Several Gators Will Consider NFL Draft Option

As the end of the season approaches, players will start considering whether to leave early for the NFL draft or stay around for another year. The Florida Gators have plenty of young talent, but head coach Urban Meyer is not ready quite yet to talk to some of the juniors about their upcoming decision.

Meyer will wait until after the team’s matchup in Atlanta with Alabama.

“That’s impossible to do right now. There’s an appropriate time after the SEC game,” Meyer said. “I’ll sit down with some of them, but a lot of them don’t decide until after.”

He said he counts seven juniors on his squad that are NFL-caliber players. But if they come to him asking for advice, he won’t give them an answer. Instead, Meyer will place a couple calls for the player to get an expert’s advice.

“I don’t advise. I ask. I put them with contacts because I can’t give advice, I don’t want to do that,” Meyer said.

Even though he doesn’t like to advise the players, Meyer doesn’t like players jumping early if they aren’t guaranteed to be picked in the early rounds. He would rather see his players graduate.

“As a general rule, the average NFL life is not very long, but the quality of getting a degree,” Meyer said.

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- QB Tim Tebow has not put up the Hesiman-like numbers this year that he has racked up the past two years when he won and was a finalist. Meyer still expects him to be invited to New York for the Hesiman. “He’s one of the best players in college football. He’s the quarterback of the No.1 team in college football. The Heisman goes to the best player, and it would be hard to argue he’s not.”

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- RB Emmanuel Moody was in a boot after spraining his ankle Saturday, but Meyer said it was not a high sprain.

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- S Will Hill has seen the majority of his playing time at the nickelback in the Joker package. The Gators opt to use a third safety instead of a corner for pass rush purposes. “Who’s a better blitzer because that guy a lot of times is a blitzer. Will Hill is a tremendous guy coming off the edge.”

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- K Caleb Sturgis missed three field-goal attempts against South Carolina. Meyer said the problem is similar to a golfer pulling his head during his swing, sending the ball wide left. “It’s following through. I’m not a kicking expert, I’m much better with punting. Kicking is a non-athletics movement. It’s an art, it’s a skill. The one thing about Caleb is he takes it very seriously.”