By: Dan

Anyone who has followed the Florida football team this spring is well aware that the defensive line has been manhandling the offensive line. Much of this domination can be chalked up to the fact that the Gators are missing four of their best offensive linemen because of injury.
Both of the Pouncey twins, Maurkice and Mike, as well as James Wilson Matt Patchan, are all out of commission with various injuries. While Patchan didn’t play on the offensive line last year, he did play in 11 games at defensive tackle and the coaching staff expects him to be a major player on the O-Line this fall.
Although the numerous injuries might be hampering the offense now, getting a number of freshmen invaluable experience will pay great dividends in the long run. Nick Alajajian, Jonotthan Harrison and Sam Robey are all freshmen linemen who have been pressed into duty with the injuries to the other linemen. The trio has drawn praise from Urban Meyer, but apparently he is very excited about Robey.
“When he’s in there, you don’t notice,” Meyer was quoted as saying in a recent Gainesville Sun article. “Other guys get in there and there’s a sack or missed assignment. Robey’s doing well.”
Getting the youngsters some experience against the first-team defense, arguably one of the best defenses in the nation, will certainly help their development down the road. And there’s always the possibility that they will get pressed into duty sooner than expected.
It was only last year that player after player went down with season-ending injuries, including Cornelius Ingram and Dorian Munroe. If that should happen again on the offensive line, then players like Harrison, Alajajian and Robey will be expected to step up and fill in. And at that point, the experience they gained in the spring will come in mighty handy.

By: Dan

There have been a few Web sites out there that have reported that former Florida star Percy Harvin failed a drug test at the NFL combine because of marijuana.
It’s important to note that some of the major sports Web sites, like espn.com, have not run with the story. There have been confirmed reports that one of the athletes, Boston College’s B.J. Raji, actually did fail his drug test. This is in addition to a drug test he failed during his playing days at BC.

If the reports are true, there were players who not only tested positive for marijuana (Harvin, Raji and Illinois’ Vontae Davis) but also players who tested positive for steroids in USC’s Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing. Once again, these reports have not been confirmed.

Assuming that the reports are accurate, NFL executives will be faced with some tough decisions. A lot of people believe that smoking marijuana is not a big deal. But for owners and general managers, smoking pot might be an indication of poor judgment. In the case of Raji, another failed drug test might send up red flags as far as a potential addiction problem.

For the players accused of taking steroids, people making decisions on draft day will probably be faced with more difficult questions. Namely, how good can these players be without steroids?

Although steroid use or pot use could drop draft status, I would have to think that steroid allegations would have a more adverse effect on a player than allegations of using recreational drugs. Again, how effective could a steroid user be in the NFL, where drug testing is far more stringent than it is on the college ranks? On the other hand, marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug (unless the person is a competitive eater). It might show bad judgment, but it probably wouldn’t raise any questions about a player’s performance, unless that player happened to be an addict.

In short, if these allegations against Cushing are proven to be true, he could see his draft stock plummet. I’ve seen some draft boards have him as high as No. 15 to the Houston Texans. A positive steroids test could cost him millions of dollars. Harvin, on the other hand, shouldn’t lose much steam and should still get drafted in the first round.