By: Brandon

The Gators have already hit the field last Wednesday for the start of the spring practice for the new year of 2009. Some information you may not have heard throughout the first week of practice may be mentioned in this recap.

Wide Receivers:
Some say that Florida may be lacking in the wide receiver spots since Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy left, but that might be a little too much of exaggeration. Riley Cooper has been absent from practice due to his is participating in Gator baseball and is doing exceptionally well. Cooper will not attend any spring events this year.

David Nelson had a magnificent first day of practice which was not really surprising. Ever since last year, you could tell this kid is something special. Nelsons quickness has gradually improved over the past months and should be exciting to watch.

Junior receiver Justin Williams had a OK first day practice. Yeah, he caught some balls without a doubt, but also missed several that should have been easy catches. Justin shot up and down, but should be another excellent collection on this Gator roster.

Injuries:
The first day was slow for a few. Brandon James missed out due to a foot injury, Carlos Dunlap (abdominal muscle), and Matt Patchan suffered a knee injury. Mike Pouncey’s shoulder and Carl Johnson’s knee kept them from having any contact but they did participate in walk through drills. The following players did participate in warm ups but then took it easy for the rest of the day. Omarius Hines (thigh) Jim Barrie (knee) and Brandon Hicks (shoulder).

Top 5 for day 1:

1) Nelson- Most improving WR
2) Wondy Pierre-Louis
3) William Green -A lot faster
4) Markihe Anderson
5) Tebow – Tim got off to a very slow start but picked it all back up on the 7 on 7 drills. His throwing was excellent.

Third Day: Defense Wins
Despite sitting a few of the starters out in the defense/offense scrimmage, it still did not make any kind of difference because they still dominated against the offense, which really doesn’t surprise me at all. Tim Tebow and the rest of the Gator offense did put up a fight, but still came up short on the last play which they were held up at the goal line by the defense.

Top 5 for day 3:

1) Will Hill- Excellent red zone drills, followed by tremendous interception.
2) Frankie Hammond Jr. – Showed excellent hands
3) Jon Bostic- Really didn’t do anything first few days but went all out today.
4) Aaron Hernandez- Tebows main target to throw to, caught everything that was threw to him.
5) Emmanuel Moody- Made big plays on third down, scored touchdown in redzone drill.

The Goods and the Bad:

Good:
Florida is returning practically the whole entire defense from last season. Huge weapons for the upcoming season.

Good:
Jaye Howard has been a leader lately and has really stepped up. Most impressive lineman as stated by GatorBait. Probably one of the best defensive weapons all week long. Howard weighs roughly about 300 pounds and has a ton of speed.

Bad:
Running backs Emmanuel Moody and Chris Rainey have not had a great week running the ball. Rainey did get a good lick by linebacker Brandon Spikes late in the week and has yet been able to break open for a decent gain. And with Jeffrey Demps missing the weekend practices, it does not get any easier for Florida.

Good:
The Gators switched their linebackers in and out through the week. Florida has one of the best linebackers in the Nation, so don’t look for any of them to sit on the bench this year. Lerentee McCray continues to show improvement.

Bad
Going back to the wide receivers, Justin Williams has not really showed a lot of improvement. Right now he is leaning on the edge. He was outplayed by other receivers such as Nelson, Carl Moore, and T.J Lawrence. If Williams does not start stepping up and showing he deserves a starting spot, then it will be a long season for the young man.

Photo by: Casey Brooke Lawson/ gatorbait.net