The Florida Gators strapped on the pads for the third open spring practice Saturday. With live hitting, the tempo was more upbeat and the defense really looked to be ahead of the offense.
Offensive Observations
- It was hard to gauge the offensive line during the first two days of practice because the team wasn’t in pads but Max Garcia looks very comfortable at center so far. The pads came on this Saturday and Garcia continued to look good at his new home. Moving to a shotgun offense doesn’t make the transition easy, but Garcia’s snaps have been on point through three practices.
- Chris Thompson may be the player who is benefitting most from Kurt Roper’s new offense. Thompson is settling in as a slot receiver and made some great plays for the second-consecutive day. His routes look crisp and he had the play of the day, going up and catching a pass over Vernon Hargreaves.
- Demarcus Robinson continued to look impressive on the field. He’s the most talented and gifted receiver on the roster and really shines on the practice field.
- Valdez Showers had a few drops today. He’s adjusting to playing more slot than out of the backfield but the drops are uncharacteristic. Showers doesn’t practice with gloves. He told reporters last year that he does it to make it harder in practice and easier on game day. If the drops continue he might want to re-think that.
- Tevin Westbrook continues to impress. He’s starting to look more like a tight end and less like a converted defensive end.
- Ahmad Fulwood was once again impressive. He pulled up with what looked like a groin or hip injury but was back on the field after sitting out just a few reps. Fulwood is well rounded and has looked good blocking as well as running routes.
- As a whole, the receivers had somewhat of a down day with some drops in half skeleton and 7-on-7 drills.
- Roper worked 1-on-1 with the quarterbacks on the near field, working through five step drops. He’s always stressing to play faster and go through practice reps at game speed.
- The quarterbacks also worked on running bootleg and throwing on the run. Will Grier looked the most comfortable with Jeff Driskel right behind him.
- I would estimate that Driskel is getting roughly 50% of the snaps on offense with Skyler Mornhinweg and Grier sharing the other 50%.
- Adam Lane has looked good as a receiver out of the backfield.
- Trenton Brown looked good in pass protection. The mountainous offensive lineman continues to slim down and his footwork is benefitting from his slighter frame.
- D.J. Humphries had some nice battles with Florida’s speed rushers.
Defensive and Special Teams observations from day 3.