Recruiting Some Q&A from GC site

[BMF]

Some Q&A from gatorcountry recruiting guy:

https://www.gatorcountry.com/feature/florida-gators-football-mailbag-2/

Q: Does Putu grab a starting spot? If so, where and over who?

A: It won’t be at cornerback, but Florida really needs to find a reliable option at safety next to Marcus Maye. Marcell Harris and Nick Washington didn’t do enough to lock down the job there, so if Putu is going to start it would be at safety.

(I'm looking forward to seeing this guy play. He's a big CB, so he could make the move to Safety easily)

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Q: When do you expect Callaway to rejoin the team? Do you have any kind of ballpark date?

A: The last I checked on the situation it was still being handled internally within the university but people around the program seemed optimistic that Antonio Callaway would be able to return to the team sometime in the Summer.

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Q: Are there any walk ons that may scholarships this year? I expect the two veteran QBs will each get one.

A: Florida recently extended a scholarship offer to long snapper Ryan Farr, who’s a sophomore from Henderson, Nevada. At this time I don’t know if Florida will extend any more scholarships, they have some to play with. As always, scholarships are yearly contracts that need to be renewed, so Florida could offer someone like Austin Appleby a scholarship, or even a younger player with the knowledge that the scholarship would only be for a year.

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More at the link.

 

[BMF]

Anyone have high expectations for Putu? I like him possibly playing Safety w/ his size.

 

[GatorJB]

Him being able to start at safety is best case scenario. Just having him for depth is huge whether he starts or not. He'll definitely play. The big question is can he adjust to playing against tiny schools to SEC teams? That didn't work out so well with Halter, but at least Putu is a better athlete. If Putu can adjust to the competition, then he'll play a lot. If not, then hopefully he'll be ready to go next year because we'll definitely need him then after losing Tabor, Maye, and possibly even Wilson.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

The big question is can he adjust to playing against tiny schools to SEC teams? That didn't work out so well with Halter, but at least Putu is a better athlete.

I think Putu has only played one year as a DB also. Much like Mark Thompson, he may have a lot to learn about the position.

 

[BMF]

I think Putu has only played one year as a DB also. Much like Mark Thompson, he may have a lot to learn about the position.

He played 2 years in JUCO....and was a JUCO All-American. Obviously the jump to D1/SEC football is going to have a learning curve. The first 3 games should be good for breaking into D1 football (against weaker opponents). He had 10 INTs last year and is 6'2 195lbs. 10 int's in one season is pretty amazing at any level. He could transition to Safety or stay at CB. When's the last time we had a football player from Rhode Island? My only concern is he didn't have a very impressive offer list (UF, Texas A&M, and Arkansas....then Toledo, Tennessee State, and UAB). You'd figure a guy playing in N. Dakota would have been offered by a lot of the schools nearby (Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, etc). He could very well be a bust, but looks like he's a player.

There's some video of him in this link:

http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2016/2...-2016-florida-nabs-juco-cb-joseph-putu-former

Putu, originally from Providence, Rhode Island, is a junior college recruit who has spent the last two years at the North Dakota State College of Science after his poor academics made him unrecruitable out of high school — "My parents and I talked and we figured, 'It's North Dakota: It's football and school and that's it,'" Putu told Scout in January.