That's pretty scary considering transfers are ready to play and that decent class we had will not affect on the field play very much this year
Nothing says this more than losing 6 players on the D line to the portal and only gaining 1 in return. Like you said it's getting late.
UF isn't adding a lot from the portal because there's no room. With Caraway and Bailey committing, UF is at 84 scholarships: From cam Parker: *Jan. 20, 2025 (Commitments from Harrison Bailey and Micheal Caraway Jr., Chad Gasper reported as a PWO): 121 total, 84 on scholarship.
There is no limit on scholarship players in the spring. If we are limiting ourselves to 85 we are the only ones in the SEC. LSU is sitting at 96 right now. You can take all the way to fall to get down to 85.
I count Edge as a D line as well. Perhaps causing our differences. Gone are Searcy, Pyburn, Collins, Ivory, Capers, Boone and we only added Asare. I still hope we pick up 1 or 2 interior D Linemen before fall practice starts.
Yes, I get it now. Collins at DT and four edge plus walkon Capers. At DT, UF lost three SRs and Collins to the portal. At edge, UF had no SRs and lost four to the portal. At DT, UF added three signees to replace the three SRs. They're -1 DT from last year. I'd like to see them add a NT type to even it out. At edge, UF added two signees and one from the portal. They're also -1 edge from last year. Adding one more experienced edge would be nice.
Experience is key as i think its a terrible idea for a freshman to be counted on in the rotation. Maybe a couple do well but we have almost no experience on the line coming back. Our two deep is scary to me. Maybe a couple freshman ball out and Lyons comes back healthy but he isnt a proven player either.
Myself, I don't see any Fr. pencilled in the two deep. Maybe Banks earns a spot at CB or Brown/Wilson earns a spot at WR, but no Fr. is immediately needed to fill out the two deep. As has been discussed one more experienced NT and edge would be nice to fill out the roster. I guess I'm higher on Lyons than you. He was a good rotational player in 2023 and was practising as the 1st string DT before his injury. Some combo of Banks/Lyons and Robinson/Boireau as the two deep DTs will work when they're healthy. Definately need that 5th guy for experienced depth; injuries will happen at DT. Taylor looks to be ready for rotational depth at DT and UF will need Shivers to be ready for some snaps at NT. 3rd team NT is OK for a Fr. He's the only Fr. DT that I think will play next year. UF has a good walkon DT/NT combo in Brown and Scott. Maybe we get lucky and they can contribute some next year. At edge, just need thay one more experienced player to fill out the position.
Banks is the only proven tackle we have. The others will "probably" be just fine but just not many snaps there. Id feel better iif we had another guy that took 30 or so snaps a game. They may be much improved over last years group but it's speculation.
It's college with 3-4 year careers. A team turns over 30 to 40 percent of it's roster each year. What team is going to have "proven" experienced depth across the board? UF returns four DTs that have shown they can play with one looking like an All SEC type guy. That's about as good as it been at UF since the UM years. We do agree on the general concern. One more SEC ready DT is needed for what UF is looking to accomplish next year.
I was highly surprised by the abilities of Robinson and Boireau. We may be seeing the fruition of CBN's high school recruiting plus NIL. If you are UF's high school recruit, you are expected to contribute to get paid another year. Imho edge/olb has been bloated and needed thinning, but I would have said the same of the secondary, and we ended the season desperate for warm bodies.
Excellent points. Robinson surprised me. I was thinking he wouldn't play much until his 3rd year. He ended up starting to make plays in his 3rd game. It would have been great to keep the 3-deep rotation UF had at edge to end 2024. I posted about it. But, in the transfer/NIL era, a team isn't going to be able to keep that type of depth at one position.
Yep, id like a clear starter and would feel great about the next four. Lyons was going to probably start last year but hows his injury. Boireax looks to be capable as does Robinson but it would be nice if one wasnt going to be the starter. Its normal to not have two starting tackles back but its at a position that carries so much weight. Cam and Dez took alot of snaps last year and the young guys probably do have more upside.
My concern grows if Lyons, Boireau, or Robinson are not ready to replace the grads of Jackson and Watson, that was our two deep. If not then Banks slides into the NT from the DT and perhaps causes Sapp and/or McCray to move over to DT and End. Edge will have Gumbs and James still there. Its too many moving parts but that's what the coaches are for. I'm not counting any of the freshmen or the transfer of Asare, only trying to consider for now the players returning. Otherwise it's a good problem to have.
Good convo. I’m a geek for LOS guys. I pay attention to them and can talk about ‘em. Not worried about replacing Watson. He’s a heck of a Gator. Will probably become a legand, but he really wasn’t a productive DT. He made some highlight plays with his enormous size, but he didn’t make a lot of them. He just wasn’t mobile enough to make many plays that weren't right at him. Frankly, Boireau and especially Robinson were making more plays than Watson last year. As a Sr., Watson was just more reliable. Replacing Jackson will be the issue. He was the best DT on the team last year. At least until Banks turned into JJ Watt against LSU and Ole Miss. As I’ve discussed, Lyons was good in 2023. Better than Banks was last year until the LSU/Ole Miss games. He was also practicing as a starter until his injury. So, UF has the two vets in Banks/Lyons and the two sophomores Robinson/Boireau looking to make 2nd year jumps. Also have Taylor and Brown as deep depth at DT, so they wont need the edge guys to play DT. The hope is Shivers, as a Fr., is able to provide some depth at NT. He has the size that the DTs are losing with Jackson and Watson. That leads us to what we've been talking about today. To complete the DL, UF needs to add an experienced NT type guy. That would complete the restocking of the position.
