ESPN’s Bill Connelly has released his list of the 50 greatest true freshman seasons of all time, with Reggie Green the lone Florida Gator to make the list.
Reggie Green’s 1992 freshman season comes in at No. 49 overall and No. 6 among offensive linemen on Connelly’s list. Green began his career at left tackle before injuries forced him to switch to right tackle later in his career. He was named to the All-SEC team in 1993, but those ailments slowed down his career. Connelly even includes an incredible quote from former NFL head coach Dick Vermeil, who was working for ABC as an analyst, where he says that Green was the “best freshman tackle I have ever seen in college football” on a 1992 broadcast.
As an accompaniment to the top 50 list, Connelly listed the top 10 true freshman seasons by position, including multiple Gators.
[autotag]Chris Leak[/autotag]’s 2003 season (No. 8 QB), [autotag]Vernon Hargreaves III[/autotag]’s 2013 season (No. 9 DB), and [autotag]Evan McPherson[/autotag]’s 2018 season (No. 9 K) all made the top 10 lists for their respective positions.
Thankfully, I’m old enough to vividly remember both Hargreaves’ 2023 and McPherson’s 2018 seasons. I was seven during Leak’s 2003 season (that one’s for you Editor Adam, please don’t fire me) so I can’t tell you how that season felt but it worked out well for Leak at UF; see UF’s 2006 season.
But Vernon at CB as a true freshman? Electric. His lateral movement was absurd and he was the true definition of “shut-down corner”, essentially removing the opponent’s best WR. He was drafted No. 11 overall by his hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016. Unfortunately, his NFL career did not pan out the way his collegiate one did, being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct in the Super Bowl despite being inactive and on street clothes.
McPherson is still the best college kicker I’ve ever seen. “College Kickers” is a thing because you never know what’s going to happen when a college kicker steps up in a big moment.
Not with Evan.
He went 50/50 on extra points and 17/19 on field goals in 2018 for an 89.5% success rate — the best in the SEC that season. His 85% career success rate is No. 1 in SEC history (!) No. 13 in NCAA history (!!), according to CFB Reference.
Every time he stepped up for a big kick, I felt it was an automatic three points. Even the “NFL snobs” love McPherson, as he is currently en route to a Justin Tucker-esque career with the Cincinnati Bengals. Oh, and he can do this:
#Bengals fans, your new kicker, #Florida's Evan McPherson. pic.twitter.com/FP0eTkbhge
— Eric Galko (@EricGalko) May 1, 2021
College kickers, am I right?
The Gators kick off the season on Saturday, September 3 at 7 p.m. EDT at home against the Utah Utes on ESPN.
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