Getting on a Bengals track would be good thing for Jaguars' future

  Getting on a Bengals track would be good thing for Jaguars' future

Oh, sure, Will Richard, Kyle Lofton, Myreon Jones and Alex Fudge occasionally have nice moments, but the truth is Florida has yet to find much success without Castleton doing an inordinate amount of heavy lifting.

It’s not quite mythological figure Atlas having the world on his shoulders or LeBron James in his early years lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to multiple NBA Finals, but you get the point.

The Gators -- a tough defensive team, at least when not facing a high-powered offense like Alabama -- are so heavily dependent on Castleton as a scorer and rebounder that it’s hard to imagine what this team might look like if Golden hadn’t sold him on sticking around Gainesville one more year.

Without Castleton, the Gators (13-11, 6-5 in SEC) might now be flirting with their first 20-loss season since Don DeVoe had a one-year trial run during the first Bush administration.

Yes, Castleton is that much of a difference-maker because nobody else can be trusted to deliver anywhere close to his production game after game.

During and before Wednesday night’s 97-69 thrashing in Tuscaloosa by No. 3-ranked Alabama, nothing changed from last year’s pattern when Castleton practically hoisted the Gators on his back and carried them to a 20-14 record and a National Invitation Tournament berth in Mike White’s farewell season.