Both units were bad against UM to start the season. Both units have also improved as the season progressed. Starting with the OL. Slaughter has been the same solid OC that he was last year. The right side had some early issues, but the left side with Barber and Harris has been solid to good all year. Harris is the player we hoped he’d be. Big and athletic, he started to dominate against MS ST. He was on a three game roll going into UK’s DL. I guess he was kinda average against UK and had a couple bad plays, which is OK. He's a true SO and looks like a future NFLer. I think the bye will be good for him. I look for him to stand out in the last five games. The right side issue was really a Kamyrn Waites issue at RT. I don’t know what was going on in practice, but I have no idea how the coaches had him starting over BCD; it's beyond me. Waites is just awful at OT, always has been. He should only be an emergency 3rd team option at OT. BCD is now the full time RT and playing well. He’s shown his skill set translates to the SEC, especially in the last three games. George has been good at RG. I know a lot of “fans” want to throw him under the bus, but he’s just been solid. He kinda got caught in the wash when Waites was getting blown up next to him. He looks better with BCD by his side at RT. Surprisingly, he’s been better against the pass rush than he has with run blocking. I also like Lovett getting some reps at RG. He looks the part and should be ready to take over next year. All in all, the starting OL of Barber, Harris, Slaughter, George, BCD is a quality group. Lovett is a playable 3rd guard. Waites has even shown he could play some OG. Hopefully Manuel will be healthy for UGA. He’d give UF excellent depth at OT. I’d say the OT trio of Barber/BCD/Manuel is the best UF’s had since Meyer. The DL has improved so much since the start of the season. I think it’s why the defense has gone from bad to maybe even good the last month. Losing Lyons really hurt the DL, big blow. I think he would have been the best DT this season. Then Slackman went down as he was getting started and the DT depth was challenged. At DE/edge, there’s a lot of talent, but no established producers. As the season has gone on, the players have just gotten better. I think the DL coaches are a good group and starting to get the talent to show up. I've noticed a big rotation on the DL- DEPTH! I think this has been a big part of the improvement. UF has talent on the DL and coaches are playing all of them. Against UK, I couldn’t keep up with who was in the game, 10+ guys were rotating in and out. Keeping the DL fresh has always been a key to a good defense. At DT, Slackman is back and the FR are playing too. Against UK, I don’t think a DT even played 30 snaps. The DE’s are rotating as many guys as the DTs. A lot of talented players getting PT across the DL. The last five games will be interesting.
Thanks so much @Donzo for this breakdown. Very informative. Feels like the pain of finding the right pieces and getting some youngsters some snaps, might be paying off. Cautiously optimistic...all of the next 4 opponents are possibly better than all 7 we've played. That said, I bet if we re-played all the teams on our schedule, the OL/DL would perform better.
I think the lack of elite and experienced edge guys is what will hold us back against our next 4 opponents. LSU could really tear us apart, but we need to put pressure on Beck, Ewers and Dart in some fashion.
Agree…whether the offensive line holds up and gives lagway time will be the big determiner in whether we can compete in the next four games. Recruiting has been a bit wanting in that area.
Good take, I agree. Growing pains as the lines gel, get experience and the rotations get sorted out. I think this has really shown out at DT. Banks has noticeably improved over last year. He's gone from a just a guy last year to a guy who makes plays. FR Boireau and Robinson have already played well, wich doesn't happen too often as FR on the DL. Boireau has been especially productive, which has kinda surprised me. I thought it woulkd take him 2-3 years to get quality PT as an SEC DT.
Agreed. Need a consistent pass rush/pass rusher to develop. A lot of options. We'll see what happens.
Need Barber and BCD to stay healthy, especially if Manuel isn't back. The 2022 transition class was an issue for OL recruiting, but the last two classes look to be good, as 3* Knijeah Harris has shown. The portal has been pretty solid, too.
As long as we keep BCD in... and we NEVER let Waites take his spot on the right side, we'll be far better off. So... yes, I too hope our starters, especially on the O-line, stay healthy.
OL is a group that consistent rotation usually isn't a great idea. Not sure why we do it so much when the starters are so clear.
I don't see true "rotations" on the OL. Some at OG, but not at OT or OC. Barber and Slaghter have played all the snaps not counting scrub time. Same with BCD since week #2 (thank God). George and Harris start at OG. Lovett and Waites have rotated in. But, the last two games UF has tightened up on the starting five. Lovett and Waites played 8-snaps aganst UT. Against UK more guys played when the Gators got a big lead. I'd actually like to see Kearney get some snaps at OC to get ready for next year. Tough to do with how the schedule ends. I immagine Manuel would play a little when he gets heathy.
It is actually too harsh a term. I just use it as a euphemism for when the back-ups play when the game isn't close.
It seems the first couple of games of games this year had a lot of player rotation on offense and defense, with seemingly no accounting for on the field performance. That is one big issue I have with this coaching staff, which is they seem to have a rotation in mind and they stick with it no matter what the on the field results are. We saw this with the QB rotation before Mertz got injured. One QB would be getting hot and moving the offense, and then get pulled out for the other QB because that was the schedule.
I think we can all agree that we don't want that FSU defector back. He hasn't looked good for them this season.
I don't see that. After the first game, BCD took over RT. Waites was out of the rotation. Mertz is a 5th Yr Sr coming off a productive Jr season. He was going to get PT. Lagway is a Fr and wasn't going to take over 100% until Mertz's injury. At WR, with Badger and Dike stepping up, they've earned more reps. On the DL, both the DTs and edge guys are getting more reps with higher productivity. So, I've noticed earned PT.
I'm not sure whether I follow you on this. If we need the backups it's because we're injured which would be devastating. Or... that too many players were getting tired and getting worn out, which may, or may NOT, be a bad thing. Or... we're so far ahead that we can play the backups. I just hope that these backups are good enough to give our starters a short rest in games. And for that reason, we did the right thing by giving them plenty of playing time early in the season... so that we can count on them in the hardest part of our schedule, upcoming games. I had no problem with the way our coaches brought in several different players, and maybe that's why they rotated in and out the O-lineman. Whatever the case, we have many players that have valuable game-time, situational, real game experience, when the game is still on the line... which is great planning. ______________________________________________________________ Here is one more reason we have so much rotation with players. This explains a lot about what Napier and his coaches are doing to ensure players get better and stay sharp at their positions. Beefed up walk-on program giving Gators better looks in practice
I think she's saying the rotations need to play well for the team to be successful. If the guys rotating in play porly then the team's in trouble.
