receiver that is good size kid,” Gonzales said of Hines. “He is 6-2, 205 pounds or so. He has great body control and the ability to make the great catch. We watched him move exceptionally well. He is a guy that we think is going to help us in the future, help us on special teams immediately, and come in here and compete.”
If you want speed and explosiveness, then look no further that Hallandale (FL) receiver Frankie Hammond (6-1, 175). Hammond played mostly on defense as a junior in high school, but when he got a shot to touch the ball on offense, he really burst onto the scene. The staff took a while to really catch on to him, but once they saw Hammond, they were sold.
“One thing that sets Frankie apart is his ability to make someone miss,” Gonzales said. “He is a guy that we came on a little later than the other two guys because he played defensive back as a junior. We watched his ability to put his foot in the ground, make a cut, make someone miss, and get going north and south and that is what we always look at. He has great ability and is a competitor. He is a 7-10 high jumper already. He has competed at a world level in track, going to the Czech Republic this past summer. So he has competed at the highest level in track, obviously we hope that turns over to football at the competition level. We are very excited about Frankie.”
It took till the last day to get the fan fare out of the way for the most heralded of the wide receiver signees. Lakeland Kathleen’s T.J. Lawrence (6-1, 190) was an Under Armour All-American and highly thought of among schools in the south. Lawrence was a stats machine in high school and the Gators got on him early and stayed on him.
“T.J. impressed me off of his junior film,” Gonzales said. “He had great numbers as a junior. One of the greatest compliments he got was from the Lakeland High School head coach who said he was a very exceptional individual. We followed him and evaluated him through spring.
“He came to Friday Night Lights, competed, and we watched to see if he was afraid to compete. He was the one that kept jumping to the front of the line to make the next guy miss every time. Fortunately I went to watch him play in his last high school football game and saw him compete, he is a warrior. He is a guy that wants the ball, wants to hit you. He does so many things and is a multi-faceted football-player. Obviously a guy like him is going to be a major impact player in our offense because he can do so many things. He has great size. I watched him play basketball, I watched him work out, I watched him train. He has a great attitude and work ethic.”
The University of Florida should be able to bring in the best at the receiver position and this year it looks like they met their needs in quality and quantity at the receiver position. Gonzales doesn’t believe he could be much happier than he is with this group. He knows they want more than to just show up and be Gators.
“All in all I am very excited about this group of receivers coming in together,” he said. “You can be great looking, fast, and strong, but the bottom line is they have to train and work hard and have a desire to be the best. They will get better by going up and beyond the minimum. That means when they get here as freshmen, if they have a desire to win a national championship, they are going to have to train. The great thing about this group is that I know they are all good and they are competitors.”
Gonzalez on the WRs
Gonzalez on the WRs
With CI coming back that really hurt Carl Moore's chances to see the field IMO.
“The Knave abideth.” I dare speak not for thee, but this maketh me to be of good comfort; I deem it well that he be out there, the Knave, being of good ease for we sinners.