You may remember Barrett Sallee dissing Georgia’s chances in the SEC East next season because, in part, of the coming renaissance in Gainesville: “Florida turned over a new leaf and is rebuilding the program with offensive-minded head coach Jim McElwain.”
Yeah, well, rebuilding isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
A third member from Florida’s 2012 recruiting class is leaving early for the NFL.
Left tackle D.J. Humphries will forgo his senior season and enter the draft, sources told The Sun.
Defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. and running back Matt Jones both made the same decision a few weeks ago. Two more juniors, defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard and linebacker Antonio Morrison, are also considering early exits…
His departure leaves UF with only eight returning offensive linemen for 2015 and just one upperclassman, Trip Thurman. Junior guard Tyler Moore is also entering the draft, while Nolan Kelleher (back) and Drew Sarvary (concussion) have been placed on medical hardship.
The Gators want to sign five or six offensive linemen in their next class, which means they’re going to have a green two-deep. None of which is to say they can’t be better next season. Just that making predictions of inevitable improvement in 2015 before the rest of the 2014 season has played out is generally a textbook example of premature.
Get The Picture 
Since you are an alum of UGA school of Law I thought you would be aware of the statute that requires columnists, bloggers and writers to genuflect about Florida and always predict great things for it. It is the law.
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Is DJ one their OLs who likes to block teammates?
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Niiice!
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Same crowd picked USCe to be world beaters this season.
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Sallee is a garbage writer. He’s everything you’d expect out of Bleacher Report. He’s just salty his Auburn Tigers came back down after last year’s bullshit run.
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+1
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Not totally related to this but can anyone tell me what the story is with Kieth Marshall? I can’t believe that it took an entire season to heal an ankle sprain. I think he was a little gun shy about playing. Anyone know the story?
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He was never right after his knee injury and should have never played this year at all. They realized that after he got dinged up and wisely held him out to get fully healthy without burning a year.
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Yep – here’s to hoping he’s ready for spring practice and next fall. The guy has serious talent and is an excellent student. He doesn’t have Chubb’s power, but he has better speed than Michel.
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I will take your word for it but I doubt there is a noticeable difference between the two in speed. I do think Michel is tougher to get down and gets more yards after contact. I really like Keith Marshall and hope Bobo, or the new Bobo can figure a way to maximize all the RB talent we have next year. Having some combination of two of Michel/Chubb/Marshall on the field is a delicious thought because they can all take it to the house from long distance with a minor slip of the defense. Good times, and a pleasant puzzle to put together.
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Way back when he was a true freshman, Keith was considered one of the fastest on the team, period, and faster than Gurley (though no where near as good as breaking tackles). By the end of 2012 he was the best pass-catcher of the RBs too. If he can just get back to that level, that’s a huge weapon to have.
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Did he get a medical redshirt for this year?
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Considering how their OL manhandled our D this year, it’s a good thing most of them are leaving. Richt better get them in the first couple years of the transition or we could go on another losing streak against UF. When you get smashed by a .500 team that is firing their coach, it makes you realize the bad Jacksonville mojo is far from gone. Counting our miserable bowl game last season, we are back on a losing streak in Jax.
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That’s the spirit, Greg. Lord, our fans. They don’t have a lot of good players, and players win games. We’re going to be good for a while and a tough out for anyone. We’ve won 3 of 4 against them and 4 of 8. It’s called a rivalry. It’s about even. Aaron Murray squashed the mojo forever with two 4th down TDs.
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I agree with Sallee that UGA won’t be one of the best teams in the country next year. They are losing too many reliable, experienced contributors to be better next year. They could still be in a position to win championships though. The East is not very good, which is where Sallee veers off the reservation. If UGA can manage not to piss away another golden opportunity to win a down division, they can play for the SEC championship and likely a spot in the playoff.
Next year’s team is likely to get better as the season goes along due to a lot of talent that is short on experience. They just need to avoid the early season let down vs USCe that puts them behind the 8 ball. If they can do that and win 2 out of 3 in the Alabama, at Tennessee, Missouri stretch, they will be in business. If they get to Florida at 6-1, you have to like their chances of at least finishing 10-2.
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I agree to a point. i predicted 9-3 this year, but not the way it unfolded. I actually think we’ll be a game better next year. Our O-line, RB and TE situation is great, we will have some growing pains with a new QB(more Turnovers) but we’ll be able to stretch the field in ways we couldn’t this year which i think will result in even more explosive running plays. Pass Rush will be good to great, in year two of this defense our talented LB’s and our razor thin DB’s will be better than this year. My one concern is interior D-line and stopping power running games. We will lose to Bama and drop one to AU, Mizzu, or TN. We’re gonna curb stomp UF and tech.
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The OL, RB, TE and DB set will be better next year. Losing Swann hurts, but even with the deflections we bring back 4 guys with a lot of experience (Davis, Mauger, Sanders, Parrish) plus we get a healthy Fenteng. The depth is scary, but the experience should help. The OLBs will be among the best in the nation, but the DL is a concern, especially against power running attacks.
The early schedule is nice, too. SoCar will be down and we get them at home after playing a body bag game and Vandy. 3-0 is very real. I think 10-2 is a legit possibility next year.
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Great comment about the defensive backs – Mauger dramatically improved this year. Sanders was around the ball it seemed all of the time. Parrish looks to be what we thought Nick Marshall would have become as a DB.
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I’m still laughing at Sallee and how foolish he’s made himself look. He was all aboard the Dawg train this year. He got called out for being a homer so now he’s going in the extreme opposite direction based on nothing. Butch Jones and UT never stepped up and beat one team. FU is replacing a staff and losing a lot of talent. USC doesn’t seem to be getting better. Mizzou lost defensive started and a DC. The east is a toss up next year. I really think we should be east favorites but I don’t know if we’ll win it because Georgia Way.
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UF is currently ranked 89th in the 2015 recruiting rankings. I know they’ll not finish there but thats horrid for this time of year.
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It seems like every off season Georgia is waived off by UF pundits. Its the 90’s mentality. You know, the 90s when college football started…
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Absolutely true. I am no more worried about FU than I am TN or SC, and they are all tied for 4th on my priority of conference worries. Florida fans are 2nd only to SC fans in their shortfall against expectations.
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Yea, ’cause everyone expected Florida to win the NC and SEC in 2006 and 2008.
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DJ is now disputing that report. We shall see. First year is usually tough on new coaches. As long as the offense does not look like monkeys fornicating with footballs next year, e.g a Muschamp offense, most Gator fans will be patient.
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The Only team With a dream season was Awbun. I think we all know that was divine intervention. Fu better get more than offensive minded. Next year is ours. Some divine intervention will take place. I am certain.🎈🎈
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As always, you have to take a Sallee-written piece with a huge grain of salt.
It wouldn’t shock me if he wrote the outline of that column while at an Auburn tailgate.
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Does that change his truth in Journalism?🏢
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