Florida Gators spring sneak peek: Defensive Tackle

With spring football finally in sight, Gator Country is here to get you through these final few days until the Gators are back on the gridiron.

Before Florida football returns, we will preview where each position group stands as the team transitions into 2021. Continuing with defensive tackle, we will give an in-depth look at who returns and players to watch and pose three questions we need answered before the end of spring.

The Gators are hitting the reset button at defensive tackle this spring. Both starters and a key reserve from last season are gone, and they welcome in four newcomers.

For Florida’s defense to rebound from the debacle of last season, the returnees need to develop quickly and the transfers need to have an immediate impact. That process starts later this week.

Who’s Leaving: Kyree Campbell, Marlon Dunlap, Tedarrell Slaton

Campbell is the most significant loss on the entire defense. He was the best run defender on a defense that wasn’t very good at stopping the run. Though a bit undersized, he played tenaciously and held his own at the line of scrimmage. He ate up blocks and allowed the linebackers to roam free and make plays.

There was a huge difference in the defense with Campbell on the field versus when he wasn’t. In the eight games he played in, UF gave up 139.9 rushing yards per game. In the four games without him, that figure swelled to 231.8 yards per game. He departs with 110 career tackles, five sacks and 11.5 tackles-for-loss to his credit.

Slaton was the polar opposite of Campbell. He’s 6-foot-5, 340 pounds and supremely athletic but never lived up to his enormous potential. He got moved out of the way far too easily for a guy his size, and he was basically a nonfactor as a pass-rusher. His motor and technique never caught up to his physical attributes.

Dunlap appeared in 32 games over the past three years after transferring in from North Carolina. He was another steady but unflashy performer in the mold of Campbell. He recorded 20 tackles, four tackles-for-loss and two sacks in his Gators career.

Who’s Back: Gervon Dexter, Lamar Goods, Jaelin Humphries, Jalen Lee

Dexter is the only returning defensive tackle with even a moderate amount of game experience. He played in all 12 games as a freshman last season and started two of them. He made 19 tackles and secured UF’s first interception of the year on a deflected pass at Ole Miss. He’s 6-foot-6 and 308 pounds and moves very quickly for a guy his size.

His classmate, Lee, played in five games in 2020 and made a sack and forced a fumble against Missouri. He has great size and plays with good pad level, which makes him an effective run-stopper. However, he needs to become more effective as a pass-rusher to see more snaps this season.

Goods didn’t play in a game as a freshman last season, while Humphries has only appeared in two games in two years. Both figure to be buried on the depth chart again this season.

Breakout Watch: Dexter is the obvious choice. He was Florida’s first five-star high school signee in five years, and he certainly looks the part physically. However, he didn’t get a ton of chances to prove himself last year as Campbell and Slaton led the way in the trenches.

That won’t be a problem this year. He’ll get plenty of first-team reps this spring, and it’s all but guaranteed that he’ll be a starter in the fall.

Dexter needs to improve his technique before he’s ready to blossom. He can’t rely on consistently beating offensive linemen with his strength and athleticism at this level like he did in high school when he racked up 103 tackles and 18 sacks as a senior. If he becomes more fundamentally sound, look for a big season from No. 9.

Newcomer of Note: Freshmen Desmond Watson and Chris Thomas and transfers Antonio Shelton and Daquan Newkirk have enrolled and will go through spring drills with the Gators.

The edge goes to Shelton. He played in 40 games over the past four years at Penn State, with 22 starts. He’ll likely replace Campbell as the Gators’ starting nose tackle this season.

Shelton has the size (6-foot-2 and 327 pounds) that you want in a nose tackle, and his experience will prove valuable with so much youth at the position. He’s a late bloomer who was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten in 2020. He made 3.5 sacks and forced a fumble in the Nittany Lions’ nine-game season.

If he’s able to produce at a similar level at Florida, he’ll alleviate the loss of Campbell and give the Gators a chance to drastically improve their rushing defense. They also need him to serve as a great mentor to the younger players that will take the reigns from him after the season.

Questions: These are the three things we want to know before the end of spring.

    1. Who will step up to provide depth?

Dexter and Shelton seem like a solid pair of tackles to build around, but you need more than two. You can’t expect them to play 60 snaps a game and have enough left in the tank by the end of the season. And, of course, injuries and COVID-19 could strike as well. Lee played well in his brief time on the field last season, and Newkirk should also figure prominently into UF’ plans. He played in 30 games at Auburn and logged five tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks. UF needs both of them and maybe even one or two more players to step up their games this spring and earn the coaches’ trust.

    2. How much progress will the freshmen make this spring?

Nobody expects Watson or Thomas to play a huge role in the fall, but they’ll be a big part of things after this season when Shelton and Newkirk depart. At 385 pounds, Watson will be the largest player on the field from day one. He’s very physical and is surprisingly quick for someone that size. However, he needs to lose some of that weight and get in better football shape. Thomas is a fellow 300-pounder, and he needs to become more technique-sound. Their progress over the next year will help determine how good the 2022 defense will be.

    3. Will Dexter make a big jump this spring?

He wasn’t bad by any means as a freshman, but he’s got a long way to go if he’s going to live up to his five-star billing. It would be very encouraging to see him dominate Stewart Reese or Ethan White during spring ball. It’s been a while since the Gators have had a dominant pass-rusher on the interior of the line. Dexter has the potential to break that streak and singlehandedly take over games. It’s time for him to start doing just that.

Ethan Hughes
Ethan was born in Gainesville and has lived in the Starke, Florida, area his entire life. He played basketball for five years and knew he wanted to be a sportswriter when he was in middle school. He’s attended countless Gators athletic events since his early childhood, with baseball being his favorite sport to attend. He’s a proud 2019 graduate of the University of Florida and a 2017 graduate of Santa Fe College. He interned with the University Athletic Association’s communications department for 1 ½ years as a student and also wrote for InsideTheGators.com for two years before joining Gator Country in 2021. He is a long-suffering fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars. You can follow him on Twitter @ethanhughes97.