Orange and Blue Hue » Derrick Harvey: Headhunter

harvey[1].jpg

With the NFL draft just nine days away, it’s time to pay homage to the junior DE’s career.

As one of the last recruits of the Ron Zook era, Harvey was one of the most highly touted prospects at the front four in ‘04. Four years later, not much has changed. With one redshirt season, SEC title, national championship, and defensive MVP on his belt, he’s projected to go high in the first round.

Making his life all the sweeter:

*The New York Giants showed America how dangerous a defensive line can be. Now, pass rushers are all the rage in the NFL, which likely means an earlier pick and higher contract.

*Harvey has the potential to play at either defensive tackle or defensive end, instantly increasing the number of chances that he has to start, weather in a 4-3 or a 3-4 defense. Okay, maybe I’m pushing it, especially with the 3-4, but his ability to play at either position is still useful.

*He was one of the few upperclassmen/starters around after UF’s national championship season, giving him a golden opportunity to exhibit leadership. That could potentially come into play later.

With the influx of youth last year, Harvey helped make Florida’s pass rush respectable. I can still hear Mick Hubert accentuating the middle part of his name like a pirate: “Derrick HARRRRRGHVEY” I still remember how, like a quartet of skilled magicians, he and his three fellow starters at DL made Troy Smith disappear.

We’re all proud of you, Big D. You picked a great time to go pro, and we wish you the best. It’ll be a wild roller-coaster ride, but we know you’ll come out of it just fine.

2 Comments so far

Good luck, DH…

You will be missed so come back and see us soon…

Good luck to DH as well.

We probably need a post about the Gator softball team. They are becoming perhaps the most dominant team in UF history. They are currently ranked #3 and returning home after an 8 game road trip where they swept UGA, MSU and FSU. No game on the road trip was closer than 4 runs - a blowout from a softball standpoint.

They are also currently riding a 21 game winning strek dating back to March 12 - their last loss, in Tuscaloosa 1-0 to current top-ranked #1 Alabama. They beat Alabama 8-4 in the second game of a double header to earn the split.

I normally don’t follow the softball team, but look forward to seeing them tey to win us a trophy in the college world series this summer.

Oh, and by the way - our current favorite SEC foe, Kentucky, comes to G’ville for a three game series this weekend. Rut roh.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>