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Gators Football Has A SECRET WEAPON That NOBODY Is Talking About... · A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators

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  Speaker 1: Hey Gator fans, Allie Peek here. You're watching A Peek
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Inside Gator Football. This video is brought to you by PrizePix,
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  Speaker 1: where all new users can play a $ 5 lineup, use
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• 0:15
  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 1: There are certainly guys during fall camp that you just
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: keep hearing about, and sometimes It's obvious. We've talked ad
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  Speaker 1: nauseum about the quarterbacks and Jaden Baugh and Vernell Brown,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: one of your returning stars. But every once in a while,
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  Speaker 1: you get a name that keeps popping up that maybe
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  Speaker 1: you weren't expecting.
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  Speaker 2: And for Florida this fall, that guy might be Hesi Kent.
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  Speaker 1: Because I don't know exactly how much Hesi Kent is
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  Speaker 1: going to play this season. I'm not even sure Florida
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  Speaker 1: knows exactly how much he's going to play. He's a
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  Speaker 1: true freshman in a really crowded tight end room.
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  Speaker 2: But I do know this.
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  Speaker 1: When your head coach says a 6'6, 288-pound tight end
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  Speaker 1: might have the best ball skills on your entire football team,
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  Speaker 1: I start paying attention, especially when that same guy was
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  Speaker 1: over 310 pounds a few months ago and in a boot,
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  Speaker 1: especially when he caught a touchdown in Florida's second scrimmage,
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  Speaker 1: and especially when you start thinking about some of the
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  Speaker 1: absolutely ridiculous things that Buster Faulkner could potentially do with
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  Speaker 1: a player built like this. Hezzy Kent isn't a normal
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  Speaker 1: tight end, and I think he could become one of
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  Speaker 1: the most interesting pieces on Florida's offense. Let's start with
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  Speaker 1: how big this kid is. Florida lists him at 6'6
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  Speaker 1: and 288 pounds, so let's put that into perspective. Harrison Moore,
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  Speaker 1: who is Florida's projected starting center, is listed at 293.
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  Speaker 1: Hesi Kent is only five pounds lighter than Florida's starting center,
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  Speaker 1: and he's playing tight end. And here's what's even crazier,
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  Speaker 1: is that 288 is a slimmed down version of Hesi Kent.
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  Speaker 1: When he arrived at Florida, he was listed at 313 pounds.
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  Speaker 1: And I think for a while there was actually a
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  Speaker 1: legitimate question about whether tight end was even going to
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  Speaker 1: be his long-term position. And quite frankly, when you're 6'6
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  Speaker 1: and 310 pounds, most college coaches are probably looking at
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  Speaker 1: you and thinking, like, okay, offensive tackle.
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  Speaker 2: And John Summerall.
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  Speaker 1: Basically told him exactly that. Summerall said after spring football
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  Speaker 1: that Florida challenged Kent with a series of weight goals.
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  Speaker 1: And essentially the message was, if you want to play
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  Speaker 1: tight end, lose weight. If you don't want to lose
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  Speaker 1: the weight, you are going to play offensive line or
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  Speaker 1: nose tackle.
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  Speaker 2: Those were basically his choices.
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  Speaker 1: Apparently, Hezzy Kent really wanted to play tight end because
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  Speaker 1: Florida now lists him at 288 pounds. That is a
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  Speaker 1: massive transformation in a matter of months. And Semmel has
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  Speaker 1: gone out of his way to praise the discipline that
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  Speaker 1: it took for Kent to do that. And that's the
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  Speaker 1: first thing I love about this story. We're not just
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  Speaker 1: talking about a freakishly big kid. We're talking about a
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  Speaker 1: true freshman who got challenged by a brand new coaching
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  Speaker 1: staff and responded.
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  Speaker 2: And here's the thing. He's not just big.
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  Speaker 1: And that's where the Hesi Kent story gets really interesting.
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  Speaker 1: If it was just simply that he's 6'6 and 288
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  Speaker 1: pounds and could block, all right.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that's useful.
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  Speaker 1: You basically have an extra offensive lineman in certain packages.
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  Speaker 1: But that's not what coaches keep talking about with Kent.
