Truth Takes: Underrated Players in UF's Modern Era

[78]

Ahmad Black.

 

[Okeechobee Joe]

Most underrated was Tim Tebow as a passer.

"just a simple little five step slant play that was perfectly thrown. This was like handing off the baton to a sprinter." Gary Danielson

Would Riley Cooper be considered under-rated or did everybody recognize he was a stud?

 

[SeabeeGator]

Most underrated was Tim Tebow as a passer.

"just a simple little five step slant play that was perfectly thrown. This was like handing off the baton to a sprinter." Gary Danielson

Would Riley Cooper be considered under-rated or did everybody recognize he was a stud?

Been a long time since we saw something like that with any consistency.

 

[Bait'n Gator]

Jon Xynidis was always a personal favorite of mine for those hits on Peter Warrick. While fckhead was looking up waiting to receive a punt, Xynidis blasted his ass in the chin about 2 seconds before the ball arrived. I wanna think he pulled it off twice in the same game. It was a long time ago maybe some of you remember more accurately?

 

[78]

David Nelson was a sure-handed receiver on those great Meyer teams. Dallas Baker, too.

 

[NavetG8r]

Did anybody mention Andre Debose yet?

 

[Defend the Swamp]

 

[CGgater]

QB: Terry Dean

I don't know if there is another way around this. Leak had his crystal trophy moment and all the magazine covers after the '06 ship, Jesse Palmer never really had a defining moment as Gator QB (except for the Gaffney/UT win).

But Dean put up some huge numbers that I believe we took for granted at the time, believing that it was more Spurrier than Dean. Dean is largely ignored like Betamax to Danny's VHS greatness. There were some hard feelings, and we certainly didn't like anybody showing any sort of bad vibes toward Spurrier, who was busy eradicating all the heartache from our past and changing our identity, so Dean was cast off forever.

RB: Ciatrick Fason

Elijah Williams is a close second here (13th all time, 6.4 ypc), but Fason spent his freshman season watching during Graham's last season, 2003 playing behind Wynn for the most part (although he caught the pass from Leak to beat Saban and LSU - which was sweet), and then exploded for a top ten all season in 2004 during his junior year. 5.7 ypg on that team, 6.0 overall.

I said recently that there was stunning lack of video available on Fason, likely because the team stunk that season, but I loved the way he ran, almost LeSean McCoy like in his herky-jerky style, but his 2004 season deserves remembrance and he could have been even more widely used in 2003 over Wynn and Ran Carthon.

WR: WiLLLLLLLie Jackson

Tough here because Spurrier's teams always had well recognized WRs, but maybe some don't realize that Jackson was 6th in TDs, 9th in yards and 3rd in receptions all time for the Gators. I never think of WiLLLLLLLie Jackson when I think of the top players from that early SOS era, but I should.

TE: Kirk Kirkpatrick

Those who were there in 1990 remember how clutch Kirkpatrick was for Shane that first season. It was Kirk's last year, much like Ernie Mills, but it was a glorious season, catching 55 passes, which LED the SEC that year - amazing!

Defense: Tim Paulk, Ed Robinson, Ben Hanks, Bam Hardmon

I loved Paulk that year, and Ed Robinson was a tackling beast, being the only "modern" Gator in the top ten in tackles for our school. Paulk exemplified the Booyah identity for that defense - I believe he was dumb enough to try and punch through glass with wire embedded in it and shredded his hand. Alas.

Hanks is here because he was the heart of the '95 Gators defense, including the fantastic interception of the pitch on 4th and short on our own 3 and ran it all the way for the score, making the Georgia Dome rock with Gator dominance.

Hardmon I forgot completely about in the disappointment of Spurrier leaving -- but he had a top ten all time tackling season in 2002 with 168.

Kicking: Caleb Sturgis

Listed here just be able to say "The Sturrrrrrrrrrrge" one more time here in my office.

