2020 World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Breakdown
It’s the offseason. This game is still over seven months away. But Florida is my most hated team. It’s not even close. In all of sports, I hate Florida the most. Nothing has made me happier than Georgia beating them three years in a row. We beat them three years in a row 2011–2013, but this run feels different. None of the games in 2017–2019 were as close as the score indicated. Even with losing Jake Fromm and D’Andre Swift and most of our offensive line, I still like our chances against the ditch lizards.
If you talk to a Gator fan though, they will tell you they are back. Why? Not sure. I will give credit where it is due…after Feleipe Franks (heretofore referred to as STANKS) went down, they rallied around Kyle Trask (heretofore referred to as TRASH and/or Buttermilk) and managed to both play eventual champ LSU close (for a half) and win 10 games. They also won their bowl game against Virgnia. I’m not one of those Georgia fans that can’t give props, Florida had a really good team last year. I watched a few of their games, some of it seemed lucky, but regardless they got the job done (most of the time) when it counted.
I think because of this, with what Georgia loses on offense, and what Florida keeps on offense, they believe they will boat race us in Jacksonville this year. In the immortal words of Bill Lumberg though…”I’m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you there.”
In this piece, I’m not going to bother talking about the Georgia offense. Too many unknown variables this deep into the offseason. We are breaking in a new offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, quarterback, first string running back, left guard, left, and right tackle. That’s too many question marks. We just don’t have any answers now.
Instead I’m going to look at the Georgia defense, the Florida offense, and the Florida defense. Florida keeps their continuity in that they didn’t replace any of their coaches or major pieces to where either side of the ball is wholly unrecognizable to the lay person. And for the Georgia defense, we are losing a few starters, but those starters are the lowest rated of the Kirby era. Someone like JR Reed will be sorely missed, but by the time this game rolls around, someone like Lewis Cine may make us forget about him. So let’s get down to business…
FLORIDA OFFENSE
Key Losses: WR Van Jefferson, RB Lamical Perine, WR Tyrie Cleveland, WR Freddie Swain, C Nick Buchanan
If you’re a die-hard Georgia fan, you may notice something in the key losses section. The Gators are losing three WRs to graduation. They will lose nearly 700 yards from Jefferson along with his six touchdowns. They will lose 350 yards from Cleveland. They will lose 500 yards from Swain. They will lose 250 yards from Perine. I’m not a math major, but that’s nearly 1,800 yards lost in production from passing yardage. That’s over half of TRASH’s passing yards. Georgia fans know what it means when you lose a lot of production at WR and it ain’t great.
TRASH did well with what he had. He has some pieces returning. Trevon Grimes and his nearly 500 yards and Kyle Pitts with his nearly 700 yards are returning. Ka’Darius Toney who has an ability to break one is also returning. But the sheer depth of WRs with experience has disappeared. Can TRASH replicate what he did last year? I don’t know. What I do know, is it will be more challenging. Van Jefferson is a beast and a classic safety valve possession receiver who could bail TRASH out of some jams. That’s gone. Some fans are crowing about Justin Shorter coming in from Penn State, but we don’t know if he will get to play right away and if he does, he hasn’t shown enough at this level to get overly concerned about.
Then we have the running game. Or the lack thereof. Perine is gone and he was the best they had. Now I’m sure it’s possible that Lorenzo Lingard, former 5 star RB, transferring from Miami gets a waiver and comes in and plays. I’m dubious on RB transfers. Rarely do I remember any making a major impact. Maybe he gets that waiver and plays his heart out. Maybe he gets the waiver and can’t get off the bench. Zach Evans may be a Gator. He’s great, but he ain’t there yet, so I’m not going to speculate.
Finally, Florida has to replace their Center. Usually the center is responsible for everyone else on the OL, making the checks, being in sync with the QB, and taking on the toughest defensive tackle across from him. Now he’s gone. Who’s gonna play C for Florida? I don’t know the answer. It probably won’t be a blue chip stud though. There have been names bandied about, but none really inspire confidence.
