After a grueling offseason, Will Muschamp gave the Florida Gators the final weekend of the fall off before the team will report back Monday night to continue film study for Idaho.
Since Will Muschamp met with the media on Friday after practice, his normal Monday press conference was pushed back a day — and with it, the release of the highly anticipated depth chart.
We’ve projected the depth chart here before but with a real game just a day away and the actual depth chart coming in 24 hours, why not take one last crack at prognosticating the depth chart while we can?
Muschamp and Kurt Roper have publically put little stock into the depth chart this offseason, saying parents and players look at it but the coaching staff doesn’t put much stock into it.
Also, the depth chart on paper tends to look a lot different than it does between the lines. For instance, last season, Trip Thurman and Kyle Koehne were the two offensive linemen that would come into the game when an offensive lineman went down. They weren’t listed as the backup to every position, but as has been documented this offseason, the coaching staff feels comfortable with about eight offensive linemen. That means there won’t be a true two-deep at each position along the line but, on paper, there might appear to be.
Again, in the secondary, the term “starter” doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Sure, you need two starters at safety but the cornerbacks will rotate constantly throughout the game as the defenses uses different packages. Vernon Hargreaves was never listed as an outright starter last season (he was listed as a potential starter denoted by an “or” between his name and Loucheiz Purifoy’s name) but started 10 games.
So, with all that out in the open, I’m going to take a stab at what I feel like is the most realistic depth chart. It may not be the one we see on paper tomorrow, but it’s how I see the offense playing out on the field.
Offense
Quarterback: Jeff Driskel | Treon Harris
Running back: Kelvin Taylor | Matt Jones
B Back: Matt Jones | Jake McGee
WR (X): Quinton Dunbar | Demarcus Robinson
WR (Z): Ahmad Fulwood | Andre Debose
WR (Y): Latroy Pittman | C.J. Worton
Tight end: Jake McGee | Clay Burton
Left Tackle: D.J. Humphries | Rod Johnson
Left Guard: Tyler Moore | Trip Thurman
Center: Max Garcia | Drew Sarvary
Right Guard: Trenton Brown | Trip Thurman
Right Tackle: Chaz Green | Rod Johnson
Defense
Buck: Dante Fowler | Alex McCalister
Nose Tackle: Leon Orr | Jay-nard Bostwick
Defensive Tackle: Darious Cummings | Joey Ivie
Defensive End: Jon Bullard | Bryan Cox Jr.
Will LB: Antonio Morrison | Jarrad Davis
Mike LB: Mike Taylor | Jarrad Davis
Sam LB: Neiron Ball | Jeremi Powell
Cornerback: Vernon Hargreaves | JC Jackson
Safety: Keanu Neal| Marcell Harris
Safety: Duke Dawson | Jabari Gorman
Cornerback: Brian Poole | Jalen Tabor or Duke Dawson
Nickelback: Marcus Maye | Brian Poole
Special Teams
Placekicker: Austin Hardin or Frankie Velez
Punter: Kyle Christy | Johnny Townsend
Kick Returner: Andre Debose | J.C. Jackson
Punt Returner: Demarcus Robinson | J.C. Jackson
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Absolutely wrong call on backup QB. Harris has one good week of practice, if that, and you’re going to award him the backup job. Not gonna happen.
They’re just projecting what they think the coaches are going to do. They’re not “awarding” anything as they have no way to do that.
WRT Harris, it has sounded like he’s been the more decisive QB that last week or so. And listening to Roper, that’s clearly a big deal. IDK what they’ll decide, but I know both these guys have a ton of talent and play with a lot of poise. We’ll be good either way.
I was a bit surprised to see Dawson as the projected starter at Safety after missing time late in camp (on top of being a true Frosh). I’d lean towards the experience with Gorman.
Who do you think it’s going to be? Mornhinweg? Harris has been the guy that most people have predicted all along. The plan for Grier from the start has been to redshirt. Anything short of him winning the starting job or Harris looking absolutely horrible was going to result in this.
Grier’s part of the future. If it’s a tossup right now between Harris and Grier, Harris can help us more right now. Grier should sit for a year and pack on a few pounds.
I’ve been of the opinion that Treon would play this year and Grier would redshirt for a while. It wasn’t just one week of practice, for me personally.
It’s not my call though, we’ll see tomorrow.
Whatever the depth chart looks like tomorrow is pretty meaningless at some positions like receiver and defensive back. The gators have three “exhibition” games to sort out who will the real starters when the “real” season starts in Tuscaloosa. Even the receiver and defensive backs that start won’t mean too much, except for Hargreaves, if the line given by the coaches that they feel great about all the receivers and defensive backs is true. Aye, but there’s the rub, can you ever trust what this staff tells you after hearing their predictions the past few years?
We won’t know the real starters until we are in Tuscaloosa. The cornerbacks and safeties that get the nod when we need a stop will be the true starters. It will be fun to see who rises to the top in the first three games at all of the positions. We’re going to need people to step up.