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The GOOD NEWS for UF Football AFTER Fall Camp Wrapped Up... · A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators

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  Speaker 2: Hey, Gator fans.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to A Peak Inside Gator Football. Allie Peek here.
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  Speaker 1: totally easy. Definitely helps support the channel. All right, so
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  Speaker 1: fall camp is in the books. Florida has gone through
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  Speaker 1: two scrimmages. We now have a quarterback. We have a
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  Speaker 1: pretty good idea of what our starting offensive line is.
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  Speaker 2: Going to look like.
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  Speaker 1: And now the focus starts shifting away from competing against
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  Speaker 1: each other and towards getting ready for FAU.
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  Speaker 2: So I thought this would be a really good.
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  Speaker 1: Time to look back at camp and talk about the
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  Speaker 1: guys who really won the last few weeks.
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  Speaker 2: And I want to explain what I mean by that.
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  Speaker 1: This is not necessarily a list of the five best
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  Speaker 1: players on Florida's football team. You're not going to find
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  Speaker 1: Jaden Ball on this list or VB3 or Miles Graham.
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  Speaker 1: We already knew that those guys were going to be
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  Speaker 1: major pieces of this team. This list is about the
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  Speaker 1: players whose stock changed the most. Guys who entered August
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  Speaker 1: with maybe a question mark next to their name and
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  Speaker 1: are leaving August with a much bigger role. Guys who
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  Speaker 1: forced the coaching staff to notice them. Guys that either
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  Speaker 1: won a job, solidified a job, or became somebody Florida
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  Speaker 1: now has to find a way to get onto the
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  Speaker 1: football field. And there are five guys in particular who
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  Speaker 1: really stand out to me. Number five, let's start on
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  Speaker 1: defense with Ty Jackson. I don't think enough Florida fans
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  Speaker 1: are talking about him, and I understand why. Look at
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  Speaker 1: Florida's linebacker room. Miles Graham is one of the best-known
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  Speaker 1: players on defense. You've got Jaden Robinson. You've got Aaron Childs.
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  Speaker 1: there are veteran guys ahead of Jackson who already have experience.
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  Speaker 1: So coming into camp, I don't know how many people
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  Speaker 1: were talking about Ty Jackson being a significant part of
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  Speaker 1: this defense, but I think that has changed. Jackson was
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  Speaker 1: a really highly regarded recruit coming out of high school.
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  Speaker 1: ESPN had him as the number one inside linebacker in
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  Speaker 1: the 2025 class and the number 54 overall player in
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  Speaker 1: the country.
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  Speaker 2: But as a freshman last year, he didn't really have
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  Speaker 2: a major role.
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  Speaker 1: Now the John Summerall comes in, sees him during winter workouts,
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  Speaker 1: and basically has the reaction, who is this guy? Summerall
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  Speaker 1: compared that.
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  Speaker 2: Feeling to when he was at Kentucky and he.
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  Speaker 1: First saw Jamin Davis, who eventually became a first-round NFL
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  Speaker 1: draft pick.
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  Speaker 2: Now, listen, I am obviously.
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  Speaker 1: Not saying that Coach Summerall is saying Ty Jackson is
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  Speaker 1: automatically Jamin Davis, but that is quite the comparison.
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  Speaker 2: And Jackson backed up some of that praise in the
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  Speaker 2: first scrimmage.
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  Speaker 1: He forced a fumble inside the five-yard line that Florida's
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  Speaker 1: defense recovered in the end zone. And Summerall had talked
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  Speaker 1: about how much better Jackson has gotten with his eyes,
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  Speaker 1: his awareness, and truly his understanding of the defense. The
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  Speaker 1: physical ability was apparently never really the concern. It was
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  Speaker 1: kind of everything else. And that seems to be coming along.
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  Speaker 1: Even Brendan Bett had a pretty good description of them.
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  Speaker 1: He basically said Jackson is quiet, but when he comes downhill,
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  Speaker 1: you know it's him. And that's what you want from
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  Speaker 1: an inside linebacker. And here's why I have Jackson on
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  Speaker 1: this list. I don't think he entered camp as a
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  Speaker 1: guy Florida was necessarily counting on to play a bunch.
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  Speaker 1: But now I think he has forced himself into the conversation.
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  Speaker 1: So maybe he isn't technically a starter. Maybe he isn't
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  Speaker 1: playing 60 snaps a game. But Florida is going to
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  Speaker 1: rotate linebackers. And I think Ty Jackson has done enough
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  Speaker 1: that Brad White is going to have to find snaps
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  Speaker 1: for him. That's winning camp. Number four is Cormani McLean.
