FLORIDA FOOTBALL: FOOD FOR A MAN'S SOUL
Down for the count
Information is seeping out that the knee injury to Cornelius Ingram is more serious than originally thought. Ingram who said he felt a “pop” during practice awoke Wednesday morning to severe swelling in his knee. The injury is now expected CI to miss the entire 2008 season (although it hasn’t been confirmed publicly to my knowledge). Last year I was certain that Ingram would be leaving the team and heading to the NFL. With Aaron Hernandez becoming a significant weapon at the end of the year and the commitment of Carl Moore (a big strong WR who could run many of the same patterns CI had) I thought the Gators would easily be able to replace his productivity.
Instead, Ingram decided to return to school to work on his blocking since his NFL career would likely be at tight end rather than at wide receiver. Meyer and the coaches had even talked about installing a two tight end set to get both Hernandez and Ingram on the field at the same time. Unfortunately much of that seems to have fallen by the wayside. While 3rd string Tight End Tate Casey is a fine blocker and receiver he does not have the freakish abilities of either Hernandez or Ingram. I doubt the Gator offense misses Ingram too much, the wealth of offensive talent means that no single player not named Harvin or Tebow is guaranteed many touches. However it’s a sad blow for Ingram who spent a lot of time preparing himself for the upcoming season to show his ability.
It is not known at this time whether Ingram would be eligible to petition the NCAA for a 6th year of eligibility. It seems to depend on whether or not his redshirt year as a freshmen was a “medical” redshirt or not. Unfortunately I don’t believe thats the case. Whatever the future holds, we at O&BHue hope Ingram the best and more than anything want to continue rooting for him at the next level. Based on his natural ability, if he can recover from this injury it’s likely that some NFL team would give him a shot on the playing field and, hopefully, discover a diamond in the rough. Good Luck Cornelius!!!
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9 Comments so far
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I hate to say it. People get all excited when these kids decide to stick around at a school instead of going pro but he should have stayed in the draft. The rehabilitation and benefits for a player who gets hurt in an NFL camp are much better than getting hurt in college. Everyone likes to hype of the success stories but no one likes to mention the horrible tragedies like this when kids come back that extra year.
By Burt on 08.07.08 8:37 pm
Tragedy? C’mon… this is not a tragedy. Tragedies are counted in the ranks of terrorist attacks, serial murders and child abusers.
Cornelius Ingram will graduate with a diploma from the University of Florida. He will have a set of skills to succeed in any venture he pursues in life, whether that’s football or not (and I’m pretty sure he’ll get a good run in football somewhere, sometime.)
This should not be a “don’t stay in school!” scare thread. Injuries are a part of life and a part of football. You roll the dice every day. Ingram will be fine.
By GatorPilot on 08.07.08 9:25 pm
CI will heal, joing the combine, and be in the NFL. He will make it, I believe in him.
By Gatorbait1408 on 08.07.08 9:59 pm
I feel bad for CI - he came back and ws a key player for a potential championship run. There are surely other players and positions that would be more devastating, but you’ve got to feel for a kid that came back to play his senior yer and raise his NFL stock, only to get hurt in a peseason non-contact drill. Meyer said he as 1 class left to graduate. We’ll be routing for him at the combines next spring.
By skigator93 on 08.07.08 10:34 pm
This hurts a lot. Ingram was one of our best receivers. He was a tough matchup for any defense. He will be missed.
By CD on 08.08.08 3:38 am
He was a tough task for defenses because he was a mismatch. All else being equal, let’s hope that Aaron Hernandez can step up to the task.
On a side note, this also hurts because Urban wanted to use a lot of two tight end sets this year. Without Ingram, he’ll have to play both Hernandez and Casey. Otherwise, he could just try sets that only Hernandez.
By Vince Gagliano on 08.08.08 7:40 am
Tate Casey does not excite, really. He’s only an OK receiver. Pretty good blocker though.
By GatorPilot on 08.08.08 8:19 am
I’ve heard people who follow the program say that Tate Casey is actually a better reciever than a blocker (aka an average blocker at best).
By Keltic Gator on 08.08.08 9:00 pm
To say that losing a consistent third-down over the middle threat like CI won’t hurt the team is ridiculous. Of course it will hurt . . .
We’ll probably only average 45 points a game instead of 49. Galdarnit!
Thoughts and prayers to CI, though. Tough break, kid, but certainly not a death sentence.
By Corey on 08.12.08 12:57 am
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