The name “wiLLLLLLLie” is reserved for the loser coach in tallacrappy. Williie Jackson Jr is a Gator and a winner, just like his little brother Terry and their dad, Williie Sr. Don’t ever insult that family again. Ever. Or I will find you, and it will be messy.

Edit: I see now, it happened in my post too... I forgot Ox set up the filters to change the spelling for the doofus in tally. Unfortunately, that causes a rare problem when discussing some of our Gator Greats from the past. I added an “i” to avoid the filter.

 

[SeabeeGator]

The name “wiLLLLLLLie” is reserved for the loser coach in tallacrappy. WiLLLLLLLie Jackson Jr is a Gator and a winner, just like his little brother Terry and their dad, WiLLLLLLLie Sr. Don’t ever insult that family again. Ever. Or I will find you, and it will be messy.

A master chief threatening to do work, possibly after hours? Huh, I’ve now seen everything.

 

[jaywalker72]

The name “wiLLLLLLLie” is reserved for the loser coach in tallacrappy. WiLLLLLLLie Jackson Jr is a Gator and a winner, just like his little brother Terry and their dad, WiLLLLLLLie Sr. Don’t ever insult that family again. Ever. Or I will find you, and it will be messy.

It's hard coded. But, to be respectful, I am changing it to W(illie) Jackson

 

[CGgater]

It's hard coded. But, to be respectful, I am changing it to W(illie) Jackson

Yeah, I edited my post. Just figured out what was happening.

 

[CGgater]

A master chief threatening to do work, possibly after hours? Huh, I’ve now seen everything.

Loyalty isn’t confined to a particular time of day.

And I forgot about the filter...

 

[gatorplank]

In the secondary I think Janoris Jenkins is underrated. He was the best freshman corner we’ve ever had (since I’ve been watching at least), and a lot of Gator fans don’t know that since he was kicked off the team by Muschamp. He was better than Wilson, Henderson, Hargreaves, Tabor, Dean, or anyone else who has ever played as a freshman.

 

[PastyStoole]

Johnny Nichols is this most underrated QB we've ever had. I never could figure out why Hall gave this guy a scholarship. It turned out he ended up being the second most important guy in that recruiting class.

 

[Fishon]

There were guys like Tim Beauchamp and Willie Cohens along the d-line and Johnny Rutledge at LB when I first started at UF. Teako Brown was a guy at safety that was a great player for the Gators.

As far as the OP, I like the list. Completely agree on Todd Johnson. When we were getting smoked up front by fail state in 2000, he was forced to do a lot of cleanup in the back and had like 15 tackles.

Bobby McCray is a DE who I think was certainly overshadowed by the big players before (Alex Brown) and after (Moss, Harvey, etc)

 

[MidwestChomp]

Earl Everett. His play in the 06 championship game will go down as one of the greatest plays in championship game history.

Phil Trautwein was darn good too. OL don't typically get a lot of talk, but he anchored that line.

 

[MidwestChomp]

In the secondary I think Janoris Jenkins is underrated. He was the best freshman corner we’ve ever had (since I’ve been watching at least), and a lot of Gator fans don’t know that since he was kicked off the team by Muschamp. He was better than Wilson, Henderson, Hargreaves, Tabor, Dean, or anyone else who has ever played as a freshman.

He shut down a lot of good receivers. Julio Jones, Jeffries, AJ Green had difficult days against him.

 

[78]

Johnny Nichols is this most underrated QB we've ever had. I never could figure out why Hall gave this guy a scholarship. It turned out he ended up being the second most important guy in that recruiting class.

I had zero recollection of the kid. Your post inspired me to check. He and Emmitt were super-close.

 

[YLGator]

I always liked Sherit. He was a player. Tough to read his story. Will always be a great Gator to me.

 

[YLGator]

He shut down a lot of good receivers. Julio Jones, Jeffries, AJ Green had difficult days against him.

He also shut down a promising career as a Gator great. Shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath with the rest of the guys listed in this thread.