Position Group Status After Gasparilla Bowl

My first live Gator game since covid. I kinda forgot how different football is in person.You see a lot more on TV. I got more from watching the highlights than at the game. A lot of guys played, which is what we wanted to see.

QB: Lagway was still not 100%. I look forward to seeing him healthy next year. Thinking about it, I actually liked that he struggled some, especially in the 1st half. Great experience for him overcoming adversity. He had two bad INTs, he didn’t see the underneath zone coverages on either play- growing pains. This is exactly why we wanted a bowl game. This learning experience is invaluable.

RB: How can any Gator fan be anything other than jacked about the three man depth chart of Baugh/Jackson/Daniels. We knew about Baugh and Jackson. This was the coming out party for Daniels. He brings a dynamic speed dimension to the group.

WR: Mizell with probably the best game of his career. Makes ya feel good about him going into 2025. Add in a healthy Wilson, Jackson, Sturdivant (UCLA transfer) and the two top recruits, Brown and Wilson. UF looks real good for next year. Nice mix of different sizes and all of them except for Jackson have good to excellent speed.

TE: Nice to see Hansen and Livingston be productive. We also got to see Jackson get some minutes. He’s a different athlete, kinda like Daniels at RB. Looking forward to what he shows in the spring.

OL: For those not impressed with George and BCD on the right side this year, we saw what it was like without them. It was nice to see Lovett start at RT, excellent game day experience. Waites started at RG, I was not impressed. I just don’t think he’s anything other than deep depth.
It was great all the young guys played, especially Kearny, Jones and Westphal. The exact experience we wanted them to get.

DL: I’m gonna keep saying it, excellent experience for the young guys. Robinson and Boireau went from 10-15 snaps as depth rotation to being in the first group with Watson. The whole room played- perfect. Tulane has a nice OL, much better than FSUs; so, good quality experience.

Edge: They were a little thin. This group has been hit the hardest by portal departures. Good to see #9 Weston play a lot. For the three guys left from the 5-man rotation, Gumbs and James looked the most active, as they should have been. True Fr. McCray seemed a little quiet which is OK- it was his last game as a Fr. By this time next year, he’ll probably be the #1 edge.

LB: What a group! From top to bottom, probably the deepest group on the team.

DB: Sill a lot of guys hurt here. I thought Castell stood out and Bridges capped an excellent year with another INT. A lot of injured talent coming back next year. Three top DB recruits were also added. Looking forward to seeing how things shake out here this spring.

This roster is in excellent shape heading into 2025. Probably the best its been since the CM years.

 

I hear ya, I just think it’s a freshman thing. QB and DL/edge are probably the two most difficult positions for true freshmen. Like how Lagway threw two poor INTs, it’s a tough learning process. What I saw from McCray was he’d get attached to O-linemen. He needs to learn to get slippery like James was on his sack. For starting, if Sapp is coming back, he wouldn't need to start next year.

Definitely need more players at edge. To start two more good recruits coming in. From the portal I think one guy ready for for PT and 1 or 2 prospect types would put UF in good shape.

 

Thanks.

Yeah, Webb can play. It'll be interesting on how it works out.

 

Yes... So much young talent at ILB. Been a long since we could say that.

 

Nice observation, it makes sence.

The rush looked different from the past few games. I was thinking it was down becasue of the departures at edge, and Jackson and Banks not being able to play at DT. But, Tulane started their wildcat QB. UF, with limited personal, probably emphasized containment rather than an all out rush on their QB.

 

I can't say I disagree. Although I thought CBN had a good game yesterday. He started running those play action passes to the TE which proved to be very successful.

Big picture, more ingenuity on offense would be a good thing.

 

Good info. I agree on both Waites and McCray.

I think this is it for Waites in the rotation. On the right side they were down George, BCD and Manuel. Leaving Lovett and Waites as the only experienced players left. I think Kearney ended up playing more than Waites by the end of the game. Westphal and Jones got to play too.

I'd be surprised if McCray isn't real good next year.