Friday, December 26, 2008

Then and now

Gainesville Sun scribe Robbie Andreu compares the 2006 Championship team to this year's squad in the article above. While I agree with most of his analysis, I think he missed the mark on some of the differences.
For example:
Tailbacks--Andreu says DeShawn Wynn was solid. I agree Wynn had a tremendous upside, but never became the star he should have been. He says we have speedier guys this year, but we were awesome at tailback in 2006 when Harvin was used, so the potential for home runs was the same. We have more depth this year.
Fullbacks--Andreu doesn't go into a lot of depth here. But with the true spread in place, we don't use a traditional fullback. But with Aaron Hernandez at tight end it replaces that extra blocker we had with the fullback, plus it gives us another home run threat, this time in a non-traditional role.
Overall defensively, this team seems as good as the 2006 variety, but I think the 2006 was a little better. I don't base it on statistics, but I the fact I think they faced better offenses overall and their mettle was constantly tested because they were relied on to win games. I think the one thing better about this defense than the 2006 defense is depth. The 2006 defensive line were all stars whereas the defensive line this year is a mix of very talented and interchangeable players. In 2006, the linebackers were led by two guys, Siler and Earl Everett. This year we have Spikes and a lot of other really talented guys, which I feel makes this year's linebacking crew better than 2006. And finally, we don't have a Reggie Nelson kind of player in this year's secondary, but overall I think we are better with a lot of guys--Haden, Jenkins, Wright, Black, Hill--all on the verge of becoming that kind of player.

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