Jeff Demps is fast, running backs of the future, and the 200th SEC title

[travisduncan]

University of Florida's Jeff Demps ICON Sports Media

No need to tell you Jeff Demps is the fastest Gator on the football team. He's actually one of the fastest humans on the planet-at least this track season.

Saturday he set a personal best (wind-aided) 9.96 in the 100 meters at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic.

Because it was wind-aided it won't count as an official record, but the time stands as the fastest 100m time in the entire world this track season.

You could argue Demps is the single most important player on the offensive side of the ball.

If John Brantley can get the ball in his hands, (can't be that hard right) the Gators can move the chains, and hopefully score the ball in the red zone. Brantley won't need to be brilliant in that case-just efficient. As we've heard several times this spring, just let a guy like Demps get the ball in space.

Below is a clip from Demps win in the 100m at the Florida Relays.

While guys like Demps and Chris Rainey are Urban Meyer products, and darn good ones, they represent perhaps a different style running back than what Will Muschamp will bring in.

You can never have enough pure speed in the SEC, but going back to Muschamp's comments about the SEC being a "line of scrimmage" league, Gator running backs of the future might be bigger more pound it through the middle. Or perhaps we might see a one-two punch, a fast speedy guy and a pounder al la what many NFL teams do.

In the meantime, we're all looking forward to seeing how Demps, Rainey and Trey Burton will be used.

It's never to early to think about 2013 is it?

The Gators are out in front for running back by the name of Derrick Henry. He's 6-foot-3 and 232 and he's a high school sophomore.

Henry has met with the Gators coaches and there is strong mutual interest.

He's out of Yulee High School in Yulee Florida, and the scouting services are giving him the 5-star treatment early. Miami, Notre Dame, Florida State and UGa are among the other big boys after him.

He said last week the Gators are his choice as of now, followed by Georgia, FSU, South Carolina and Alabama.

-The Gators Golf Team won its 15th SEC title this weekend. The title marks the 200th SEC title for the University of Florida across all sports.

Around the SEC:

The Ol' Ball Coach got a raise for his efforts the last couple of seasons. Steve Spurrier will now make $800,000 per season.

Tennessee donors are threatening to pull funding because of Bruce Pearl's termination.

Take heart Gator fans, a few other SEC schools will have major questions at QB this season.

Gene Chizik needs to replace Cam Newton and prove to the world that he can actually coach and not simply the benefactor of a one-time amazing talent. Junior Barrett Trotter and sophomore Clint Moseley will battle it out this fall.

A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims are competing for the starting job at 'Bama. Neither was overly impressive in Saturday's Spring Game. Nick Saban continues to say they could go with a QB by committee.

Ole Miss will have a QB battle headed into Fall practice.

Meanwhile, the Razorbacks could be set at quarterback. Junior Tyler Wilson had a strong Spring Game Saturday. He passed for three touchdowns and led his squad to six TD drives.

Vanderbilt coach James Franklin believes his team is further along than they were in 2010.

LSU running back Spencer Ware had a very nice Spring Game rushing for 94 yards, now he'll join the Tiger baseball team and could start in left field.

 

[robdog]

Dam that guy is fast! Going to be exciting to watch and hopefully Weis utilizes him properly. Screen passes maybe???

 

[DRU2012]

We all know (and SAW--before he got hurt by being OVER utilized in Addazio's "Never Stretch the Field"-offense) how great Demps can be. With him healthy and Rainey reaching his true potential, we COULD be an exciting offense--but it'll take at least the credible THREAT of a passing game, control/possession passes AND a well-timed bomb now and then, to give these smaller backs some room in the secondary and to generally ease their physical burden-of-responsibility. Otherwise they risk getting banged up and worn down over the course of the SEC-schedule, lessen their effectiveness (maybe even lose one or the other for a game or two here and there, like before).
Getting a bigger (but still fast) guy is of course the answer in a line-of-scrimmage-control Offense, exactly what Muschamp is talking about. The hope was (and still is, I think, pending healing) that Mack Brown, though not that tall still a bit "bigger" all around) would help in this regard...hopefully he still will be a large part of this offense when his broken fibula heals. Still, that kid Derrick Henry sounds and looks like a near perfect fit for our future plans. When was the last time we had one of those? Fred Taylor?
Meanwhile, though, things are far from bleak for this offense--there's just a lot up in the air until summer/fall, never a comfortable position...the line and the QB are the questions whose answers will make the difference, record-wise.