- Oct 5, 2017
- 2,306
- 6,270
I've not written one of these in a while and we are in the dead period between recruiting and Spring practice so I figured I'd start a discussion. This topic popped up into my head when my wife's grandfather recently gave me a set of media guides dating from '99 to 2010 with a few omissions.
Before I get to it, I consider UF's modern era as 1990-present. I believe Spurrier's arrival changed the game for the University of Florida. Yes, we had some great years before like 1984 and 1985 and plenty of great players like Spurrier, Emmitt, Reaves, Alvarez, Wilbur, and more, but I consider that the growing period for Florida football. I know some people will find that controversial. It comes down to that SEC Championships became a measuring stick since 1990. Also, it shortens the list of potential players by a lot.
QB:
Chris Leak.
Probably the most controversial for underrated on this list. I know, he's UF's all-time leading passer and a National Championship QB. However, if I were to ask you to name the best QB's at UF since 1990 you would probably list Leak no better than 5th behind Wuerffel, Tebow, Grossman, and Matthews. That may even be fair. However, this was a guy who had 3 OC's in 4 years. The two consistent years were in an offense that did not fit his strengths (though '06 was modified to him). He was even overshadowed his senior year. Many people talk about the Tebow promise, which was epic, but Leak also made a promise for a national title at UF. The guy is one of my favorite guys we've had for what he persevered. He was frustrating at times, no question, but I think he may not get his due.
*Also, I'm not sure if Dean, Johnson, Brindise, Palmer, Berlin, Martin, Brantley, Brissett, Driskel, Murphy, Mornhinweg, Treon, Grier, Del Rio, Appleby, or Zaire (did I miss anyone who started in this time period?) would fit the bill as underrated.
RB:
Earnest Graham
Ok, this one was hard. When I think of why we didn't play for the Natty in '01 I think of 2 things, 9/11 and Darnell Dockett. Oddly enough, these two are tied to Earnest. Without 9/11 (I'm keeping this at arms length, not being glib) we play Tennessee in September. Tennessee would also be missing future NFL receivers due to injury. However, the bigger thing is we would have had Earnest Graham. As poor as our run defense was that game (and it was poor "af" as the kids would say), our offense would have been a lot more dynamic. Robert Gillespie was not on the same level. If you're not sure on why Graham was out, welcome to what helped push Spurrier out at UF, Darnell Dockett injured Graham the week before by wrenching his knee after a play. This was caught on video. If we had played LSU, who we had gone all Jameis on in Red Stick earlier that season, that week in the SEC Title game we still would have gone on to face a great Miami team. Could we have beaten them? Maybe, but we will never know because Earnest Graham was out. Instead Spurrier harpooned that Maryland whale of a coach on the way out.
FB:
Billy Latsko.
Dude did it all. How many of you had to look up who this was? My point.
WR1:
Jack Jackson.
I remember this guy being dynamic when I was a kid. Great receiving and good in the return game. We had many great receivers during his era and he was followed by the best receiving line up we ever had. Easy to be forgotten about.
WR2:
Taylor Jacobs.
Great receiver that we hardly hear about unless the discussion is UGA and screen passes. Played under Zook, which people would rather forget about.
TE:
Tate Casey.
This dude had some flashes in '04 as a freshman. The change to the spread option did hurt him. Most remember him for a single play where he fell over. He unfortunately was between Ben Troupe and Hernandez and played with CI. That's an easy way to be forgotten despite being solid, though unspectacular. Glad that he's back working at UF.
OL:
Anyone during the Muschamp era.
Seriously, how many of these guys had good years in the NFL? For F's sake, I watched Trent Brown at left tackle (pretty sure he was mostly right guard at UF) plow people throughout the NFL playoffs. Heck, where did NE run when going for the win in KC? Behind Trent who makes other linemen look small. He's not the only one who has done well, just a very recent example. Further evidence that the line wasn't as bad as we thought, the scheme was.
DE:
I honestly am not sure here. LOL. Probably not the right answer, but this is actually the last one I've looked at and there are not many I've seen. I'm sure I'll get tons.
DT:
Ed Chester.
I'm using Ed because he was such a great player whose career ended sadly at home against LSU. I still remember the length of that delay in the game.