EDGE: EVEN
Too many moving pieces here for Florida. Georgia has its own question marks, but we are playing with higher rated OL, better RBs, and experienced WRs. If Jamie Newman wins the QB job, he’s as good as Buttermilk is.
FLORIDA DEFENSE
Key Losses: DE Jon Greenard, CB CJ Henderson, DE Jabari Zuniga, LB David Reese
Ah yes, good ol’ Third and Grantham. It’s starting to sink in for the Gator fans and they can’t do anything about it. I kind of love it after experiencing it myself for those few years. Now, again, I can give credit where it is due. Florida has some great talent on the defensive side of the ball. I would argue they have more here than they do on offense. But they are replacing their most impactful players. Greenard was a beast for them. No one much threw Henderson’s way. And when healthy, Zuniga could be a disruptor as well.
They lose the meat of their interior defensive line, but that wasn’t much to write home about. They bring in Gervon Dexter who will make an impact as a freshman. Can he be a solid contributor by this point? No telling, but him being an early enrollee will help him along. Brenton Cox will finally get to play. Florida fans are excited about him, but Georgia fans know the truth. He played early and often, just not always well. He could turn on the switch and make some plays, but I’m not counting on it.
In their defensive secondary they bring back Marco Wilson who Lawrence Cager made look silly. It was incredible. On the other side is future star Kaiir Elam. He will be a good one. But if Marco Wilson doesn’t improve, it won’t matter. Let’s also wait and see how interested Elam is in tackling, because Henderson could take it or leave it. They are perilously thin at safety and it will be a weakness for them. They had trouble filling the nickelback position as Trey Dean struggled and Amari Burney filled in a few times. Maybe they’ll find someone to fill in there from their class of 2019. Whoever they pick, it’ll be someone inexperienced.
GEORGIA DEFENSE
Key Losses: S JR Reed, DT Tyler Cark, ILB Tae Crowder
Simply put, this defense is freaking loaded. It was great last year. Now we return all those pieces minus heart and soul Reed (that will be tough to replace) and rotational piece Clark. I don’t mean to undermine Clark, as he showed flashes of talent, but he never had any consistency in 2018–19. We also lose Crowder, who was a great story for sticking with it, changing positions, and making an impact. But he got recruited over at the ILB position.
Along the DL we have “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy” Jordan Davis (I will be assigning unofficial nicknames in hopes they stick) manning the middle and giving headaches to this Florida OL who had trouble with him before. Malik “Da Freak” Herring who is a big boy senior now, had his moments in this arena and will make 2020 his coming out party as he looks to improve his draft stock. Travon “BAMF” Walker will be making his presence known as well. I’m downright giddy just thinking about these three guys.
Future team captain and outside linebacker Azeez “Ouch Who Hit Me” Ojulari will be looking to be in TRASH’s grill all day long as well as blowing up running plays. On the other side we could see Jermaine “Double J” Johnson or Nolan “The Prototype” Smith wreaking some havoc. Inside we lose Crowder, but that just means Nakobe “New Mamba” Dean is getting more playing time alongside senior Monty “Too Hotty” Rice who will also have some grown man strength and ready to get himself drafted.
In the secondary, we are looking at senior Richard “RLC3” LeCounte III to take over as the heart and soul of the defense. Lewis “Hit Stick” Cine played a bunch in the SEC Championship game as well as the Sugar Bowl and ran Otis Reese off to Ole Miss. He will be a factor back there. On the corners we have Eric Stokes, Tyson Campbell, and DJ Daniel who make up a good rotation. At nickelback we are looking at Mark Webb and “Dreamchaser” Tyrique Stevenson.
Oh, and we are bringing in Kelee Ringo, Jalen Carter, and MJ Sherman. No biggie.
EDGE: HUGE edge to Georgia.
SCORE PREDICTION: Dawgs on Top 39–6
