Since Billy Napier was hired on Nov. 28, much of the discussion surrounding the Gators has been about the future. With the splash that Napier made on early national signing day and the seemingly never-ending staff that he’s putting together, fans have reason to believe that brighter days might be on the horizon.
However, it’s almost time to stop dwelling on the future and start thinking about what the 2022 season might entail for the Gators. They’ll begin spring practice in one week.
Until then, we’ll break down what to watch for from each position during the spring. We’ll continue today with the cornerbacks.
The Returnees
Avery Helm, Jaydon Hill, Jason Marshall, Ethan Pouncey and Jordan Young
This should be one of the Gators’ strongest positions. Marshall and Helm played really well last year, and they’ve added a couple of pieces as well, which you’ll read about in the next section.
We’ll start with Marshall. As a five-star freshman in 2021, he started five games and made an interception against Florida State. It’s hard to find a flaw in his skillset, and he looks like the next first-round draft pick to come through Florida at the position.
Helm was a pleasant surprise during his redshirt freshman season. He started nine games and broke up three passes. While he didn’t make many highlight reel plays, he ranked second among FBS cornerbacks in passing yards allowed with a minimum of 50 targets (217), according to @The33rdTeamFB on Twitter. He also didn’t give up a touchdown reception. Helm and Marshall would form a nice cornerback room just by themselves.
Top 5 CBs in pass yards allowed (min 50 targets) in the FBS:
1) OKST CB Christian Holmes (@sip_662) – 161
2) UF CB Avery Helm (@FMB_Helm) – 217
3) UM CB DJ Turner (@djturner_5) – 221
4) @AggieFootball CB Antonio Johnson – 228
5) @FresnoStateFB CB DaRon Bland – 237
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) December 1, 2021
Hill was on track to start the season opener last year before tearing the ACL in his left knee. It’s unknown how much he’ll be able to participate in spring drills, but, given the timing of his injury, it would be a surprise to see him do much.
Pouncey played in 11 games last year, mostly on special teams, after missing all of 2020 with a hip injury. Young played in just three games last season and redshirted. Both of them will try to crack the rotation this season, though they’ll face an uphill battle to do so.
The Newcomers
Jalen Kimber and Devin Moore
Both of them could make immediate impacts this fall.
Kimber was a high four-star recruit who was in line to start on one of the best defenses in recent college football history last year at Georgia before suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery. He’s expected to be fully cleared medically sometime this month. He’s known for his elite athleticism but needs to bulk up and play with more physicality to earn a starting job at Florida.
Moore was one of the gems of Napier’s early signing day haul. He’s got terrific length at 6-foot-2, and he ran track in high school. He’s also known as an extremely physical player, so much so that there’s been some speculation that he might move to safety at some point. That kind of versatility should make him difficult to take off of the field once he learns the defense and gets acclimated to the college game this spring.
Breakout Watch
Jalen Kimber
This might be considered cheating since he’s a newcomer, but Kimber seems like the obvious choice. If he was good enough to start on Georgia’s 2021 defense, then he’s good enough to start on Florida’s 2022 defense, provided that there are no further complications with his shoulder.
The Gators were pretty deliberate in their high school and transfer portal recruiting during this transition phase, so the fact that they identified Kimber as someone they wanted is probably a good indication of how he’ll fit in at UF. It would be a shock if he’s not at least the No. 3 cornerback by the time fall comes around.
It should be fun to watch him compete against Marshall and Helm this spring.
Three Questions
1. Will there be any clarity regarding the competition for playing time this spring?
Marshall and Helm both played well last year given how poorly the rest of the defense played around them, and Kimber has a very intriguing skillset. All three of them look like future NFL Draft selections.
And then there’s Hill, who’s kind of a sentimental favorite. He’s torn both of his ACLs since his senior year of high school, so the odds are definitely stacked against him at a position that requires swift changes of direction. It’d be cool to see him have a Hollywood moment and play well this year.
This should be one of the best position battles on the team this offseason, and the spring will hopefully give us a clearer picture of what the secondary will look like this season.
2. How much will Corey Raymond impact this position right away?
He didn’t produce seven First Team All-Americans and 14 draft picks in 10 years at LSU by accident. He has clearly established himself as one of the best cornerback coaches in America, and he might even be the best.
He’ll have a ton of talent to work with in his inaugural season at UF, but there will be some bad habits that he’ll have to break.
First, the Gators had major issues with locating the ball in the air over the last two seasons. Oftentimes, someone like Marshall would be in excellent position to intercept the ball or at least swat it away, and they’d just ignore the ball and allow the receiver to go up and make the catch. That passivity has to stop.
Second, how many times have we watched a cornerback and a safety completely not be on the same page and leave a receiver wide open by 30 yards over the past two years? Raymond and safeties coach/co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney need to clean up the communication in the secondary.
3. Will Toney’s scheme be more aggressive?
For the sake of Gator Nation’s sanity, the cornerbacks better not line up 10 yards off of the ball on third-and-4 again this fall.
The Gators have a cornerback room that is built to play press coverage most of the time. And, for the last four years, they’ve been mostly forced to play against their biggest strength.
It would be great to see Toney’s defense look like the attacking, physical, tone-setting group that the Gators were under Will Muschamp and the first couple years of Jim McElwain.