LB:
Dustin Doe.
Ok, I'm sure we could put someone else here. This guy is eclipsed by Brandon Spikes in a way that Earl Everett was not by Brandon Siler. A big part of that 2008 defense.
CB:
Reggie Lewis.
This guy saved the Vandy game in 2005 and had a pick in the Natty after people were questioning whether he could keep up.
S:
Todd Johnson
I'm sure I could go lots of places here, but I can honestly say I rarely hear about this guy who had a decent career in the NFL. Remember when the Bears had 3 starters on defense from UF? Alex Brown, Ian Scott, and Todd Johnson. Anyways, he was solid at UF and had a great interception in the aforementioned 2001 FSU game. Safeties like Reggie Nelson, Lawrence Wright, Ahmad Black, and Donovan....I mean Matt Elam are rightly praised for their contributions in the modern era, but I think Johnson is overlooked. Just like the rest of the list, I'm not saying he is better than those more often remembered, but perhaps his contributions are underrated.
P:
I'm going to leave this blank because the punters have either been really good, a QB, or have been embarrassed by having Steve Spurrier teach Andrea Adelson to punt further than them in a single practice session.
K:
Judd Davis or Jeff Chandler.
I know, Truth, WHAT THE F***, these are currently possibly the two best kickers in UF history. Well, go on the Twitter machine and see the Gator fans who believe Eddy (I blew the LSU game like I was Collins Cooper in Knoxville '98, purposely ignoring Chandler in '99 against Bama) Pineiro is the Alpha and Omega of Florida kicking. Dude was good, but the amount of people who don't even know these names makes me very sad. With that said, I will take this time to repeat that I hope that Evan McPherson breaks Chandler's all-time scoring record by the time he's done. He's a good kid from what I've seen and I want our offense to get him on the field every drive.
Or Matt Piotrowicz. This was the baddest kicker we've ever had. Dude sought out contact on kickoffs. Multiple tackles against Maryland had me watching him for years to come.
Ok, I've written this in spurts and ran out of steam on defenders. I'm curious to hear who you guys feel is an underrated Gator. Where you think I am right and where I am wrong.
If nothing else, hopefully this brought people and memories back to your mind that bring you joy from memories of Gators football.
As always, Go Gators!
Before I get to it, I consider UF's modern era as 1990-present. I believe Spurrier's arrival changed the game for the University of Florida. Yes, we had some great years before like 1984 and 1985 and plenty of great players like Spurrier, Emmitt, Reaves, Alvarez, Wilbur, and more, but I consider that the growing period for Florida football. I know some people will find that controversial. It comes down to that SEC Championships became a measuring stick since 1990. Also, it shortens the list of potential players by a lot.
QB:
Chris Leak.
Probably the most controversial for underrated on this list. I know, he's UF's all-time leading passer and a National Championship QB. However, if I were to ask you to name the best QB's at UF since 1990 you would probably list Leak no better than 5th behind Wuerffel, Tebow, Grossman, and Matthews. That may even be fair. However, this was a guy who had 3 OC's in 4 years. The two consistent years were in an offense that did not fit his strengths (though '06 was modified to him). He was even overshadowed his senior year. Many people talk about the Tebow promise, which was epic, but Leak also made a promise for a national title at UF. The guy is one of my favorite guys we've had for what he persevered. He was frustrating at times, no question, but I think he may not get his due.
*Also, I'm not sure if Dean, Johnson, Brindise, Palmer, Berlin, Martin, Brantley, Brissett, Driskel, Murphy, Mornhinweg, Treon, Grier, Del Rio, Appleby, or Zaire (did I miss anyone who started in this time period?) would fit the bill as underrated.
RB:
Earnest Graham
Ok, this one was hard. When I think of why we didn't play for the Natty in '01 I think of 2 things, 9/11 and Darnell Dockett. Oddly enough, these two are tied to Earnest. Without 9/11 (I'm keeping this at arms length, not being glib) we play Tennessee in September. Tennessee would also be missing future NFL receivers due to injury. However, the bigger thing is we would have had Earnest Graham. As poor as our run defense was that game (and it was poor "af" as the kids would say), our offense would have been a lot more dynamic. Robert Gillespie was not on the same level. If you're not sure on why Graham was out, welcome to what helped push Spurrier out at UF, Darnell Dockett injured Graham the week before by wrenching his knee after a play. This was caught on video. If we had played LSU, who we had gone all Jameis on in Red Stick earlier that season, that week in the SEC Title game we still would have gone on to face a great Miami team. Could we have beaten them? Maybe, but we will never know because Earnest Graham was out. Instead Spurrier harpooned that Maryland whale of a coach on the way out.
