Florida's All-Time Defensive Team

[soflagator]

Thanks for the love sofla. And yo'ure right about Ellis Johnson. An argument could easily be made for him, but I think upon further review I'd stick with Chester.
In the secondary I tend to go by who made more game changing plays. Lito had the big pick back in the 98 ( I think) cocktail party that turned the tide, and a number
of great punt returns. Haden had one in the same game ten years later that helped fuel a rout. I'm pretty sure Weary has the most career picks in school history. As great
as VH3 is I can't really recall a real game changing play with the exception of his endzone pick against UT this year.

Didn't Weary have two pick-6's on one the '97 or '98 opener? He was ridiculous no doubt.

In VH3's defense, if he were on one of those mid-90s or mid-2000's teams, he'd have better numbers. Teams knew they should't throw in the direction of Haden, Nelson, etc, but they had to in order to have any chance at coming back. The way our offense has been the past few years, teams didn't have to take any risks, and that limited his opportunities a lot. I still agree though that he isn't on the FW level.

 

[Deathroll]

Youngblood played in a Super Bowl on a broken leg. Easley played with a chucky doll. Mentioning the two in the same breath is an outright insult to Youngblood.

Can I get an "Amen???

 

[t-gator]

Culpepper's career at UF has been underrated by many fans. He is one of the top/if not the top DT to play at UF.

I liked big money just because his name is big money.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

[QUOTE='78;n181898]Reading about Fowler's exploits at the combine, it got me to thinking. We've had some tremendous defensive talent over the years, maybe even more than on offense. We did this a year or two ago. What would result if we did a reset on the all-time Florida defensive unit? What the hell, it's offseason. Here's my attempt.
DE (tied) Dante Fowler/Dominique Easley
DT Sharrif Floyd
DT Gerard Warren
DE Jack Youngblood (I doubt he could hang with Fowler or Easley, but he was a beast in his day)
OLB Wilber Marshall
MLB Scot Brantley (tough choice over Spikes)
OLB Jevon Kearse (this will probably be a controversial pick)
CB Janoris Jenkins
SS Matt Elam
FS Reggie Nelson
CB Joe Haden
Feel free to pick it apart. That's the fun in coming up with lists. No one agrees. :-) [/QUOTE]

You have already identified the challenge with this list. If we are listing the all time list then you can't say things like "I doubt Youngblood could hang with Fowler/Easley." Youngblood was great in his era and that is all we have. If you are taking into account the improvement in athleticism with today's players then the all time greats all played in the last 6-8 years.
In my mind, the all time greats are just that, the all time greats regardless of the era. With that said, you need to add:
DB - Steve Tannen
LB - Ralph Ortega, Glenn Cameron, David Little, et al

 

[NavetG8r]

Some great memories looking at these lists.

 

[Gatorbait25]

Didn't Weary have two pick-6's on one the '97 or '98 opener? He was ridiculous no doubt.

In VH3's defense, if he were on one of those mid-90s or mid-2000's teams, he'd have better numbers. Teams knew they should't throw in the direction of Haden, Nelson, etc, but they had to in order to have any chance at coming back. The way our offense has been the past few years, teams didn't have to take any risks, and that limited his opportunities a lot. I still agree though that he isn't on the FW level.

Good points no doubt (same to leroy). VH3 will have all of next season to perform at a high level as well. I was just using memorable big plays as a tiebreaker among the
talented players we've had here in the secondary.

 

[Swampy]

Glad to see Ed Chester getting a lot of love in this thread. Guy was an unblockable beast and an even better guy.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

There are alot of close calls but there are only 3 names that can be at safety: RFN, Louis Oliver and Jarvis Williams. All others are clearly below them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF2N3He4Vb4
Yup...

 

[DevoGator]

David Little, Trace Armstrong, David Galloway and other forgotten stars

 

[Double Gator Dad]

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!
UF fielded a football team before 1990.
We didn't win any championships but we had many great players, although not according to you guys.
Did you know that 4 of the 6 members of the ring of honor played before 1990?
I didn't realize that everyone on this board is under the age of forty but apparently that is the case. That or we have some severe memory loss issues.

 

[TheDouglas78]

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!
UF fielded a football team before 1990.
We didn't win any championships but we had many great players, although not according to you guys.
Did you know that 4 of the 6 members of the ring of honor played before 1990?
I didn't realize that everyone on this board is under the age of forty but apparently that is the case. That or we have some severe memory loss issues.

News Flash, some have been named before 1990 teams, and those teams especially in the 80's have been referenced.......... Read the thread before posting something like this and looking like a douche canoe.

 

[EuroGator]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF2N3He4Vb4
Yup...

I will see your hit...

...and raise you a properly inserted link.


[video=youtube;fOZnLEGJaiU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZnLEGJaiU[/video]

 

[Concrete Helmet]

I will see your hit...

...and raise you a properly inserted link.


[video=youtube;fOZnLEGJaiU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZnLEGJaiU[/video]

.....Since you know how to do it can you put up the 'Monte Grow and Darin Studstill" hit ?

 

[Swamp Donkey]

[QUOTE='78;n181898]
OLB Jevon Kearse (this will probably be a controversial pick)[/QUOTE]
Of course it's controversial. He was the third best LB on the 98 team.

People "remember" him as great bc of his pro career. Now, perhaps he was playing out of position at UF, but he wasn't much of a LB. A one trick pony who was bad vs the run and when dropping back into coverage which he fortunately did very rarely.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Great player, but shouldn't be anywhere near this list.

I disagree. Dunlap got most of the press but for my money JC was a more consistent player and he usually got stronger as the game wore on. If he hadn't played here at the time when we had an all world team he would be remembered as a great player.....

 

[Detroitgator]

.....Since you know how to do it can you put up the 'Monte Grow and Darin Studstill" hit ?

Didn't Monty hit him twice in a row with the second one making the funniest chin strap over face/helmet sideways but "I'm still good coach!" pic ever? Nope, here's a quick find... nice pic 6 by Lawrence Wright after the second Monty hit.
[video=youtube;prbk6t74rSo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prbk6t74rSo[/video]

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Glad to see Ed Chester getting a lot of love in this thread. Guy was an unblockable beast and an even better guy.

So...... are you the real Swampy?

Something tells me yes.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Just looking at the stats Brad Culpepper seems to have most of the other DTs beat out in his best years.

He was a stud, no doubt. He wasn't the biggest guy, though. I remember seeing him on campus after he was with the Bucs. Didn't even look like a DT then.

 

[EuroGator]

Didn't Monty hit him twice in a row with the second one making the funniest chin strap over face/helmet sideways but "I'm still good coach!" pic ever? Nope, here's a quick find... nice pic 6 by Lawrence Wright after the second Monty hit.
[video=youtube;prbk6t74rSo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prbk6t74rSo[/video]

...beat me to it.


:wobble:

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Also Lawrence Wright for pre and post game motivation.

Still one of my favorite Gators.

He was Gator swag personified.