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  Speaker 1: And this one is interesting because we have been talking
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  Speaker 1: about Cormani's talent forever. This isn't some unknown player suddenly
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  Speaker 1: appearing out of nowhere. Everybody knows what Cormani McLean.
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  Speaker 2: Was supposed to be.
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  Speaker 1: He was one of the most highly recruited cornerbacks in
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  Speaker 1: the country coming out of Lakeland.
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  Speaker 2: Went to Colorado.
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  Speaker 1: Transferred to Florida. And last season, he started six games
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  Speaker 1: for the Gators. So the talent has never really been
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  Speaker 1: the question. The question has always been consistency. Can Cormani
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  Speaker 1: become the player everybody thought he could be? And I
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  Speaker 1: think this fall has probably been the most encouraging stretch
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  Speaker 1: we've seen from him at Florida. He had that interception
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  Speaker 1: of Aaron Filo in the first scrimmage, and it wasn't
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  Speaker 1: some quarterback throwing directly to a defender. Semrel described it
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  Speaker 1: as McLean making a play in a tight coverage space.
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  Speaker 2: And coming out of that.
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  Speaker 1: First scrimmage, you started hearing more and more about Kormany
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  Speaker 1: separating himself from the pack. Then after the second scrimmage,
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  Speaker 1: the conversation got even louder. Gator's breakdown described him as
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  Speaker 1: a guy who was quietly making a case to be
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  Speaker 1: Florida's quarterback one and potentially one of the most impressive
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  Speaker 1: players on the roster right now. I think that's significant.
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  Speaker 1: Florida has options at corner. Ben Hanks has flashed. Dijon
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  Speaker 1: Johnson's coming back. Javari Flowers has played. There is competition
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  Speaker 1: in that room. Cormani didn't walk into August with a
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  Speaker 1: starting job permanently written in Sharpie. But now it certainly
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  Speaker 1: feels like he's pretty darn close to that. And if
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  Speaker 1: Cormani McLean finally turns all that natural ability into consistent football,
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  Speaker 1: I think Florida's secondary gets a whole lot more interesting.
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  Speaker 2: He's 6'2. He's long. He's athletic. He can run.
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  Speaker 1: He can make plays on the football. Those guys are
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  Speaker 1: really hard to find. We've always known the ceiling. Summerall
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  Speaker 1: talked about it in his press conference this week where
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  Speaker 1: he said, you know, when Kermani McClain is at his best,
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  Speaker 1: he's really, really, really good. And it feels like for
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  Speaker 1: the first time we're starting to get a more consistent
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  Speaker 1: glimpse of that. And that's a huge development for Florida's defense.
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  Speaker 1: Number three is Hezzy Kent. And if you watched my
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  Speaker 1: video throughout the summer, you know I have liked this kid.
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  Speaker 1: He may be the strangest, and I mean that in
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  Speaker 1: like the best possible way, offensive weapon on Florida's roster.
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  Speaker 2: He's 6'6. He's 288 pounds.
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  Speaker 1: And apparently he might have some of the best ball
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  Speaker 1: skills on the entire football team. He arrived at Florida
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  Speaker 1: at more than 310 pounds. Summerall challenged him to lose
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  Speaker 1: weight if he wanted to remain a tight end.
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  Speaker 2: And he did it.
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  Speaker 1: He completely changed his body. But here's what changed his
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  Speaker 1: stock during camp. He started making plays. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: one thing to sit here in July and say, wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: it be interesting if Florida used their giant tight end?
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  Speaker 1: It's another when the head coach keeps talking about him.
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  Speaker 1: And then it's another when he starts lining up.
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  Speaker 2: In the slot.
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  Speaker 1: And it's another thing entirely when he catches a touchdown
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  Speaker 1: off play action in the second scrimmage. I think that's
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  Speaker 1: when it stopped being kind of theoretical. Now, I don't
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  Speaker 1: think Hesi Kent suddenly won the starting tight end job.
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  Speaker 1: Luke Harpering has experience in this offense. Lakata Dupree is
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  Speaker 1: an older player. Amir Jackson is still here. Kent is
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  Speaker 1: a freshman. But I don't think Buster Faulkner can ignore
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  Speaker 1: what he has. A 288-pound tight end who can legitimately
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  Speaker 1: catch the football is weird. And weird is good on offense.
