Last week we started our beefed up coverage of the SEC by looking at the QB Battles and the biggest storylines going into spring practice. This week we head out on the road as we travel the internet to bring you up to date on what’s going on in the SEC East by visiting some of our favorite blogs and websites.
FLORIDA GATORS
Pat Dooley of GatorSports.com takes a look at Florida’s OL:
But the key to this Gator season will be that offensive line.
“We have so many moving parts there,” Muschamp said. “Obviously, with the moving parts we had going through spring ball, that’s something we need to gel and we need to gel early. We need to get five guys playing well together. And you’d like to build that number to seven, eight, nine, 10 guys if you can, build depth on the offensive line of scrimmage.”
There are no shortage of candidates. Florida has more than a dozen offensive linemen on scholarship.
But there is a shortage of experience. Florida lost four starters from last year’s team. Several of the ones who are back got some playing time — most notably starting tackle Xavier Nixon — but because of injuries in the spring there isn’t a unit that has played together.
GEORGIA BULLDOGS
Bernie’s Dawg Blawg chimes in with talks of “Vampiric Kool Aid”:
Like many Dawg fans, this weekend I read this article about the “energy vampires”. If you haven’t read it the synopsis is that if any football players are viewed as hurting the team with a bad attitude, poor choice of words or detrimental behavior they are called out by their teammates. For 24 hours they are subjected to embarrassing pictures of themselves plastered around the locker room after being doctored up with fangs and red eyes.
The message is clear: get on the bus or get off of it. Simple, easy and to the point.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS
A Sea Of Blue takes a look at Freshman shining on Fan Day:
DeMarco Robinson and Daryl Collins have me excited. Both have great hands and did not look the least intimidated by the setting. Robinson is listed at 5’10” 159lbs., but looked much more substantial. He set a Georgia record for receiving yardage last year, catching 73 ball for 1655 yards and a whopping 27 TDs. Robinson put a great move on Burden (probably the team’s best cover guy) for a deep pass last night. Collins was an Alabama recruit who was asked to greyshirt and decided instead to come to Kentucky. If one of them could transcend the usual pecking order and become an instant contributor a la Randall Cobb, it could go a long way to getting the Cats where they want to be. That looked like a distinct possibility from my seat in Commonwealth last night.
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
The Garnet and Black Attack looks at Fall Practice:
Jadeveon Clowney is the real deal. What we keep reading from the practice reports is that Clowney is manhandling the offensive line nearly constantly. Sometimes, that’s been against backup OL Will Sport, but sometimes Clowney is doing the same against likely starting left tackle Kyle Nunn. If Clowney is playing like this against Nunn–an experienced SEC OL who could start for most SEC teams–he’s ready to make a difference right here and right now. This is great news for Carolina fans. It means that we can hope with reason that Clowney is going to have an impact that is just as quick Marcus Lattimore‘s was. Such are the benefits for the team that reels in the country’s most highly rated prospect.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
GoVolsXtra looks at a couple of JUCO transfers:
Like a number of the newcomers in the defensive backfield, Moore is floating between safety and cornerback. Where he’ll end up when UT opens the season remains uncertain, but odds are he will be on the field in some fashion.
“A lot of it depends on what the other guys can do,” coach Derek Dooley said after Monday’s practice. “I just don’t know yet. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Anchor of Gold dissects the first weekend of practice:
This past weekend, the Vanderbilt Commodores ground through a pair of heat-addled practices in their first steps towards a potential first-ever SEC title. Head Coach James Franklin seemed particularly pleased with Saturday’s showing as the ‘Dores went through 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills to gauge the team’s progress heading into the 2011 season. The official Vanderbilt website had a breakdown and recap of the day’s action, and the reports were all positive when it came to the team’s progress from last year’s debacle of a season.
For more SEC East coverage make sure you check out our team previews:
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