5 biggest questions for Florida Gators heading into fall camp

The Florida Gators are just days, or even hours if you so choose, away from the start of fall camp. It’s the beginning of Jim McElwain’s third season as head coach and Florida is looking to not just get back to Atlanta, but, as McElwain has said all off season, ‘kick the door down.’

The Gators might have their best roster since McElwain has been in Gainesville but there are still question marks surrounding his club that will need to be answered before the ball is kicked off against Michigan on September 2.

1. Starting quarterback

This position is the one that is talked and written about the most. We’ve written about it here, so no need to re-hash.

The Gators have five quarterbacks. Malik Zaire is thought of as the frontrunner to win the job. A graduate transfer from Notre Dame, Zaire didn’t come to Florida to hold a clipboard for his final season in college. The Gators also have a veteran in Luke Del Rio coming back this season as well as two redshirt freshman in Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks. With those four on the roster it’s likely that true freshman Jake Allen will redshirt.

Our prediction is that Zaire will start; who backs him up is an important question as well. Florida has had bad luck with quarterback’s going down in recent years and Zaire missed most of the 2015 season with an injury. Franks left spring camp with a lead over Trask but Del Rio will try to get back into the mix after offseason shoulder surgery.

2. Is the offensive line as good as everyone thinks?

The Gators return four starters on the offensive line. However, it’s a line that gave up 28 sacks (10th in the SEC) a year ago and a line that blocked for the SEC’s worst rushing attack.

Is getting basically an entire position group back good? Yeah, absolutely. Is it still good if those players performed poorly as a unit? How much better will they be because of their experience from a year ago?

3. Who will be the fifth starter on the offensive line?

This much we know. Martez Ivey and Jawaan Taylor will start at left and right tackle and T.J. McCoy will anchor the middle at center. Tyler Jordan will start at one of the two guard spots, he’s played all three interior positions, but the Gators are still looking for a fifth starter at offensive guard.

The players that will challenge for it are senior Antonio Riles, junior Fred Johnson and redshirt freshman Brett Heggie.

Johnson, coming off of a good freshman campaign, started the 2016 season at right tackle. Johnson (6-6, 311 pounds) looks the an offensive line you would create in a video game but struggled outside before sliding into right guard. Riles was in line to start last year before a torn ACL ended his season. Heggie watched from the sideline but traveled with the team during his redshirt season. Heggie came a long way during that year and looked strong during the spring. He’s a physical, nasty offensive lineman with a mean streak. Three guys, one spot.

4. Youth in the secondary.

Leaving spring camp we knew four things about the secondary. Duke Dawson was going to start. So were Chauncey Gardner, Nick Washington and Marcell Harris. That gave the Gators an answer at one cornerback spot, an answer at nickel and answers at safety. Harris will miss the season after tearing his Achilles in offseason training, which throws a huge wrench in the secondary.

Harris is a redshirt senior who played his best football at the end of the 2016 season. He led the Gators in tackles and had become a vocal leader in the locker room. Losing him leaves a huge void at safety. Dawson and Gardner have both played safety and could fill the void, but that leaves holes at nickel or corner.

Fortunately Florida recruited the heck out of secondary last class. Marco Wilson and Brad Stewart are two names that we’re hearing good things about. Florida also has a redshirt freshmen safety Quincy Lenton, who missed 2016 with an injury, and sophomore Jeawon Taylor who could step in and play safety.

The bottom line is losing Harris hurts. The silver lining is there is an abundance of talent in the secondary; it’s just young and green.

They won’t be green for long, playing time will come early and often.

5. Depth on the interior defensive line

Florida’s depth at defensive end is ridiculous. On the inside, however, there are big questions. Last year Joey Ivie and Caleb Brantley played great football. When they needed a break Florida was able to slide Taven Bryan and Khairi Clark in. This year Brantley and Ivie are gone and who would come in when Clark and Bryan need a break is unknown.

Jachai Polite and Kyree Campbell are the two guys to look out for here, but depth concerns at defensive tackle are unavoidable.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC