Projects - Why Sign a player who lacks SEC Starter Type Ability ? Do we have so much NIL $$$ we can't spend it all ?

[Jeff from Jax]

We play in the SEC.

The newly crowned National Champion is just up the road in Athens.

It took them 40 years, but they beat the best (including UF) & won it on the field.

We play them & other great teams every Saturday of every football season !

With the coming addition of Texas & Oklahoma, the SEC will get even tougher !

We make enough recruiting mistakes with bad evaluations - physical talent & character when we are going for the best.

Why are we recruiting this player ?

Name & Position Witheld

"...This could be an important recruit down the road for the Gators.
Definitely not a guy I would expect to see on the field during the 2022 season, but could crack the lineup in a few years for Billy Napier.

The Gators are currently the frontrunner." Who cares ?

Don't sign a player (project) for what he hopes is 4 years & then have to show him the door early - bad PR; hurts recruiting !

If we need depth, better to use the portal, for a semi-developed player good for a year or two who will then move on when his eligibility runs out.

Sounds cold; but this is the SEC !

There is a reason why the 1st & 2nd place teams in the SEC can both make it to the CFP.

Strongest league in CFB & getting stronger !

Saying don't recruit players (such as above) who don't have SEC starter ability is no colder than Billy robbing ULL for players & coaches who already know his system & can be plugged in quickly.

If we, as UF fans, can accept the armed robbery of ULL; we can accept using the portal for short term gain - signing depth / practice squad players & then cutting them loose.

We don't need projects !

 

[Gator Fever]

A certain number are alright if you like something about them. All depends on the roster numbers at the time.

On a related note have we got many proven players (played quite a bit) from power 5 schools as far as the portal so far? Hopefully we can find some like Greenard etc or even like the DL ones last season for depth.

 

[ih8f$u]

We play in the SEC.

The newly crowned National Champion is just up the road in Athens.

It took them 40 years, but they beat the best (including UF) & won it on the field.

We play them & other great teams every Saturday of every football season !

With the coming addition of Texas & Oklahoma, the SEC will get even tougher !

We make enough recruiting mistakes with bad evaluations - physical talent & character when we are going for the best.

Why are we recruiting this player ?

Name & Position Witheld

"...This could be an important recruit down the road for the Gators.
Definitely not a guy I would expect to see on the field during the 2022 season, but could crack the lineup in a few years for Billy Napier.

The Gators are currently the frontrunner." Who cares ?

Don't sign a player (project) for what he hopes is 4 years & then have to show him the door early - bad PR; hurts recruiting !

If we need depth, better to use the portal, for a semi-developed player good for a year or two who will then move on when his eligibility runs out.

Sounds cold; but this is the SEC !

There is a reason why the 1st & 2nd place teams in the SEC can both make it to the CFP.

Strongest league in CFB & getting stronger !

Saying don't recruit players (such as above) who don't have SEC starter ability is no colder than Billy robbing ULL for players & coaches who already know his system & can be plugged in quickly.

If we, as UF fans, can accept the armed robbery of ULL; we can accept using the portal for short term gain - signing depth / practice squad players & then cutting them loose.

We don't need projects !

I’m more familiar with basketball, and it may be a little different just because of the type of player you recruit, but a lot of guys grow into their bodies a little later. Didnt David Robinson grow 6” after he entered the naval academy? You can take some guys who are really raw or have good size or athleticism and hope they grow into it. That happens a lot with the portal. There are guys who matured physically and are better prospects than when they were in high school. I think it’s okay to roll the dice on a few of them. ULL happens to be a prime target bc he knows those guys and can get the guys with potential. You don’t want to fill your whole roster with them but for a transition class it’s probably okay, and maybe more likely to get some guys who are more ready to play than a kid out of high school. Plus I’m sure it helps to have some guys around who know Coach and how he likes to do things who can be examples for the guys on the roster now. So I get your point, and if it continued to be a significant source of our roster it would be a problem, like it was with Mullen. But for this year I can live with it.

 

[Jeff from Jax]

A certain number are alright if you like something about them. All depends on the roster numbers at the time.

On a related note have we got many proven players (played quite a bit) from power 5 schools as far as the portal so far? Hopefully we can find some like Greenard etc or even like the DL ones last season for depth.

Fever,

What is a "Proven Player ?"

Is he an SEC starter or a depth piece ?

IMO, Depth Pieces easy to find; SEC starters will be like pulling hen's teeth !

A very sharp eye will be needed. Hence Napier has hired Bird Sherril - an NFL scout.

Why are the Florida Gators losing starting Tight End Kemore Gamble, who was in line to start in 2022 as well, he has announced that he will be entering the transfer portal.

Is he worth NIL $$$ to keep him a gator ? Or, has Billy told him it's time to leave ?

