Florida Defense is moving in the right direction

He's very pro-defense. Says our dline pressured as much as GA's, but our LB pressure is no good. Says dline just lacks an edge rusher. Believes recruiting is going to solve needs.


He's more critical of the offense. My own take -- offense would be ok if not for OLINE recruiting and portal situation. We need to address that.

 

Good points. Total offense/defense are bad stats because they are heavily influenced by play tempo (and now length of game) and strength of opposing units. Efficiencies try to control for both of these factors. Using ESPN’s defensive efficiency stat, Florida is indeed a bit worse on D this year, unfortunately:

Year………Rating………Rank
2022……….49.1…………69
2023……….44.4…………86

%{year} %{view} College Football Power Index - ESPN

 

I agree with James, and even Shemar is playing out of position at ILB somewhat. The LB's are really in a tough spot right now with 3 really good offenses about to pop up on the schedule.

 

I'm super psyched that they can't stop the run or passing game.

 

Gator 1 - we are not that bad
Gator 2 - based on the numbers, we are not good
Gator 3 - numbers will get worse against our upcoming schedule
Gator 1 - you’re right. Sorry I pumped sunshine

 

Any Dez Watson sightings this season ? You’d think he’d be hard to miss.

 

He's been getting about a dozen snaps a game which is good I guess. He created the Milton interception vs UT.

May see more of him today.

 

I see him every week. Just hasn’t made the jump in yearly progress as expected.

 

Does the original poster still think it’s moving in the right direction? After 480+ yards by 2-6 Arkansas?

 

Gave up 6.1 yards per play vs Ark, right in line with our season average, which again would put us in the 100's for FBS. Against a team that just fired their OC. Didn't even get off the field on 3rd down, Arky 50% conversion.

The defense is 100% moving in the WRONG direction.

 

At the risk of getting this thread locked….i agree with you.

 

Apparently some folks didn’t watch the Arky game today!

 

We were missing James at LB, and we don’t have enough depth/experienced players to overcome injuries. The defense was gassed by the end of the game, and playing youth against experience is a recipe for what we have been seeing.

I see more bright spots on the defense that can/will be resolved with more talent/experience. Even though last years defense seems better statistically, this year’s defense seems to be in position to make a play more often than not, even if the player doesn’t make it. That can be easily rectified with experience/talent.

 

I wonder how these new changes are impacting all of th

Not a very good sign that he has only been notable twice in the last two months.

 

I politely disagree. The Arkansas offense has not been a trash/dumpster fire this season. In most of their games they proved that they can move up the field and score. It is apparent that the new OC and the QB were on the same page today.

However, the Gator defense is still a work in progress at 1.75 season under Napier. It is very arguable that they could be a step or two ahead of where they are now.

 

Looks like that quote is from October 30 so that's likely accurate.

 

It wasn’t accurate then.

 

The real talent is young and we don’t have enough of it. Sprinkle in some injuries and the defense is in bad shape right now. Some expectations don’t reflect the reality of the situation but……some fans don’t give a rip

 

Or they’re bummed because they give a rip.

 

Well, we are recruiting like beasts on D for next year. I know they'll be freshmen, but serious talent is coming to town this summer.