FB:
Billy Latsko.
Dude did it all. How many of you had to look up who this was? My point.
WR1:
Jack Jackson.
I remember this guy being dynamic when I was a kid. Great receiving and good in the return game. We had many great receivers during his era and he was followed by the best receiving line up we ever had. Easy to be forgotten about.
WR2:
Taylor Jacobs.
Great receiver that we hardly hear about unless the discussion is UGA and screen passes. Played under Zook, which people would rather forget about.
TE:
Tate Casey.
This dude had some flashes in '04 as a freshman. The change to the spread option did hurt him. Most remember him for a single play where he fell over. He unfortunately was between Ben Troupe and Hernandez and played with CI. That's an easy way to be forgotten despite being solid, though unspectacular. Glad that he's back working at UF.
OL:
Anyone during the Muschamp era.
Seriously, how many of these guys had good years in the NFL? For F's sake, I watched Trent Brown at left tackle (pretty sure he was mostly right guard at UF) plow people throughout the NFL playoffs. Heck, where did NE run when going for the win in KC? Behind Trent who makes other linemen look small. He's not the only one who has done well, just a very recent example. Further evidence that the line wasn't as bad as we thought, the scheme was.
DE:
I honestly am not sure here. LOL. Probably not the right answer, but this is actually the last one I've looked at and there are not many I've seen. I'm sure I'll get tons.
DT:
Ed Chester.
I'm using Ed because he was such a great player whose career ended sadly at home against LSU. I still remember the length of that delay in the game.
LB:
Dustin Doe.
Ok, I'm sure we could put someone else here. This guy is eclipsed by Brandon Spikes in a way that Earl Everett was not by Brandon Siler. A big part of that 2008 defense.
CB:
Reggie Lewis.
This guy saved the Vandy game in 2005 and had a pick in the Natty after people were questioning whether he could keep up.
S:
Todd Johnson
I'm sure I could go lots of places here, but I can honestly say I rarely hear about this guy who had a decent career in the NFL. Remember when the Bears had 3 starters on defense from UF? Alex Brown, Ian Scott, and Todd Johnson. Anyways, he was solid at UF and had a great interception in the aforementioned 2001 FSU game. Safeties like Reggie Nelson, Lawrence Wright, Ahmad Black, and Donovan....I mean Matt Elam are rightly praised for their contributions in the modern era, but I think Johnson is overlooked. Just like the rest of the list, I'm not saying he is better than those more often remembered, but perhaps his contributions are underrated.
P:
I'm going to leave this blank because the punters have either been really good, a QB, or have been embarrassed by having Steve Spurrier teach Andrea Adelson to punt further than them in a single practice session.
K:
Judd Davis or Jeff Chandler.
I know, Truth, WHAT THE F***, these are currently possibly the two best kickers in UF history. Well, go on the Twitter machine and see the Gator fans who believe Eddy (I blew the LSU game like I was Collins Cooper in Knoxville '98, purposely ignoring Chandler in '99 against Bama) Pineiro is the Alpha and Omega of Florida kicking. Dude was good, but the amount of people who don't even know these names makes me very sad. With that said, I will take this time to repeat that I hope that Evan McPherson breaks Chandler's all-time scoring record by the time he's done. He's a good kid from what I've seen and I want our offense to get him on the field every drive.
Or Matt Piotrowicz. This was the baddest kicker we've ever had. Dude sought out contact on kickoffs. Multiple tackles against Maryland had me watching him for years to come.
Ok, I've written this in spurts and ran out of steam on defenders. I'm curious to hear who you guys feel is an underrated Gator. Where you think I am right and where I am wrong.
If nothing else, hopefully this brought people and memories back to your mind that bring you joy from memories of Gators football.
As always, Go Gators!