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  Speaker 1: Weird creates problems. Defenses have to figure out what personnel
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  Speaker 1: to match him. If you treat him like an offensive lineman,
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  Speaker 1: he can go catch a pass. If you put a
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  Speaker 1: DB on him, Florida can potentially run right at you.
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  Speaker 1: And he's basically a personnel package by himself. At the
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  Speaker 1: beginning of camp, I was curious about whether Hesi Kent
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  Speaker 1: would have a role. But at the end of camp,
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  Speaker 1: I'm asking, how creative is Buster Faulkner willing to get
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  Speaker 1: with him? And I think that's a pretty major change.
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  Speaker 2: My number two player is Bryce Lovett.
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  Speaker 1: And I think you could make a very strong argument
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  Speaker 1: that he could be number one.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure anybody on.
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  Speaker 1: Florida's roster has changed his outlook more dramatically than Lovett has.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go back a few months. Florida needed offensive tackles.
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  Speaker 1: They went into the portal. They brought in Egan Boyer.
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  Speaker 1: They brought in Emeka Ngori. Caden Jones was returning after
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  Speaker 1: starting games last season.
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  Speaker 2: And Bryce Lovett?
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  Speaker 1: I think a lot of us thought he might end
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  Speaker 1: up playing guard. Maybe a swing offensive lineman. Provide some depth.
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  Speaker 1: Now he's probably Florida's starting left tackle. That is a
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  Speaker 1: massive jump. And this isn't just because everybody else was bad.
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  Speaker 1: According to Summerall, Lovett has legitimately elevated his game. Florida
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  Speaker 1: changed his body dramatically during the offseason. He lost 43
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  Speaker 1: pounds of fat and added 22 pounds of lean mass.
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  Speaker 1: That's a crazy transformation. And Summerall said the staff challenged him,
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  Speaker 1: and Lovett responded. Then you get to the second scrimmage.
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  Speaker 1: The offensive line had probably its best night of the
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  Speaker 1: entire offseason. Summerall said the offense dominated the scrimmage, particularly
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  Speaker 1: in the run game. And when he talked about the
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  Speaker 1: opening drive, Lovett was one of the players that really
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  Speaker 1: stood out to him. Now Florida heads into the season
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  Speaker 1: opener with the likely starting five of Bryce Lovett at
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  Speaker 1: left tackle, Najee Harris at left guard, Harrison Moore at center,
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  Speaker 1: TJ Shanahan at right guard, and Emeka Ogori at right tackle.
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  Speaker 1: That's not where I would have projected Lovett three months ago.
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  Speaker 1: And left tackle is not some minor position. You are
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  Speaker 1: protecting Aaron Filo's blind side. You are playing SEC edge rushers.
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  Speaker 1: If Lovett really has turned himself into the answer there,
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  Speaker 1: that could be one of the biggest developments of Florida's
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  Speaker 1: entire offense. Now, I still need to see it. Practice
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  Speaker 1: is practice.
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  Speaker 2: Scrimmages are scrimmages.
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  Speaker 1: We need to see what Bryce Lovett looks like when
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  Speaker 1: an SEC pass rusher is lined up across from him.
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  Speaker 1: But purely from the standpoint of winning fall camp, Bryce
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  Speaker 1: Lovett absolutely did. And number one has to go to
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  Speaker 1: Aaron Filo because ultimately the biggest job available on Florida's
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  Speaker 1: football team was quarterback.
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  Speaker 2: And now he has run it.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I know there is going to be somebody in
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  Speaker 1: the comments saying, well, of course Philo won. He came
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  Speaker 1: from Georgia Tech with Buster Faulkner. I understand that, but
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  Speaker 1: I also don't actually think that's what happened. Tramell Jones
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  Speaker 1: made this a real competition. Summerall repeatedly said it was close.
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  Speaker 1: Coming out of that first scrimmage, he refused to say
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  Speaker 1: one guy was significantly ahead of the other. And Jones
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  Speaker 1: improved a ton from the spring. But ultimately, Philo separated
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  Speaker 1: himself in one really important area.
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  Speaker 2: He could run the whole offense.
