Dooley’s Dozen: 12 former Gators we’d love to see on the 2022 team
Billy Napier is building a bunch of teams right now.
He is still building the 2022 squad with the transfer portal and summer workouts. He is building the 2023 team with recruiting. And he’s building every other team he will coach at Florida with culture change.
In July, he will hopefully move into a building he is not responsible for — the new football-Mahal where the baseball stadium used to be.
While Napier has done a wonderful job of embracing the past, he can’t use any of the players with expired eligibility on the field.
That won’t stop us, however.
When you think of great games or seasons, it probably crosses your mind once in a while that it would be great to have Player X on this year’s team. Through the magic of Dooley’s Dozen, we’ll give that a shot. You probably look for a Heisman-winning quarterback, but I’m leaving that job to the current quarterback. There’s enough pressure on him.
Here are the 12 players that would make the biggest differences if they were still 20-to-23 years old and attending school at the University of Florida.
Ellis Johnson
AP Photo/Tom Strattman
The great defensive tackle spends a lot of time fishing these days, but if only he could be a college senior again. That was the year he was all-SEC and the MVP of the SEC title game. This is an area where Florida has some concerns, and it would be considered an area of strength with a young Ellis manning the middle next to [autotag]Gervon Dexter[/autotag].
Jacquez Green
Scott Halleran/Allsport
OK, you knew I was going to go for one of the three receivers who helped UF win its first national title in 1996. [autotag]Ike Hilliard[/autotag] and [autotag]Reidel Anthony[/autotag] were amazing, but Florida needs speed. And Green is still behind the FSU defense. Plus, he gives you a weapon in the punt return game.
Reggie Nelson
Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports
Florida has had issues at safety for some time. Not anymore, if the “Eraser” is back there patrolling the secondary. Nelson also brought some attitude to the secondary and always seemed to play his best in the biggest games. That’s a factor with all of these guys.
Louis Oliver
RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Dang, boy, nobody is going across the middle of the field on this fantasy team. Oliver was a walk-on who turned into an All-American and laid some of the biggest licks as a strong safety. He was also very good in run support, another area that has been less than stellar the last couple of years.
Kyle Pitts
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Man, I would love to see him play for Florida again. Even though he had an awesome career and won all kinds of awards, it feels like his time went by in a blur. Maybe it’s because we were dealing with a pandemic. But we are talking about the best tight end to ever play at Florida filling a position of need.
Percy Harvin
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
I’m not sure I will have enough footballs for this team. I thought about [autotag]Wes Chandler[/autotag] to be that hybrid player, but Harvin was a stronger version of Chandler with a better first step. Maybe the best one I’ve seen ever watching college football. He literally is in the argument for the best player ever at Florida.
Wilber Marshall
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Oh, Willl-berrrr. Can you come down from that perch on the Ring of Honor and make life miserable for offenses like you used to do? Marshall was a unique player who played tight end as a freshman and then moved to outside linebacker. From there, he dominated.
Jevon Kearse
Andy Lyons/Allsport
I have a lot of freaks on this list, so why not the man they called “The Freak”? The great thing about Kearse was how Bobby Stoops used him in his junior year. Sometimes he would rush the quarterback, other times just drop slightly off the line of scrimmage with his incredible wingspan and take away a huge chunk of the field. That’s the Freak I want.
Chris Rainey
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Florida needs a special teams demon (instead of having no impact on the game) and nobody was better at blocking kicks – and understanding the techniques used to squeeze between blockers – than Rainey. As you can see, another thing I value is great athletes with versatility for this List.
Lomas Brown
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
I like Florida’s offensive line. I really do. But [autotag]Lomas Brown[/autotag] is on a different level. To have him protecting Anthony Richardson’s blind side would make him feel a lot more comfortable. Have I mentioned that Brown deserves to be in the Ring of Honor? That was a different List.
Fred Taylor
Doug Pensinger/ALLSPORT
Don’t go having a hissy fit because I didn’t choose [autotag]Emmitt Smith[/autotag] to be added to an already crowded running back room. I just think Taylor would be the kind of running back who would fit the Napier offense the best. And just because those NFL Hall of Fame voters are clueless, we believe in Fred.
Evan McPherson
Brad McClenny-USA TODAY NETWORK
I don’t think this team is going to need to try a lot of field goals, but when we need to, we might as well go with the best ever at UF. Actually, he might be technically eligible because he could use his COVID year. But when you are bust kicking your team to the Super Bowl, you have moved on.
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