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-David Hale, of ESPN, has access to STATS, INC. data on defensive backs, and he does a great job comparing ACC defensive backs. He basically shows that Jalen Ramsey belonged on the All-ACC team. I think this is one of the best pieces of the summer.
For those curious #FSU target #s: PJ (57 targets, 38.6% comp, 3 TD), Joyner (37, 43.2%, 0), Ramsey (35, 45.7%, 1), Darby (27, 33.3%, 0)
— David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) July 24, 2014-FSU is hosting two five-star recruits from Tampa.
-ESPN's ACC blog is literally going trough all the ACC Coastal Teams, with the exception of Virginia, and producing articles on why they can win the Coastal. Do you think the champion of that side will have 8, 7, 6 or 5 wins?
-Nick Saban often mentions his 2010 team as the squad with the most talent he's had at Alabama, but that they got complacent, lacked consistent focus, and lost three games. I asked Jimbo Fisher if he had mentioned that squad, or other squads that didn't reach their potential, to his team.
Fisher gave me an emphatic NO. He said that he wants to do the opposite, and focus on champions who got better when it looked like there was no more room to improve. He spoke of John Elway, Joe Montana, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, etc.
-Looks like Louisville is pretty confident in replacing Teddy Bridgewater. Obviously, Petrino's offenses are much better than anything Charlie Strong would allow, but Bridgewater was fantastic. We'll see.
-Preview of Syracuse's defensive line. Impression I got from ACC media days is that DT may experience a big drop off for the Orange.
-I am a big fan of Steve Addazio, but I also picked BC to finish sixth this year.
-A few UF fans believe that I think Florida's offense is going to be terrible, so I responded.
I lauded the hire of Kurt Roper, and even mentioned the name before any UF media outlet that I saw
I believe UF's offense will take a big step forward this year, simply because of health.
I also believe that would have happened if Pease had stayed, but as an outsider, that relationship seemed toxic, and I prefer Roper.
I am not a huge fan of Jeff Driskel, but I do think making things as simple as possible for him and running him a ton is the right way to go. Of course, that risks injury. The thing that I don't see with him is consistently throwing with anticipation. Maybe Roper will draw that out.
UF's receivers are an interesting group. Robinson is clearly talented, as is Fullwood. Do they get anything from Debose? Is Dunbar the consistent pass catcher (not necessarily the big play threat)? Is Pittman going to step up. Right now, this group doesn't scare the top defenses on UF's schedule, but UGA and USCe have very green or already thin secondaries, and those are really important games for UF.
I love the pickup of the UVA tight end. He's very good.
Kelvin Taylor is a good back. Matt Jones looked awesome at times in 2012. Does that come back?
I actually like UF's starting offensive line quite a bit. The backups, though, look pretty suspect to me.
Last year, Florida's offense was 99th, I think a return to the top 45 is doable.
Is that enough to get Muschamp to the totally safe zone of 9-3? I don't know. 9-3 means 4-3 against: @FSU, @ Alabama, LSU, v. UGA, USCe, @Tennessee, Missouri.
New: B/R with a nice interview of QB recruit De'Andre Johnson.
So, what projects are you getting done around the house before football season? August is am important month to build up some brownie points for the rest of the Fall.