During UF's run to a national title in 2006, David Nelson, a redshirt freshman, was one of several young receivers - including Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy and Riley Cooper - learning from the likes of Dallas Baker and Andre Caldwell.
Now, Nelson has come full circle, and he will be partially responsible for the development of a young, inexperienced receiving corps, including true freshman Andre Debose and redshirt freshmen Frankie Hammond Jr., Omarius Hines and T.J. Lawrence.
"They're constantly trying to learn, constantly trying to get better and learn from us, and that's not stuff you see from young guys a lot," Nelson said Friday. "They're all competing, they all want to play and they all want to get on the field."
The fact that UF will take the field this season without its top two receivers from 2008 has been somewhat overlooked. With the entire two-deep coming back on defense, Tim Tebow returning for his farewell tour and a few experienced players stepping up on the offensive line, people seem to think the Gators have no question marks on their depth chart.
Percy Harvin is gone. So is Louis Murphy. The player with the most receptions last year following those two was Aaron Hernandez, who will likely lead the team in catches this season. He's a proven threat and he's arguably Tebow's most reliable target, but he only had 34 receptions last season.
Nelson, a redshirt senior, is definitely the leader of the receiving corps. He has the necessary experience, although he has never really been anything more than a third or fourth receiver unless injuries forced the situation, he has been effective when put on the field, making two of the biggest catches of the season.
"I've gone through a lot here. I've seen it all here," he said. "I feel like I have a lot to relay to these guys and relay to the team, to the receivers."
Nelson has come up big when needed, and Deonte Thompson seems to have the explosiveness and versatility UF needs. But can either of them take over as the No. 1 receiver?
Cooper's future at UF is uncertain, although all signs point to him signing a professional baseball contract but still playing his senior season. Nelson has been texting Cooper with his "recruiting spiel" in an attempt to get him to stay, and keeping the 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior would be a huge help for Nelson.
"He's one of those hard-nosed receivers you don't see very often," Nelson said. "He brings a different element to this receiver group. He's something that we need on this team, and we hope he decides to come back."
If he leaves, Nelson and Thompson will be the Gators' top two receivers. Of the receivers likely to see significant time on the field in 2009, only three are upperclassmen - Nelson, Cooper and Carl Moore.
Back in 2006, Harvin was a freshman and gave the college football world its first glimpses of his versatility and electrifying playmaking ability. Now Debose is expected to fill the "Percy Position." Although it's already been written that fans should anticipate Debose to perform more like Harvin did as a freshman - not an NFL-ready junior - those expectations may still be too high, as Debose's summer workouts have been hampered this summer by a hamstring injury.
So maybe the receivers won't be big-play threats like last year. And maybe they don't have to be.
With the defense keeping opponents off the board, the Gators may not even need more than a few touchdowns per game to repeat as national champions, and those points likely won't be hard to come across with the other talent around Tebow. UF has the dependable pass-catcher it needs in Hernandez and two speedy playmakers - Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey - out of the backfield.
The receiving corps just needs to establish itself as enough of a threat to draw attention from defenders, giving the running backs room to utilize their home-run potential. And with Nelson now the leader, the other wideouts need to mirror the development of UF's young, inexperienced receivers from 2006.
