It seems, in recent years, even in that miserable defensive collapse of 2007, that UF has always had at least one dominant or semi-dominant edge rusher at the DE position.

Coming into 2010, however, things look bleak at a normally stacked position for the Gators.

Bleak might be unfair, because the projected starters, Sr. Justin Trattou (6'3, 252) and Jr. William Green (6'3, 250) are both talented enough to play for anyone. But neither one, to this point, has proven to be a game changer as a pass rushing DE. In fact, for most of the spring, William Green was barely holding off, and by many reports failing to stop unheralded Sr. Duke Lemmens (6'3, 253) from taking his starting job. But Lemmens, while a solid player, is not a game changer either.

The depth is an issue too.
RSo Earl Okine (6'6, 280) is probably the most athletically gifted player at end, but a nice-guy attitude and a lackluster motor have kept him buried on the depth chart, and he may end up being better suited for the interior of the DL anyways, a place where he took a lot of snaps during spring training.

RFr Kedric Johnson (6'4, 230) didn't get too many reps in the spring because of injury, and has never seen the field, and unless he picked up a lot of weight during the summer, he may still be a year away from contributing. The only other DE on the roster before the incoming freshmen hit campus was Jr Lerentee McCray (6'2, 240) who moved from LB a couple years ago. Some people doubt, however, if he will ever be more than an extra body on the depth chart.

Bleak indeed. That's probably the weakest group of pass rushers that UF has had on campus at DE in a long time. Not that they aren't solid players, or extremely talented, but as far as pure pass rush ability goes, there isn't a lot there. The 2010 recruiting class, may alleviate the concern at end a bit, but it's hardly fair to expect a true freshman to step on campus at Florida and magically solve UF's pass rush problems at DE.

Probably the main man counted on doing just that though, is Fr Ronald Powell (6'4, 250) who was generally thought to be (by most recruiting services) the most talented HS senior in the country last year if you believe and/or follow such things. He's fast, strong, and has the versatility and strength to play multiples positions, but many guess that the talented ATH will end up at DE in college.

Other freshmen that might contribute are:
Lynden Trail (6'7, 220) - probably needs to put on some weight, likely RS
Dominique Easley (6'3, 258) - may put on too much weight/be too slow for DE (DT)
Neiron Ball (6'4, 210) - Too small right now. Practiced mostly at LB in the spring.

What UF does have is probably it's strongest group of Defensive Tackles since Joe Cohen, Stephen Harris, Ray McDonald, and Marcus Thomas occupied the position in the first half of 2006. RJr Jaye Howard (6'3, 295) can play inside and outside, although he seems to have a bigger impact at DT. RSo Omar Hunter (6'0, 307) is poised for a breakout year and should be a terror of a run-stopper. Sr Lawrence Marsh (6'5, 288) and Sr Terron Sanders (6'1, 312) are both solid players that started in 2008 and most of 2009, but will probably be 2nd teamers in 2010.

The benefit of having such a deep corp of Defensive Tackles (and we didn't even talk about the talented freshmen) is that UF should probably expect more push in the middle against opposing offenses in 2010. That's good news for this group of Defensive ends, because it looks like they'll need all the help they can get.

My point is this: UF's interior linemen will probably demand double teams at various times during the year, which will create one-on-one situations on the outside of the line. If UF can just have one guy step up, consistently and be a threat to sack the QB on any given down, then UF won't just have a good defense in 2010, they'll have one of if not the best defenses in the entire country.

But it all hinges on someone from this group stepping up and owning the position. Trattou and Powell seem to be the favorites right now to do that, and Green would be probably be considered the dark horse. But if the defensive scheme stays similar to previous years, then UFs entire season on defense may hinge on one of those players stepping up and providing a consistent pass rush.

Other options exist to cover up this team weakness, like putting Howard at End and moving to more of a 3-4 alignment with Hunter at the Nose and Marsh at the other end. Then players like Ball, Green, Trattou, and LB Brandon Hicks, could all line up as OLB and rush the QB that way. That could prove to be more successful, but I seriously doubt UF will make such a drastic change in year 1 of Austin's Tenure at UF for more than 3-5 plays per game. Although, situationally, it could prove to be very effective.

I've rambled on for a while now, so I'll leave you with this:

If UF wants an elite defense next year, then one of their goals needs to be to force at least 30 sacks. If at least 16-18 of those sacks don't come from the defensive line in a 4-3 system like the Gators run, it means that UF is having to blitz. A lot. I know a lot of people like that, but a blitz means risk, and if UF wants to be one of the best in the country, they need to be successful with their 4 man front, so that they aren't FORCED to blitz, but so that they can pick and choose timely blitzes to confuse opponents.

I think Justin Trattou will step up. I hope I'm right.