FOUR BITS: Driskel, O’Day, Tebow, Final Four

By Adam Silverstein
October 26, 2010

1 » Florida Gators five-star quarterback commitment Jeff Driskel (Oviedo, FL) was named Sports Illustrated’s High School Player of the Week on Tuesday. Driskel, who compares his style of play to Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, said the opportunity to play for Florida was too much to turn down. “It’s a great academic school,” he said. “They have a great football program. They’re always gonna have the best athletes and they’re always gonna be competitors.” Driskel accounted for 346 total yards and four touchdowns on Friday to earn SI’s honor; on the season he’s posted 1,205 passing yards and 10 touchdowns along with 881 rushing yards and 13 scores.

2 » Former Florida pitcher Darren O’Day, who is currently working in relief for the Texas Rangers, will play a significant role with the team during its first World Series appearance in franchise history. “You’re always confident in your ability, but it’s hard to see the major leagues and World Series from a walk-on tryout in college,” O’Day told The Florida Times-Union. “You never know what you can do. You just got to keep trying.”

3 » With the Denver Broncos set to fly to London, England, later this week to participate in the NFL’s annual game overseas, rookie QB Tim Tebow (though not a starter) was the object of the British press’ affection during a teleconference on Tuesday. Tebow touched on a number of topics during the press call including what he would normally be doing for Halloween, how he feels about sitting behind starting QB Kyle Orton and how important it is for an athlete to send positive messages to the public.

4 » Answering a number of Southeastern Conference basketball questions on Tuesday, ESPN Insider’s LaRue Cook contends that the Gators are indeed a legitimate Final Four contender this season. Citing the fact that every returning starter scores in double digits and that sophomore forward Erik Murphy will emerge as “the surprise player of the season,” Cook thinks the biggest question surrounding Florida is its defense (which allowed 94.9 points per 100 possessions, 67th in the nation last year). Freshman power forward Patric Young should help the team defensively, while freshman F Casey Prather will be able to add some much-needed depth to the bench. Cook also notes that UF has a solid chance to reach No. 1 in the country early in the season if it can go at least 3-1 in its four tough nonconference games against Ohio State, Florida State, Kansas State and Xavier.

Photo Credit: ESPN

4 Comments

  1. Mr2Bits says:

    I think Driskel knows it’s going to be the D&B(Burton) show in 2 years or maybe next year………expect to see allot of what 2006 looked like!

  2. Brett says:

    Adam-

    Big fan. I’m currently a student at UF and read as much of your site as time allows. Here are some highlights my brother filmed/edited of Driskel from a game he went to about 2 weeks ago (St. Cloud). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjZiA9yKm3E

    As Driskel has matured it looks like his running ability is catching up to his arm strength. I personally think he can potentially combine what Burton & Brantley bring to the table and become the ideal QB for our scheme. Do you think he will be given a chance to compete with Brantley/Burton next year or simply be redshirted?

    • Brett – Thanks for posting that. He will not be redshirted unless he is unfortunate enough to get injured or does not see any game action. As far as competing with Brantley, that will only happen if Brantley turns out to be a bust. That being said, Driskel will be the primary back-up for Brantley next year.

  3. Brett says:

    Adam- Good to hear. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out at that position. Hopefully, Burton will not mind remaining in a hybrid role or changing positions altogether like Jordan Reed did.

    If you’re interested in an individual Driskel highlight video to post on your page later in the season (he’s making one similar in style to that one), I can have my brother contact you. He is a student at UCF who also works for Apopka High School’s coaching staff. He has been able to get to a few of Driskel’s games when scheduling doesn’t conflict. He loves watching him, because it is not very often that you get to see a kid with that kind of superior talent in hs.

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