Chat with Derek Tyson

Welcome to GatorNation! On Wednesday, writer Derek Tyson stops by to chat about everything Florida.
Tyson joined ESPN.com in 2011. He worked as a football and recruiting analyst for GatorCountry.com before joining ESPN, and he currently resides in Gainesville, Fla.
Send your questions now and join Tyson Wednesday at noon ET!
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Derek Tyson (12:01 PM)
Welcome to another GatorNation live chat. If I don't get to your question please feel free to ask it on our message board or send me a tweet to @DerekTysonESPN
gatorcane12 (Tuscaloosa, AL)
will the gators get kelvin taylor this weekend
Derek Tyson (12:01 PM)
Yes in my opinion they will get Kelvin Taylor Saturday.
Mike Johnson (florida)
Is Kevin Taylor a Gator? Can Florida make a dent in A. Fullwood? Joshua Dobbs is the best early clutch QB I have seen so far. Are we(Muschamp) giving this kid enough respect by not offering him yet? Do you see any early 5 star watch list commits coming this week besides Taylor? Who do you see UF getting at WR and TE? Any DL or DB supprizes for us in the upcoming months?
Derek Tyson (12:03 PM)
If you could please try to limit your questions to one question per post. Florida has a long way to go to get Fulwood after talking with him for a while on Sunday, I believe his heard is set on leaving the state.
Morgan (Macon, Ga.)
Derek, do you feel Kelvin Taylor will pick the Gators after this weekend? And do you think Kent Taylor will have more of an impact as a WR or a TE in 2012?
Derek Tyson (12:05 PM)
I believe Kent Taylor will make more of an impact split out wide as a freshman. Whether they still call him a tight end or receiver remains to be seen. I just think they will use him like an Aaron Hernandez in New England.
Joe (Boston)
When is Kelvin Taylor announcing his decision? When he does, do you think he will pick Alabama or Florida? My hope is he wants to follow in his father's footsteps, but you never know.
Derek Tyson (12:06 PM)
I believe he will be a Gator. Pretty confident about it too.
Chris Fiegler (Latham,NY)
Who will be the First Gator to be selected in the 2012 NFL Draft?
Derek Tyson (12:07 PM)
I get this question every week it seems like. I think Jaye Howard will be the first selection in the draft. Next quess would be Rainey.
Frank (Miami)
Is Mike Gillislee a good enough back to lead us like Demps and Rainey did last year or will we see Matt Jones and Mack Brown in a tandem? Thanks.
Derek Tyson (12:07 PM)
I think you will see all three guys get extensive carries this year, but yes Gillislee is talented enough to be the primary ball carrier.
Joshua (Aplachicola,FL)
What are some of the big names that will be at Junior Day this weekend for UF? Thanks Derek
Derek Tyson (12:09 PM)
OL Laremy Tunsil, RB Kelvin Taylor, RB Ryan Green, WR Jordan Cunningham, WR Stacy Coley, S Marcell Harris, S Nick Washington, RB commit Adam Lane, DT commit Caleb Brantley, DE Carl Lawson, DE Stacy Thomas, WR Taj Williams, WR Reggie Davis, WR Rodney Adams are just some of the top names that will be in attendance.
David (Jacksonville)
flgator9606 here... What, if anything, should we take from Spring Practice this year? We've seen/heard offense look good in past springs only to look awful during the season.
Derek Tyson (12:12 PM)
Ideally you'd like to see a starting quarterback emerge, but Florida needs to identify it's playmakers on offense now that Rainey and Demps are gone.Spring practice will probably be closed to the public and media like last year so it's hard to really take anything away because no one really knows whats going on except the coaches.
UF_Peru (Virginia)
Do you have any new details on FEHOKO FANAIKA? Does he have a timeline to make his decision? Can you provide a least of the players that are going to be on campus this up coming weekend for junior weekend? Thanks in advance for the information.
Derek Tyson (12:14 PM)
No new details on Fanaika other than he told me he will be announcing next week after talking things over with his family. Wherever he chooses to go, he said he would like to redshirt. In my opinion that defeats the purpose of taking a juco guy. They might as well take an extra OL next year.
Paul (Maryland)
How did we miss on so many recruits? It seemed as if we were in the running but then came up short.
Derek Tyson (12:17 PM)
At least three players were silently committed to Florida within two weeks of signing day who signed elsewhere. Florida still ended up with the 4th class and they were able to flip Fowler. Tracy Howard is extremely talented but it wasn't a huge area of need for Florida. Missing out on Diggs and Agholor hurt, but the Florida coaches though they had Diggs in the bag. The fact is, when you are in on several top players leading up to signing day, you risk the chance of not getting any of them. I think Florida learned their lesson and you will see some changes going in to next year.
Jeff (palm beach)
Who do you think is floridas biggest target in this class?
Derek Tyson (12:18 PM)
not so much a person but I think the wide receiver position and the offensive line are clearly areas that need to be addressed. I expect Florida to load up on top WR's this year.
Matt (Florida)
Seems like a lot of DB's are high on Florida, how many DB's do you think the gators sign in the 2013 class?
Derek Tyson (12:20 PM)
probably 4-5. Some DB's project at other positions, like you may see them take 6 DB's if they think a safety will grow in to an OLB.
Braxton (Athens,Ga)
Do you think we have a good chance at Leon Mcquay, Marcell Harris, Vernon Hargreaves, and Nick Washingtion?
Derek Tyson (12:20 PM)
Yes I do, think they have a great shot at all four players.
gatornation3379 (cordova tenn)
DT keep up the good work.Do you think we get kelvin taylor reggie davis and taj williams commits and what other guys can you see commiting thanks bro #squad.