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  Speaker 1: They keep talking about his hands. Buster Faulkner recruited Kent
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  Speaker 1: when Faulkner was at Georgia Tech, so he was already
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  Speaker 1: really familiar with what Kent could do before either one
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  Speaker 1: of them ended up at Florida. And then back in
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  Speaker 1: the spring, Faulkner described him as an extremely skilled and
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  Speaker 1: fluid guy for somebody his size. John Summerall took it
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  Speaker 1: another step. He said Kent might have the best ball
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  Speaker 1: skills on Florida's entire team. Not the best ball skills
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  Speaker 1: among the tight ends or the best ball skills for
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  Speaker 1: a guy that's 288 pounds. Potentially the best ball skills
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  Speaker 1: on the entire team. Think about who's on this roster
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  Speaker 1: for a second. VB3, Dallas Wilson, Eric Singleton, a ton
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  Speaker 1: of talented receivers. And your head coach is saying, you
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  Speaker 1: know who might have the best hands? The guy who
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  Speaker 1: is basically the size of an offensive lineman.
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  Speaker 2: That's kind of insane. But look at what he did
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  Speaker 2: in high school.
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  Speaker 1: Over the course of his high school career, he was
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  Speaker 1: incredibly impressive with the football in his hands. So maybe
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  Speaker 1: this shouldn't be surprising that we're hearing this from Summerall.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't play offensive tackle at Brunswick High School. The
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  Speaker 1: kid was a legitimate offensive weapon. He finished his high
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  Speaker 1: school career with 95 receptions, 2,051 receiving yards, 21 touchdowns.
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  Speaker 1: That's over 21 yards per catch at 300-plus pounds.
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  Speaker 2: But wait, it gets better. They also handed him the football.
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  Speaker 1: He had over 100 carries for 694 yards and 19
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  Speaker 1: rushing touchdowns. So between rushing and receiving, we are talking
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  Speaker 1: about 40 offensive touchdowns in high school.
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  Speaker 2: At 6'6, around 300 pounds. He also played basketball. So
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  Speaker 2: when Faulkner talks.
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  Speaker 1: About fluidity and ball skills, this isn't something Florida discovered
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  Speaker 1: three weeks ago. This is why Kent was a consensus
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  Speaker 1: four-star recruit. This is why Florida had to beat out
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  Speaker 1: schools like Alabama and Florida State and LSU, Miami, Michigan,
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  Speaker 1: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, and others for him.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody looked at the body and saw the obvious offensive
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  Speaker 1: line potential. Florida looked at the body and said, what
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  Speaker 1: if we don't make him an offensive lineman?
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  Speaker 2: And that's where this gets fun.
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  Speaker 1: Because think about what Florida could potentially do with him.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying they're going to do all of this
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  Speaker 1: against Florida Atlantic. I'm not telling you Hezzy Kent's going
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  Speaker 1: to suddenly have eight catches a game.
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  Speaker 2: He's still a true freshman. He's still learning.
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  Speaker 1: Sermon even said Kent still has a long way to
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  Speaker 1: go and was noticeably fatigued at times during the first scrimmage.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that's understandable. Again, almost 300 pounds. He
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  Speaker 1: just changed his body dramatically. There is a difference between
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  Speaker 1: being able to run around at 288 and being able
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  Speaker 1: to do it for 60 snaps in an SEC football game.
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  Speaker 1: But honestly, you don't need Hezzy Kent to play 60 snaps,
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  Speaker 1: and he's going to be a problem if he just
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  Speaker 1: plays a few.
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  Speaker 2: Let's say you only need him for.
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  Speaker 1: 10 or 15. When Florida puts him on the football field,
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  Speaker 1: what personnel does the defense put out there? I think
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  Speaker 1: that is the part that fascinates me. If I see
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  Speaker 1: a 288-pound tight end walk into the huddle with Jaden Baugh,
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  Speaker 1: I'm probably expecting Florida to run the football. You could
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  Speaker 1: Basically have six offensive linemen on the field.
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  Speaker 2: Put Kent attached to a formation. Put his hand in
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  Speaker 2: the dirt.
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  Speaker 1: And now you've got this enormous body helping create an
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  Speaker 1: extra gap for Jaden Baugh.
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  Speaker 2: That's problem number one.
• 6:18
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• 6:20
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• 6:23
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• 6:26
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• 6:33
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• 6:45
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• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Click it and set up a 20-minute get-to-know-you, is-this-right meeting
• 6:52
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• 6:55
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• 7:01
  Speaker 1: We appreciate Summit Wealth Advisors for all their support. But
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: then Florida can line up on the exact same personnel
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  Speaker 1: on the next play, and Kent can go out for
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  Speaker 1: a pass. We already saw that in the scrimmage. So
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  Speaker 1: it's not hypothetical. Kent caught a touchdown in Florida's second
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  Speaker 1: scrimmage Saturday night, and it came off play action. That
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  Speaker 1: is exactly what I'm talking about. You show the defense
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  Speaker 1: this gigantic tight end. You show them Dayton Baugh. Everything
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  Speaker 1: screams run. Linebackers step forward. Safety start worrying about fitting
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  Speaker 1: the run.
