The Florida Gators open fall camp this week in preparation for the 2017 football season.
Over the next two days Gator Country will preview the offense, defense and special teams to get you ready for the start of camp and the upcoming season.
Today we look at the offense position by position.
Quarterback
Players
RS Senior – Malik Zaire
RS Junior – Luke Del Rio
RS Freshman – Feleipe Franks
RS Freshman – Kyle Trask
Freshman – Jake Allen
Freshman – Kadarius Toney
The spring was dominated by the two redshirt freshmen but the return of Del Rio from shoulder surgeries and the transfer of former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire give new life to the quarterback competition.
Zaire is a mobile quarterback with starting experience at a major college. That gives him a leg up on the three aforementioned passers and he’ll enter fall camp, in most people’s opinion, as the leader to win the starting job. He’s only been on campus a short time but he was accepted into Harvard business school, he’s a smart kid and shouldn’t have any problem picking up Florida’s playbook. Brian Kelly has a notoriously in-depth playbook at Notre Dame; Zaire’s learning curve shouldn’t be steep at Florida.
Behind Zaire Florida could turn to Del Rio as a backup given his experience. Both Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier lauded Del Rio’s play last season before it took a turn for the worst as Del Rio played through shoulder and knee injuries.
Franks left spring camp as the leader in the clubhouse to win the starting job. He’ll try to push Zaire for that title but will need to work on his accuracy and timing, issues that crept up throughout spring camp.
Trask is no stranger to facing the adversity of not being a starter. He had meniscus surgery after fall camp but he’ll continue to battle and try to get back into the mix.
Toney, a freshman from Alabama, showed flashes of brilliant athleticism in the spring. He’ll have an opportunity to play some quarterback, most likely in short spurts in designed packages that will take advantage of that athleticism.
With four older quarterbacks ahead of him, Allen will likely spend this year learning from two veterans and redshirt.
Running back
The Players
RS Senior – Mark Thompson
Junior – Jordan Scarlett
Sophomore – Lamical Perine
Freshman – Malik Davis
Freshman – Adarius Lemon
This group is super deep. Scarlett emerged last season after an up and down freshman campaign. He’s the unquestioned starter of the group heading into camp but there is too much talent on the depth chart for him to feel comfortable.
Perine started slow with a fumble on his first career carry but the coaching staff stuck by him and was rewarded for it. His 91 carries and 421 yards were second on the team only to Scarlett. He’s surpasses redshirt senior Mark Thompson on the depth chart and will be a great backup to Scarlett.
The top two here are clear, how the rest plays out will be determined in fall camp and early on in the season. Thompson went through struggles last year adjusting to life at Florida. A midseason suspension and fumblitis took carries away from him and there are two new freshmen waiting in the wings to continue eating into those carries.
Davis and Lemons both showed big-play ability in high school. Most college coaches don’t like to redshirt running backs given the climate of college football and how most running backs that are NFL-caliber will leave school after three years. There are too many backs for all five to get carries this year so camp might send one freshman to a season of special teams while the other challenges Thompson for carries as the third running back.
Definitely an intriguing battle to watch.
Receiver
X
Sophomore – Tyrie Cleveland
Freshman – James Robinson
Z
Junior – Antonio Callaway
Sophomore – Josh Hammond
Freshman – Daquon Green
Y
RS Junior – Dre Massey
Senior – Brandon Powell
Sophomore – Freddie Swain
Florida’s coaches continue to say that this group has a lot of talent and that it’s as deep as ever. They may be right, but this group still needs to prove it. Antonio Callaway has the ability and potential to be an All-SEC receiver but without another threat aside from him in 2016 opponents double teamed him or shaded safeties to his side of the field. That frustrated Callaway. He still hauled in 54 passes — best on his team and tied for 9th in the SEC — but he can do more.
The player that is most likely to breakout in 2017, and take some of the heat off of Callaway is Cleveland. Cleveland had a rocky start to his freshman campaign but finished fourth on the team in receptions. He has all the physical tools to be the star the Gators need at receiver opposite Callaway.
Another playmaker is Massey. His season ended in the first game of 2016 but he’s full go this fall camp. Massey can play all over the field and he’ll likely be featured on special teams. He has home run ability and versatility could give Florida’s offense a kind of depth that they’ve been searching for for years.
Powell took advantage of Massey’s absence in 2016. His 45 receptions and 387 were second on the team. Florida just needs to find ways to get Powell involved and get the ball in his hands in space. The same story from the previous three seasons.
Behind those three there continues to be great depth. Hammond started strong with five catches against UMass but hauled in just nine more over the next 12 games. Swain hauled in six passes through the first four games and just two more over his next nine games.
Tight End
The Players
Senior – DeAndre Goolsby
RS Junior – C’yontai Lewis
RS Junior – Moral Stephens
Freshman – Kemore Gamble
The pair of Goolsby and Lewis was pointed out and expected to be a potent threat for Florida in 2016. It certainly didn’t play out that way. Goolsby was a reliable pass catcher, finishing third on the team with 38 receptions. Goolsby struggled as a pass protector, which limited his role on the team.
Lewis, who came to Florida as an athlete more so than a well-rounded tight end, improved as a blocker by leaps and bounds in 2016 but was plagued with drops in big situations. He hauled in a pass in every game he played except for the bowl game but only caught more than one ball in five games.
The talent is there, the duo just needs to round out and put it all together.
If they can’t Florida landed a great prospect in Gamble. The freshman enrolled early and looked good in the spring. He’s a capable blocker and more than capable with the ball in his hands. If Goolsby and Lewis aren’t getting the job done early the door will be wide open for Gamble to earn playing time.
Offensive line
LT
Martez Ivey
Kadeem Telfort
Kavaris Harkless
LG
Tyler Jordan
Brett Heggie
Antonio Riles
C
T.J. McCoy
Tyler Jordan
Brett Heggie
RG
Fred Johnson
Antonio Riles
Nick Buchannan
RT
Jawaan Taylor
Stone Forsythe
T.J. Moore
Andrew Mike
The Gators offensive line has been the brunt of jokes for the past five years and the focus of a lot of frustration from fans. This year McElwain contends that the offensive line is the best position group on the team.
Three starters are cemented. Ivey (LT), McCoy (C) and Taylor (RT) will all start at those positions and it’s a safe bet that Jordan will start at one of the two guard spots. Riles returns after a torn ACL ended his season before it began in 2016. The veteran won’t go down without a fight but Johnson and redshirt freshman Brett Heggie will also push for that fifth and final spot.
On paper the line looks like it will be an improved unit with a combined 40 starts between the projected starting five. New offensive line coach Brad Davis has brought a new attitude to the offensive line that, at times, was pushed around in 2016.
Behind the starting five are big question marks, but the expectation is that the offensive line should be the best they have been since McElwain has been in charge.