Derek Tyson (12:22 PM)
I could see FLorida getting at least three commitments this weekend, and that doesn't include Reggie Davis or Taj Williams. Not saying one or both of those guys couldn't happen. I just think this will be a huge weekend for Florida.
Ry (Savannah)
I will be interested to see the impact of the new strength and conditioning coach. What do you think the immediate impacts will be for next year?
Derek Tyson (12:22 PM)
I think the focus will be getting more physical up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
gatorcane12 (Tuscaloosa, AL)
Who do you think commits at junior day
Derek Tyson (12:23 PM)
Don't want to ruin anyones big day, but I expect at least three guys to commit.
CP (Clearwater)
I'm loving how good our D can potentially be next year and should keep us in most games when all healthy. But who the heck is gonna be calling plays next year boss? Driskel looked lost last year and showed no poise and came out of hs as the next coming of Tebow. Brissett looked more comfortable out there but was equally awful!
Derek Tyson (12:25 PM)
I don't think you can judge either guy by what happened last year. The coaches where trying to get Brantley prepared and weren't giving sufficient time to the young guys. Obviously when he went down, Florida was in a tough spot. With a whole off-season to learn the playbook and spend time with Brent Pease, I think there will be significant improvement. Too early to say who will be the starter though.
Derek Tyson (12:27 PM)
Quick update on Fehoko Fanaika, he won't be visiting any schools this weekend, but will visit LSU next weekend before deciding.
Barry (Darien)
How much will the Gators offense look like the Pats with the abundance of TEs and the dearth of WRs?
Derek Tyson (12:29 PM)
It could be very similar. A.C. Leonard I believe will have a breakout year and Jordan Reed is also a threat at TE.
CP (Clearwater)
When are we finally gonna get a bruiser running back ala Fred Taylor? We ever gonna see a Percy again? Not getting Diggs hurt, any big WR's in 2013 looking our way?
Derek Tyson (12:30 PM)
Matt Jones is 6-3/225 and has plenty of room to develop. Also dont forget about Adam Lane commiting to UF. He may not be tall at only 5-7, but he's 218-pounds, like a Maurice Jones-Drew or Ray Rice type.
Jeffrey (Florida)
with all the needs on OL, WR, and RB will this be a small class on the defensive side?
Derek Tyson (12:32 PM)
Three of four Florida 2013 commits are on the defensive side of the ball and the Gators are in on Marcell Harris, Leon McQuay, Nick Washington, Elijah Daniel, Vernon Hargreaves, Keanu Neal, E.J. Levenberry....etc, I think Florida will still land a good amount of defensive players.
Sean (Gainesville)
obviously there are a great deal of talented receivers in the 2013 class. How many do you think UF will sign and are there any in particular that you see committing in the near future being that we are hosting a junior day this coming weekend
Derek Tyson (12:33 PM)
I think 4-5 receivers. I think UF could land at least one this weekend.
Jeffrey (Florida)
Seems with some recruits we lose we are the parents favorite but not the kids? Is there an image issue at Florida?
Derek Tyson (12:34 PM)
Not necessarily. Florida had two down years on the field which hurt, but again Florida had a consensus top five class this year, that's pretty darn good.
Tyler (Athens, GA)
Derek Why did Stefon Diggs choose the Terps over UF?
Derek Tyson (12:35 PM)
Who knows, Florida felt VERY confident they would land him. IF he would have made his decision on signing day, I believe it would have been UF.
Ben (Tallahasse)
When will Muschamp get revenge on his alma mater? Any chance next year? No pun intended.
Derek Tyson (12:35 PM)
Who knows. I know Brent Pease put together a pretty good game plan when Boise played UGA last year that first game. Maybe that will help Florida this year.
Terry Webb (Jacksonville, Fl)
Gators going after any quarterbacks for 2013 class.
Derek Tyson (12:37 PM)
Christian Hackenberg, Brice Ramsey, Kevin Olsen, and Cody Thomas are just a few off the top of my head. Several other names will pop up shortly.
Ben (Tallahasse)
Why is our class rated so highly? Seems like we didn't really fill a lot of our needs, and we missed on a few big timers.
Derek Tyson (12:39 PM)
I'd disagree, yes Florida didn't fill their needs at WR and would have liked to add another lineman or two. They still landed the top offensive tackle in the country and one of the top guards in the country. They got bigger and added depth in the front seven on defense. They also landed two of the top four tight ends in the country. So they did a lot of good things in this class.
George (Jacksonville)
Devin washington being Nick Washingtons half brother, does that play well for us in the recruiting process?
Derek Tyson (12:40 PM)
Yes it does and he grew up a Florida fan. Gators haven't offered yet though.
Concerned (Georgia)
As a Georgia fan, sorry to intrude, but you mention Brice Ramsey in your list of QBs Florida might go after. Is he still a strong verbal to Georgia?
Derek Tyson (12:44 PM)
Yes he is a strong verbal to UGA, but Florida is continuing to pursue him. He visited Florida for a few games last year even though he was committed. I don't believe he will switch, but as long as Florida pursues him, I just list him as a possibility.
EC (Gainesville)
Mack Brown had a lot of hype coming to Florida. Do you think he could have contributed more last year, and how do you project his role next year?
Derek Tyson (12:46 PM)
If he can pick up the pass blocking and playbook he definitely has a chance to get some carries. He's a very talented back.
Ben (Tallahasse)
What SEC teams have an early advantage on the 13 class? Who's got the best start?
Derek Tyson (12:50 PM)
I think Alabama and Florid have gotten off to a tremendous start. Look for Florida to really do well this weekend.
Derek Tyson (12:53 PM)
Ok, that will do it for today's chat. Thanks again for all the great questions. If I didn't get to your question please feel free to send me a tweet @DerekTysonESPN.
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