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- Jan 15, 2012
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Who I am excited to see get more playing time and develop throughout the year are..
1. TE Elija Lofton. Played 9 snaps and had 2 receptions IIRC. On his catch and run late in the game you can see the reason why so many are ecstatic about this young man. Lofton's playing time should only go up from this point forward. He is going to be a serious weapon and match-up problem at H-back, TE and in the slot. He's just a natural.
2. RB Jordan Lyle. I was blown away by the fact that true freshman Lyle was the 3rd RB in the game vs Florida. Not because I question his talent but because I wasn't expecting to see him get PT in the 1st game on the road in such a big game. You could see his natural skills as a runner but what likely got him on the field was his excellent pass pro/blitz pickup. We should see plenty of Lyle going forward especially late in games.
3. DT Justin Scott. A true freshman DT with 9 snaps in a huge 1st game was a bit surprising but not shocking. The most important thing was that Scott looked like he belonged. I look for Scott to spend most of the season learning on the job without being thrown into the fire and having to be the man. I expect Scott to become a factor by the last quarter of the season. Immense talent.
4. CB Romanas "OJ" Frederique. OJ went from being the talk of fall camp as a true freshman who was consistently flashing to actually getting the start at one of the CB spots in that huge game @ Florida. To be completely honest, I had no idea that he had started the game and to be even more honest, I didn't notice him once during the game. It wasn't until afterwards that I learned that he played 29 snaps and was a starter opposite Daryl Porter at CB. This in itself is an amazing accomplishment for a young man who was rated a 3 star recruit that many here didn't want in the class. That plus the fact that in his 29 snaps he was never gone after, thrown at or challenged in any way despite the gaytors knowing full well that he was a true freshman who didn't report until fall camp. That tells me that he did his job and did it well! I can see this young man developing rapidly throughout the course of the season and barring injury being fully entrenched as a starter at CB by seasons end.
Other true freshmen who did not play Saturday who will almost certainly play going forward are.........
CB Ryan Mack
S Zaquan Patterson
S Dylan Day
LB Cam "Bobby" Pruitt
LB Adarius Hayes
DE Cole McConathy
DE Marquis Lightfoot
DT Artavious Jones
WR Ny Carr
WR Jojo Trader
Other excellent talents who will likely redshirt this season....
QB. Judd Anderson
WR. Chance Robinson
RB Chris Wheatley Humphrey
OL Juan Minaya
OL Deryc Plazz
OL Nino Francavilla(played 2 snaps vs UiF)
S. Isaiah Thomas
DE. Booker Pickett Jr
DE. Elias Rudolph
DT. Armando Blount
DT. Daylin Russell
K. Abram Murray
Time will tell but the early returns on the 2024 class are excellent thus far. The future is bright!
1. TE Elija Lofton. Played 9 snaps and had 2 receptions IIRC. On his catch and run late in the game you can see the reason why so many are ecstatic about this young man. Lofton's playing time should only go up from this point forward. He is going to be a serious weapon and match-up problem at H-back, TE and in the slot. He's just a natural.
2. RB Jordan Lyle. I was blown away by the fact that true freshman Lyle was the 3rd RB in the game vs Florida. Not because I question his talent but because I wasn't expecting to see him get PT in the 1st game on the road in such a big game. You could see his natural skills as a runner but what likely got him on the field was his excellent pass pro/blitz pickup. We should see plenty of Lyle going forward especially late in games.
3. DT Justin Scott. A true freshman DT with 9 snaps in a huge 1st game was a bit surprising but not shocking. The most important thing was that Scott looked like he belonged. I look for Scott to spend most of the season learning on the job without being thrown into the fire and having to be the man. I expect Scott to become a factor by the last quarter of the season. Immense talent.
4. CB Romanas "OJ" Frederique. OJ went from being the talk of fall camp as a true freshman who was consistently flashing to actually getting the start at one of the CB spots in that huge game @ Florida. To be completely honest, I had no idea that he had started the game and to be even more honest, I didn't notice him once during the game. It wasn't until afterwards that I learned that he played 29 snaps and was a starter opposite Daryl Porter at CB. This in itself is an amazing accomplishment for a young man who was rated a 3 star recruit that many here didn't want in the class. That plus the fact that in his 29 snaps he was never gone after, thrown at or challenged in any way despite the gaytors knowing full well that he was a true freshman who didn't report until fall camp. That tells me that he did his job and did it well! I can see this young man developing rapidly throughout the course of the season and barring injury being fully entrenched as a starter at CB by seasons end.
Other true freshmen who did not play Saturday who will almost certainly play going forward are.........
CB Ryan Mack
S Zaquan Patterson
S Dylan Day
LB Cam "Bobby" Pruitt
LB Adarius Hayes
DE Cole McConathy
DE Marquis Lightfoot
DT Artavious Jones
WR Ny Carr
WR Jojo Trader
Other excellent talents who will likely redshirt this season....
QB. Judd Anderson
WR. Chance Robinson
RB Chris Wheatley Humphrey
OL Juan Minaya
OL Deryc Plazz
OL Nino Francavilla(played 2 snaps vs UiF)
S. Isaiah Thomas
DE. Booker Pickett Jr
DE. Elias Rudolph
DT. Armando Blount
DT. Daylin Russell
K. Abram Murray
Time will tell but the early returns on the 2024 class are excellent thus far. The future is bright!
