The Florida Gators are five weeks away from the start of the 2024 college football season, which means fall camp is set to kick off. Billy Napier’s squad will report on Tuesday with the first practice starting on Wednesday. Gator Country provides you with four position battles to watch out for leading up to Florida’s week one matchup vs the Miami Hurricanes on August 31st.
STAR / Nickel
Two rising second year players in Sharif Denson and Aaron Gates are expected to compete for a starting spot at Florida’s STAR / Nickel position.
Denson played in all 12 games during his freshman campaign primarily in a special teams role, finishing with seven tackles, 0.5 tackles-for-loss and a quarterback hurry across 49 defensive snaps.
Gates suffered a torn ACL in his senior year of high school, which limited him throughout his first season as a Florida Gator. The 6’0, 195-pound defensive back played in four games on special teams and redshirted in 2023.
We got our first real glance at Denson and Gates in action during Florida’s annual Spring game, neither of which disappointed.
Head Coach Billy Napier has been on the record stating that Denson and Gates could actually see the field together at some point in the 2024 season as the staff loves their ability to play multiple positions. This position battle could be one of the closest on the team entering fall camp, and arguably the most important.
True freshman Josiah Davis also saw time at STAR / Nickel during spring camp.
Right side of the offensive line
As of now I would predict Florida’s starting offensive line to look like this from left to right: Barber, Harris, Slaughter, George, Crenshaw-Dickson. However, there’s buzz surrounding several younger depth pieces such as Bryce Lovett, Kam Waites, and Caden Jones, who could all make a push for playing time this season.
Waites and Lovett provide UF with position versatility, the ability to play both guard and tackle. Jones missed a lot of his freshman season with a foot injury, but has impressed the staff upon his return, according to one source.
The Gators have the most depth they’ve had under Billy Napier, which should create competition leading up to the season. I feel pretty good on the left side of the line in terms of starting spots locked up, but the right side of the line could change throughout fall camp.
Safety
Florida’s safety room is loaded with experience, having brought in three 6th seniors at the position this offseason. The Gators have a combined 4,471 from their scholarship players in the unit. Realistically, there’s five players who could find significant playing time this season (Turner, Bridges, Douglas, Thornton, Castell). As of now I have Castell and Turner as the starting two, but I think you could see a rotation amongst these five unless two stand out in fall camp. Safety is likely Florida’s deepest position group which should lead to healthy competition leading up to week one.
Wide Receiver
The wide receiver position battle isn’t as much about the starting group, but rather who finds significant time outside of the first three or four receivers. I think it’s fairly safe to assume that Eugene Wilson, Chimere Dike, Elijhah Badger will find significant snaps in 2024. I think it’s also safe to assume that redshirt junior Kahleil Jackson will play a significant role after logging nine starts for the Gators in 2023. Jackson is a veteran that the staff trusts and is comfortable playing. But who is next on the depth chart? Can any of them compete for more playing time? I think so.
Florida has a mess of talent at wide receiver, including redshirt freshman Andy Jean and Aidan Mizell, redshirt junior Marcus Burke, and two speedy true freshmen in Tank Hawkins and TJ Abrams. The key to playing time for this group is consistency, something the staff is looking for out of their younger receivers heading into the 2024 season.
You forgot Fraziars at wideout.