Co-defensive coordinator Ron Roberts told the media during the offseason that tackling wasn’t done at a high level in the first two seasons under Billy Napier. Those same struggles have continued in year three under Roberts’ direction; they’ve actually gotten worse.
In 2022, Billy Napier’s first year, the Gators missed 132 tackles for a missed tackle rate of 14.1%. In 2023, Florida missed 116 tackles but were on the field for 198 less defensive snaps, which resulted in a higher missed tackle percentage of 15.8%. Through four games in 2024, the Gators have 49 missed tackles and a missed tackle rate of 15.6%.
Yes, Florida’s 2024 missed tackle rate is marginally smaller than their 2023 figure, but the Gators have games against UCF, Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas, and LSU remaining, offenses that will surely make it difficult on the Gators’ defense.
Keep in mind who Florida has played to this point: Miami, Samford, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State. Miami is the only offense on this list that ranks inside the top 50, and to be fair, they have one of the best offenses in college football through four games. After that you have an FCS team, a Texas A&M squad that played with a backup QB, and a Mississippi State team that is a bottom two team in the SEC. The Aggies and Bulldogs statistically have an average offense, but keep in mind we are only four games in, so their numbers are inflated because they played Florida’s defense. Texas A&M scored more points on Florida’s defense than Norte Dame and Bowling Green, while Mississippi State scored more points on Florida’s defense than Arizona State and Toledo.
My point is, Florida has not played an explosive offense outside of Miami this season, and that’s going to change in the second half of 2024. You can expect Florida’s missed tackle rate to rise unless we see a magical turnaround.
If Florida’s missed tackle rate does get above 15.8%, which I think is likely, the Gators have gotten worse every year under Billy Napier.
The Gators are coming off one of their worst tackling performances under Billy Napier against Mississippi State. Florida missed 23 tackles vs the Bulldogs, the most in a singular game under Napier. Their tackling grade of 40.1 against MSU is the third worst grade under Napier behind 2023’s loss to Kentucky and 2022’s loss to LSU.
Ron Roberts’ goal is to have single digit missed tackles per game.
“I’m usually looking for something in the single digits. You talk about missed tackles, if you were playing a game, if I was playing 80 snaps, we’d want that to be 10 or less,” Roberts said during the offseason.
10 missed tackles in 80 snaps is a missed tackle percentage of 12.5%. The Gators have hit that goal just once this season against Samford, an FCS team. They have not hit that goal against the three FBS teams they have played. They came close to hitting it against Texas A&M, where they missed 10 tackles in 79 snaps.
Let’s look at the missed tackle breakdown through four games.
(Only listing players with more than one missed tackle)
S DJ Douglas: 10
S Bryce Thornton: 4
DB Sharif Denson: 4
LB Shemar James: 4
S Trikeweze Bridges: 4
Edge Tyreak Sapp: 3
Edge Jack Pyburn: 3
DL Caleb Banks: 3
Edge Kamran James: 2
S Jordan Castell: 2
The first thing that jumps out to me is redshirt senior safety DJ Douglas, who already has double digit missed tackles in four games. Only three players on Florida’s 2023 squad recorded double digit missed tackles and four did in 2022. Douglas’ tackling PFF grade of 28.0 is the second lowest on the team as he’s missing 40% of his tackle attempts.
It’s not just Douglas though, it’s the entire safety unit. Bryce Thornton is missing 44.4% of his tackle attempts, although he’s only logged five tackles in 75 snaps. Five Gators’ defenders have 4+ missed tackles this season, three of them are safeties and another is a nickel / STAR.
Missed tackles is a team stat as much as it is an individual stat. In an ideal world, your safeties aren’t even presented with many opportunities to make tackles. But Florida’s edge rushers have failed to set the edge or create pressure, and linebackers aren’t filling proper gaps, which allows opposing offenses to get into the second level of the defense frequently. Florida’s defense by design puts a lot of pressure on their safeties. Still, your safeties are the last line of defense, and a good defense needs them to make tackles at a high rate. The Gators are not doing that.
Missed tackles is just a fraction of Florida’s defensive struggles, but it’s something we continue to see year in and year out with no sign of improvement.