Unless you followed high school recruiting in 2009, you may not have been familiar with Andre Debose before the Raiders drafted him. A top prospect in the nation as a senior in high school, Dubose was pegged by Urban Meyer to be the next Percy Harvin at Florida. “I don’t want to single any guy out,” Meyer said after Debose committed to the Gators. “But he is as good as there is. I think he is the best player in America.”
“When I left Seminole High School, I definitely thought I would be a guy that was out in three years, making millions,” Debose told Sports Illustrated a year ago. But coaching changes and two season-ending injuries nearly caused Debose to fall out of this year’s draft altogether. Then came the call from Oakland.
I just ran outside. I didn’t know what to do. [The Raiders] called me like five minutes before it ran across the [TV] screen and they told me, but it really didn’t hit me until I actually saw it on TV. When I saw ‘Andre Debose’ and I saw a picture of myself on ESPN, it was just a surreal feeling. All of the emotions and tears came to my eyes and my mom was screaming… It just made me want to go sprinting. And I ran outside, no shoes on, no shirt, just running, man, because I was just uplifted with joy.
The season is far away, and he’s no lock to make the team, but the man Mike Mayock once compared to Antonio Brown is already beginning to flash an explosive skill set.
Those aforementioned return skills? Here they are on display at Florida…