Name: Jay-nard Bostwick
Height: 6-3
Weight: 305
Position: DL
Why did he redshirt?
Bostwick has the size and skill to play at this level. He’s a tenacious defender that can make an impact and could have played last season but was held out by the coaching staff. Florida’s coaching staff must have felt it best to allow Bostwick to redshirt a year to better prepare himself to make an impact in 2014 when the Gators will really need him.
Depth at the position
Bostwick can play defensive tackle or nose tackle and the numbers at both positions dictate that the Gators will need him to step in and contribute right away as a redshirt freshman.
Currently, Florida has Leon Orr and Darious Cummings as upperclassmen that can play on the interior defensive line. Those two are joined by redshirt freshmen Bostwick, Caleb Brantley and Antonio Riles.
With the way that Will Muschamp likes to rotate his defensive line to keep them fresh throughout the game, all five of these players will need to be ready to play this season.
Player Evaluation
Bostwick has put on a lot of good weight since arriving at Florida. He was listed in the 250-260 range in high school but is now listed at just over 300-pounds. Bostwick can play either defensive tackle or nose tackle for Florida.
Bostwick is strong and can standup offensive linemen but needs to work on getting off of the line quicker and play with better leverage.
2014 Prognosis
Despite not getting on the field last season, Bostwick earned praise from Will Muschamp last season. Bostwick and the rest of the defensive linemen will need to be ready to go because Florida is light on the interior defensive line in 2014.
You have to wonder whether this coaching staff can be believed in anything they say or are incompetent. The word about Jay-nard Bostwick last year is that he was a really good player. The question is, if that was true, why didn’t he play? The Gators were a poor team inside after Easley went down. Orr, jacobs, Cummings, Bullard, etc. didn’t do a very good job in the middle of the defense. That, along with Morrison’s poor play, allowed teams to control the line of scrimmage and run very well on the Gators. This negated the great secondary play that was one of the nation’s best. If Bostwick shows he can be a force in the middle, you have to question why he wasn’t on the field last year. We already know this staff is offensively challenged, last year the defense took a step back as well, and if they had someone that could ahve played, you get the picture.