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  Speaker 1: Sarmel said Monday that Florida is able to operate the
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  Speaker 1: full offense at a higher level right now with Philo,
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  Speaker 1: that it really wasn't about arm talent. It really wasn't
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  Speaker 1: about athleticism. Sarmel said those things were fairly comparable between
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  Speaker 1: the two quarterbacks. The difference was Philo's ability to operate
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  Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage, get Florida into the correct call,
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  Speaker 1: get them out of a bad call, check a play,
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  Speaker 1: recognize what the defense was showing, process the middle of
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  Speaker 1: the field, And that's why he's going to get the
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  Speaker 1: lion's share of first-team reps entering into week one. And
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  Speaker 1: I think Philo also helped himself with the way he
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  Speaker 1: responded to mistakes. Remember that first scrimmage? Cormani McClain intercepted him.
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  Speaker 1: And what does Philo do afterwards? He comes back and
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  Speaker 1: plays good football. Summerall specifically said that was probably the
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  Speaker 1: most impressive part of the scrimmage to him. The quarterback's
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  Speaker 1: going to make a mistake. You are going to throw
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  Speaker 1: an interception. The crowd's going to groan. Something is going
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  Speaker 1: to go wrong. But what happens next? Philo responded. And ultimately,
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  Speaker 1: over the course of two scrimmages and an entire camp,
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  Speaker 1: he did enough to win the job.
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  Speaker 2: Now, let's be clear.
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  Speaker 1: Summerall has not said Aaron Philo owns this job no
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  Speaker 1: matter what. In fact, he specifically said the opposite. This
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  Speaker 1: is definitely not an anointing. He has to keep playing well.
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  Speaker 1: And Summerall has also made it very clear that Turmel
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  Speaker 1: Jones is still very much a part of this thing.
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  Speaker 1: But Florida did need to pick somebody. they needed to
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  Speaker 1: start creating continuity with the first-team offense, and Aaron Filo
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  Speaker 1: has earned that opportunity. So if we're talking about who
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  Speaker 1: won fall camp, the guy who walked into August in
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  Speaker 1: a quarterback battle and walked out as Florida's starting quarterback
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  Speaker 1: has to be number one. I think there are a
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  Speaker 1: few honorable mentions here that we should talk about. Emeka
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  Speaker 1: Oguri deserves one. A sophomore transfer from Stanford is currently
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  Speaker 1: projected to start at right tackle ahead of a returning starter,
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  Speaker 1: in Caden Jones, and a Penn State transfer in Egan Boyer.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's significant.
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  Speaker 1: Roderick Kearney also had what Swimmerall called a really good
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  Speaker 1: camp and has apparently played his way into a position
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  Speaker 1: where Florida feels like they can win with him. And
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  Speaker 1: I think you could certainly make an argument for some
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  Speaker 1: of the other young DBs as well. If I'm picking
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  Speaker 1: the five guys whose stock moved the most over the
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  Speaker 1: last few weeks, though, I gotta go with Ty Jackson,
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  Speaker 1: Cormani McLean, Hezzy Kent, Bryce Lovett, and Aaron Filo.
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  Speaker 2: And I actually think that that list tells you a.
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  Speaker 1: Lot about Florida because it isn't five transfer portal guys.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't five established veterans. You have a quarterback transfer,
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  Speaker 1: a veteran offensive lineman who reinvented himself, a true freshman
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  Speaker 1: tight end, a second-year linebacker, and a former five-star corner
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  Speaker 1: who might actually be putting everything together. That is what
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  Speaker 1: fall camp is supposed to do. You're supposed to find
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  Speaker 1: things you didn't know you had. But now comes the
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  Speaker 1: important part. Can they do it when it actually counts?
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  Speaker 1: Starting September 5th against FAU, nobody cares what happened in
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  Speaker 1: camp anymore. Aaron Filo has to run the offense. Bryce
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  Speaker 1: Lovett has to protect him. Hesi Kent has to find
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  Speaker 1: a role. Ty Jackson has to make plays when his
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  Speaker 1: number is called. And Cormani McLean has to cover somebody
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  Speaker 1: wearing a different colored jersey. That is when we find
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  Speaker 1: out which camp storylines were actually real. But as we
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  Speaker 1: close the book on Summerall's first fall camp at Florida,
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  Speaker 1: Those are the five guys I think did the most
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  Speaker 1: to change the way we view this roster. Let me
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  Speaker 1: know what you guys think. Who was your biggest winner
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  Speaker 1: of fall camp? And who did I leave off? And
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  Speaker 1: which one of these five do you think will have
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  Speaker 1: the biggest impact on Florida's season? I want to hear
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: about it in the comments. Make sure you're subscribed to
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  Speaker 1: the channel. We are so close to 20,000 subscribers. As always,
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• 14:41
  Speaker 2: As always, go Gators.