After coming up with Florida’s all-time three-star football team earlier this week, our summer (recruiting) star wars saga continues with a look at the Gators’ all-time four and five-star recruits who failed to reach their star power during their time in Gainesville:
Quarterback
Brock Berlin
Justin Midgett
Running back
Mike Blakely
Mack Brown
Bo Williams
Chevon Walker
Wide receiver
Ja’Juan Story
Javares McRoy
Chris Dunkley
Carl Moore
Adrian Coxson
Tight end
Kent Taylor
Colin Thompson
Gerald Christian
Offensive line
Earnest Smith
Jim Barrie
Anthony Guerrero
Kadeem Telfort
Wesley Bryant
Defensive line
John Brown
Gary Brown
Chris Martin
Quinteze Williams
Jay-nard Bostwick
Thomas Holley
Gerald Willis
Jordan Smith
Antonneous Clayton
Malik Langham
Linebacker
Matt Rolin
Graham Stewart
Brendan Deal
Defensive back
Jerimy Finch
Cody Riggs
Jonathan Dowling
Josh Shaw
Rhaheim Ledbetter
Justin Watkins
So, there you have it, a team (or collection, if you will) of four and five-star prospects who never developed into four and five-star players at Florida (although some did elsewhere after transferring out).
One of the biggest disappointments in the history of UF recruiting has to be Berlin, one of the highest-rated players ever signed by the Gators — a five-star prospect out of Louisiana who many figured would become an all-time great at Florida under the QB tutelage of Steve Spurrier.
But Berlin was a bust. He got beat out by a lesser known recruit, and, while Rex Grossman went on to become one of the best QBs in school history and a Heisman Trophy finalist, Berlin transferred to Miami after the 2001 season. He had an OK career with the Hurricanes, his highlight moment being leading UM to a come-from-behind win over the Gators in 2003, but he fell short of being the college player everyone thought he would be when he signed with UF.
Another five-star recruit who fell way short of expectations at Florida was Carl Moore, a junior college transfer in 2008. He saw considerable playing time and caught some big passes, but he never evolved into the electrifying playmaker that the Gators thought they had signed.
Overall, if you compare the production of this four-star/five-star team with the three-star team, there is no comparison. The three-star teams blows this one away. It does statistically — and it would on the field.
It’s yet another example of what an imperfect process it is placing stars by a prospect’s name and ranking recruiting classes on signing day.
How could you leave out Marquez what’s his name, the 5 star left tackle?
“his highlight moment being leading UM to a come-from-behind win over the Gators in 2003′
My son and I flew down for this game. It was a great game up until the middle of the third quarter.
Another thing: Berlin wouldn’t have had that comeback at Miami if Zook hadn’t changed his defense in the 4th quarter. All game up to then, UF had pressured Berlin so he could not do anything. Suddenly, at the beginning of the 4th quarter Zook decided to go into a prevent defense and gave Berlin time to throw. He picked the deep zone apart completing short passes all over the place. Bobby Knight, then a basketball coach at West Point said to his friend Bill Parcells, then a West Point assistant coach: “The only thing a prevent defense does is prevent winning the game.” Prevent defenses may work, but they almost always turn one-sided games into nail biters. Why don’t football coaches understand: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and allow the defenses that gave them the large leads keep doing it?
You forgot Jeff Driskel, who was the No. 1 ranked player in the country in 2012 when he came to Gainesville. We found he sparkled in front of 800 people, but flamed out in front of 80,000.