Where will he transfer to ? Will he be a starter or a depth player; will he get drafted by the NFL ? Who knows ?

2 of the 3 DT transfers for this year - Daquan Newkirk (Auburn) & Antonio Valentino (Penn State) were servicable players who lost their starting jobs but because of Mullen's pitiful DL recruiting became starters here.

Do you think they will be drafted in the 1st three rounds of the up-coming NFL draft ?

They were better than the young players we had on this year's roster, but if they had showed up in Gainesville as free agents / depth players instead or being thrust in as starters, we would have been much happier.

IMO, with the advent of NIL $$$, players who are concerned about their NFL future - am I good enough to be drafted in the first 3 rounds or will I be a low draft pick or an undrafted free agent ?

There are many players in the not quite good enough category who will listen to the internal scouting reports they receive & realize the NFL is probably not a viable option for them.

I think that many of them, if they get the opportunity, will be smart enough to transfer, play a year somewhere else, get their degree, & pocket some NIL $$$.

What if the going rate to be a CFB free agent & fill a void on an SEC or some other Power 5 team becomes $30 - $50 K a year ?

It's like insurance; the big three in the SEC - A&M, Bama, & UGA (& others) would gladly pay that for needed depth players.

PLUS as a scholarship athlete, they pay all your other expenses - food, housing, & medical & they can make sure you get your degree - wink, wink !

No worse than a year in a dead end job; & you collect your NIL $$$ as a lump sum. Money in a lump sum has greater impact !

FWIW - Average salary for a quality control coach (an entry level position) is in that same range in top tier programs; less in smaller ones.

Whole lot of - not quite good enough players - are probably smart enough to try that free agent route, collect a nest-egg, & then go into coaching or their degree field.

 

[Jeff from Jax]

I’m more familiar with basketball, and it may be a little different just because of the type of player you recruit, but a lot of guys grow into their bodies a little later. Didnt David Robinson grow 6” after he entered the naval academy? You can take some guys who are really raw or have good size or athleticism and hope they grow into it. That happens a lot with the portal. There are guys who matured physically and are better prospects than when they were in high school. I think it’s okay to roll the dice on a few of them. ULL happens to be a prime target bc he knows those guys and can get the guys with potential. You don’t want to fill your whole roster with them but for a transition class it’s probably okay, and maybe more likely to get some guys who are more ready to play than a kid out of high school. Plus I’m sure it helps to have some guys around who know Coach and how he likes to do things who can be examples for the guys on the roster now. So I get your point, and if it continued to be a significant source of our roster it would be a problem, like it was with Mullen. But for this year I can live with it.

ih8f$u,

See & agree with your post.

IMO, David Robinson & others are the exceptions who prove the rule.

In a transition year, we obviously have to take what we can get.

Hoping we have our Lucky Horse Shoes firmly up our A**ss !

 

[sadgator]

No offense, but this thread is confusing…

It’s always been about getting the best player you can…Napier understands this…but of course there are times when even the best programs might take a chance on somebody they think can fill a role or be developed…

The portal has changed things, because you can gap fill quicker….

sadgator hopes Napier is half as good at Mullen in portal acquisitions:…Mullen was the portal wizard….he really was…

 

[Countygator1]

No offense, but this thread is confusing…

It’s always been about getting the best player you can…Napier understands this…but of course there are times when even the best programs might take a chance on somebody they think can fill a role or be developed…

The portal has changed things, because you can gap fill quicker….

sadgator hopes Napier is half as good at Mullen in portal acquisitions:…Mullen was the portal wizard….he really was…

Yep. Mullen hated recruiting, but was able to get us some solid players through the portal.

 

[Jeff from Jax]

No offense, but this thread is confusing…

It’s always been about getting the best player you can…Napier understands this…but of course there are times when even the best programs might take a chance on somebody they think can fill a role or be developed…

The portal has changed things, because you can gap fill quicker….

sadgator hopes Napier is half as good at Mullen in portal acquisitions:…Mullen was the portal wizard….he really was…

Sad,

I read two articles on a recruit, both of them basically describing him as a "project."

Why recruit & sign a "project" - someone with little chance of being an SEC starter ?

If, as sometimes happens, we have missed our chance on all the top players at a position, much easier to "gap fill" with a portal player for depth & concentrate on better players next recruiting cycle.

I think that players who realize they will not be selected in first three rounds of NFL draft will increasingly look to pick up NIL $$$ and become "gap fill" players.

IMO within a few years this will become an accepted practice.

It has been reported that A&M spent $25MM to $30 MM for this years' class.

If so spending $30 - $50K per player per year for 2 or 3 "gap fill" players amounts to less than 1% of their recruiting budget & would let their young 5* players develop.