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  Speaker 2: And now... A 6'6 tight end who.
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  Speaker 1: Summerall says has elite ball skills is slipping behind him.
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  Speaker 2: Good luck.
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  Speaker 1: If you're a linebacker, do you want to tackle this
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  Speaker 1: kid in space? If you're a safety, do you want
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  Speaker 1: to cover him.
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  Speaker 2: At the catch point?
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't have to be faster than everybody. At that size,
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  Speaker 1: he can simply be bigger than everybody. And Summerall put
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  Speaker 1: him in the slot. I think that might have been
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  Speaker 1: the thing that really caught my attention maybe the most.
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  Speaker 1: When Summerall talked about Kent after Florida's first scrimmage, he
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  Speaker 1: specifically mentioned Kent lining up In the slot. So think
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  Speaker 1: about that. Not attached to the offensive line. Not just
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  Speaker 1: an extra blocker.
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  Speaker 2: In the slot.
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  Speaker 1: Summerall said one of his favorite moments of the scrimmage
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  Speaker 1: involved Kent working from there. Okay, and that's when I
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  Speaker 1: started thinking, maybe Florida really is going to have some
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  Speaker 1: fun with this. Imagine you're the defense. Florida breaks the
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  Speaker 1: huddle with Hezzy Kent on the field.
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  Speaker 2: Who's covering him?
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  Speaker 1: If you match him with a linebacker, Florida potentially has
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  Speaker 1: a receiving mismatch. If you match him with a DB,
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  Speaker 1: Now Florida can bring Kent backwards towards the formation and
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  Speaker 1: potentially run right at 190-pound safety or nickel. That is
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  Speaker 1: an advantage. It's not necessarily about Kent catching 50 footballs
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  Speaker 1: this season. It's that his presence creates questions. And good
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  Speaker 1: offensive coordinators spend their entire lives trying to figure out
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  Speaker 1: how to make defenses answer uncomfortable questions. Buster Faulkner loves versatility.
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  Speaker 1: That is why Kent makes so much sense in this offense.
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  Speaker 1: We just talked about in the Aaron Filo video how
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  Speaker 1: Buster Faulkner describes his offense and how he wants versatility
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  Speaker 1: and defensive, you know, different formations. He wants motion. He
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  Speaker 1: wants to create defensive matchups. He wants to make a
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  Speaker 1: defense defend the entire field. And most importantly, he wants
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  Speaker 1: players who allow him to do multiple things without constantly
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  Speaker 1: changing personnel. Hezzy Kent gives him that. You don't have
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  Speaker 1: to substitute the jumbo package onto the field. Hezzy Kent
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  Speaker 1: is the jumbo package, but he's also a legitimate receiving option.
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  Speaker 1: That's incredibly valuable. When an offense substitutes, the defense gets
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  Speaker 1: an opportunity to substitute too. If Florida can stay on
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  Speaker 1: the field with the same 11 guys and completely change
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  Speaker 1: what the formation looks like, now the defense has a problem.
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  Speaker 1: Kent can be attached to the line, move into the slot,
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  Speaker 1: motion across the formation, help seal the backside. release into
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  Speaker 1: the flat, work the middle of the field, become a
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  Speaker 1: gigantic red zone target, you're making the defense diagnose what
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  Speaker 1: you're doing after the personnel is already on the field.
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  Speaker 1: And that is where somebody like Kent becomes so valuable.
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  Speaker 1: Imagine him in the red zone. I think maybe that's
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  Speaker 1: where I see him earliest. Florida doesn't have to build
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  Speaker 1: the entire offense around Hesi Kent to use his physical traits.
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  Speaker 1: Just get him inside the 10-yard line.
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  Speaker 2: Now you got Jaden Baugh on the backfield.
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  Speaker 1: You got a 6'6, 288-pound tight end. Maybe Dallas Wilson's
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  Speaker 1: outside at 6'3. What exactly is the defense supposed to
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  Speaker 1: do with that? Do they load the box?
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  Speaker 2: Okay. Throw a fade. Spread out? Okay. Hand it to
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  Speaker 2: Jaden Baugh. Play man coverage on Kent?
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  Speaker 1: Aaron Filo can put the football high and let a 6'6,
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  Speaker 1: Former basketball player, go get it. That is where I
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  Speaker 1: see Kent becoming useful quickly. Short yardage, goal line, play action,
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  Speaker 1: certain third down situations, specific matchup packages. He doesn't need
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  Speaker 1: to be Florida's number one tight end to matter. Because
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  Speaker 1: this tight end room is crowded, and I do think
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  Speaker 1: we need to acknowledge that. Florida has a lot of
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  Speaker 1: tight ends. Luke Harpring came over from Georgia Tech and
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  Speaker 1: already knows Faulkner's system. Wakata Dupree transferred in, and after
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  Speaker 1: stops at Charlotte and James Madison, he has experience.
