Three keys why Florida Gators DBs will lead defense

As the long hot days of summer are slowly coming to an end the countdown to and anticipation of football season begins. Fall camp has arrived in Gainesville for the Florida Gators. This is the time where leaders present themselves and the important pieces of a championship football team fall into place. For the group of players that have coined the name defensive back university, or “DBU”, the Gator secondary will look to lead the team with their maturity and confidence in the fall. Young players will look up to these highly talented veterans in search of their identity as they fight for playing time. Players like senior safety Marcus Maye and junior Jalen “Teez” Tabor, will be the headliners of one of the most impressive secondaries ever fielded at Florida. When looking at the big picture, there are three ways that the defensive backs will help push Jim McElwain’s second year campaign back to Atlanta for another shot at the conference championship.

Maturity

The corners are seasoned and the safeties are battle tested. Through the trials and tribulations of their long careers, the majority of the defensive backs that will take the field this fall for the University of Florida have played since their freshman year. The unit has faced receivers like Odell Beckham Jr. and Amari Cooper in their tenure at Florida. While they’ve been beat at times, they never gave up and have grown as players since then. Looking at the two starting corners, Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson, making game-changing plays when called on was not a problem. As a freshman, Tabor forced a fumble to put Florida in position to extend its winning streak against Tennessee. Not to be outdone, Quincy Wilson picked off No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Jameis Winston during his freshman expedition. These two players have grown into what some believe to be the most powerful corner-duo in all of college football.

When you look at the maturity of a player, you have to examine their weaknesses and if they continue to make the same mistakes. When a player is down, maturity is bouncing back the week after and working hard to make sure their mistakes don’t repeat themselves. This could not be more true for senior safety Marcus Maye. Maye, as a redshirt freshman, was caught out of position many times. Giving up a long touchdown to Miami that many Gator fans still remember. Since that moment, Maye has worked hard to improve his game and get where he is today; a leader and mentor for the new members of “DBU”.

With maturity comes leadership and you can see that in senior safety, Nick Washington. Spending much of his first two years at Florida on special teams, he eventually found himself playing on one a top 10 defense in his sophomore and junior year. Washington is as reliable as they come in the secondary. He is well disciplined, never found out of position, and is a sure tackler. Washington is the kind of guy that the coaches can count on to make sure everyone is in the right spot before the snap.

“He knows the defense in and out,” defensive coordinator Geoff Collins said of Washington. “He know all the positions, makes all the calls for us, gets corners lined up, gets the nickels lined up if they need it.”

Confidence

I don’t think it’s far-fetched to say the 2016 Gator secondary is the most confident secondary in the country. If you follow Tabor on Twitter, you know that he thinks he is the best corner in the nation. He is not the only one that thinks that. Tabor is one of the most charismatic players to ever wear the sacred Orange and Blue, and it seems like he’s on a mission to go down as one of the best to ever play at Florida. Tabor’s confidence has rubbed off on the entire team. The defensive backs at Florida have an arrogance about them that exclaims no receiver should ever catch a ball. This elite group takes every single snap seriously. Having the assurance to call out players and then back it up on the field is something that this coalition takes pride in. Tabor is relentless in regards to SEC East rival Tennessee on Twitter. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s not scared of anyone, and that mentality has spread from Tabor, through the rest of the team making them a mentally tough bunch that has a chip on their shoulder every time they take the field.

Physical ability is important, but one could argue that keeping a player’s confidence high is essential. Especially in the game of football, where players undoubtedly face adversity their entire career. With their confident swagger, Florida has cemented itself into the best secondary conversation yearly.

Proven Production

With defensive super stars Vernon Hargreaves and Keanu Neal deciding to forgo their senior years to enter the NFL draft, the question is raised, Who will step up and fill their dynamic shoes? While the question is valid, the returning defensive backs know a thing or two about production. Tabor and Hargreaves led the team in interceptions last year with four each — two of which Tabor ran back for touchdowns. Gator fans won’t forget Quincy Wilson, who caught two game winning interceptions for the Gators. One of those came against Kentucky the other against South Carolina. Wilson found himself in perfect position in two critical situations. Not to be outdone, Marcus Maye recorded two interceptions for himself and paired that with an impressive 43 solo tackles (which was fourth most on the team).