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  Speaker 2: Amir Jackson is still here. Micah Jones is here. And
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  Speaker 2: then you have Kent.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm not predicting Hesi Kent's going to suddenly jump
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  Speaker 1: all of those guys and play every snap against FAU.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think that's realistic. Florida's current tight end roster
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  Speaker 1: includes eight different guys. Several of them have much more
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  Speaker 1: college experience than Kent. But this is why I call
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  Speaker 1: Kent a secret weapon rather than Florida's starting tight end.
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  Speaker 1: His role can be really specific, and specific might actually
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  Speaker 1: be better. Because now Buster Faulkner can figure out what
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  Speaker 1: has he does really well and put him on the
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  Speaker 1: field specifically to do those things. And I keep coming
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  Speaker 1: back to the physical transformation he made.
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  Speaker 2: In the spring, this was almost an experiment.
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  Speaker 1: Can a 313-pound kid realistically play tight end in the SEC?
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  Speaker 2: But now he's 288.
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  Speaker 1: That's 25 pounds lighter than where Florida listed him earlier
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  Speaker 1: this offseason.
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  Speaker 2: Now, that doesn't make him small. He is still enormous.
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  Speaker 1: But presumably, you're getting some improved movement and conditioning without
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  Speaker 1: giving up the thing that makes him different.
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  Speaker 2: And that's his size.
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  Speaker 1: And somehow made it clear that they're not done yet.
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  Speaker 1: Kent is still working and still developing and still changing
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  Speaker 1: his body. And that's why I don't know what the
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: finished product is going to look like. Maybe Hezzy Kent ends.
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  Speaker 2: Up at 280.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe he eventually adds some weight back the right way.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe he ultimately does move to offensive tackle years down
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  Speaker 1: the road. I have no idea. But right now, keep
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  Speaker 1: him at tight end and see how weird you can
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  Speaker 1: make things for defenses. This is the kind of player
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  Speaker 1: I want to see Faulkner get creative with. Florida has
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: talent at the obvious spots. We know Jaden Baugh is
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: going to get the football. We know Vernell Brown is
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: going to get targets. And we know Eric Singleton and
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Dallas Wilson are going to have opportunities. None of those
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  Speaker 1: are secrets. The fun part of a new offensive coordinator
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  Speaker 1: is finding out the things that the defense isn't ready for.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm fascinated to see if Hesi Kent can become
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  Speaker 1: one of them. Again, 6'6, 288 pounds, former basketball player,
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  Speaker 1: more than 2,000 career receiving yards in high school, 40
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  Speaker 1: total offensive touchdowns. And John Summerall said he might have
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  Speaker 1: the best ball skills on Florida's team. There are just
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  Speaker 1: not many humans built that way. So no, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: predicting Hesi Kent's going to be an All-American as a freshman.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not predicting 500 receiving yards. I'm not even predicting
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  Speaker 1: he's going to be one of Florida's first two tight
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  Speaker 1: ends on the field.
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  Speaker 2: But what I'm saying is this.
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  Speaker 1: If Buster Faulkner finds something interesting with this kid like
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I do, look out. If I'm Buster Faulkner, I'm looking
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  Speaker 1: at goal line, short yardage, play action, a package out
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  Speaker 1: of the slot, something. Because if a defense sees 288
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  Speaker 1: pounds and assumes run, you throw it. And the moment
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  Speaker 1: they start respecting him as a receiver... Hand the football
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  Speaker 1: to Jaden Baugh and let Kent block somebody. That's what
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  Speaker 1: makes him interesting. And maybe that's exactly why John Summerall
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: can't stop talking about him. So keep an eye on
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: number 86, because they are going to be much bigger
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: names on Florida's offense this season. But I'm not sure
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: there's going to be a more interesting player to watch
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: than Hesi Kent. I want to know what you guys think.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Do you want to.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: See Florida get creative and move him all over the formation?
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: And how many touchdowns do you think Hesi Kent could
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: realistically have as a freshman? Drop it in the comments.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Make sure you guys are subscribed to the channel. The
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: season is upon us. We are almost there. I want
• 14:28
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• 14:31
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• 14:40
  Speaker 1: We appreciate PrizePix for all their support. Thank you guys
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: for tuning in.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: And as always, go Gators.