The Florida Gators will be without at least 20 scholarship players from their 2022 roster when they take on the Oregon State Beavers in the Las Vegas Bowl game on December 17th.
The transfer portal and a handful of opt outs will limit the Gators once again. Gator Country provides the positions that will be most affected.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER/EDGE
Florida will be without Chief Borders, David Reese, Lloyd Summerall, and Brenton Cox from the opening game roster.
This leaves Antuwan Powell-Ryland and Jack Pyburn as the only two left at the position. Powell-Ryland took over as the starter when Brenton Cox was dismissed from the team and has played well in his absence.
Pyburn has played in seven games this season, primarily in a special teams role. He’s logged just 24 defensive snaps this season. The true freshman is a player to watch out for as he’ll be in line for a bigger role on Friday.
QUARTERBACK
The Gators will be without their top two QB’s in Anthony Richardson (NFL draft) and Jalen Kitna (Dismissed).
Jack Miller is scheduled to make his first collegiate start in his third year. The Ohio State transfer connected on 7 of his 14 passes for 101 yards with the Buckeyes.
The only time Gator fans have seen Miller in action was the 2022 Spring game, where he completed 13 of 23 passes for 121 yards and an interception.
Walk-on Kyle Engel will likely be the backup QB for the Gators as Napier trusts him to run the offense. Max Brown is the only other scholarship QB on roster for the Gators.
GUARD
Florida will be without 1st Team All-American O’Cyrus Torrence as he prepares for the NFL Draft. Torrence started 11 games and played in 698 snaps this season.
Thankfully for Florida, Billy Napier has rotated Richie Leonard into 11 games this season, making one start and logging 222 snaps. Leonard is expected to make the start in place of Torrence.
Leonard is likely the favorite to win the starting job next season, so getting him more playing time is a positive for Florida.
LINEBACKER
Ventrell Miller is walking at his graduation and will miss the Bowl game. Amari Burney, Shemar James, and Derek Wingo are expected to fill in for Miller. This is nothing new for the Gators LB unit as Miller has missed time with injury and a targeting suspension this season.
Derek Wingo has taken a step forward in a leadership role at practice leading up to the Bowl game.
RUNNING BACK
The Gators will play with just two scholarship running backs against Oregon State. Nay’Quan Wright and Lorenzo Lingard have entered the transfer portal and will not play in the game.
Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne have carried the majority of the load this season, but the unit is just one injury away from having to rely on a walk-on for significant playing time.
Eddie Battle and Carlson Joseph would be the next in line for carries.
WIDE RECEIVER
Florida will be without Trent Whittemore (transfer), Daejon Reynolds (transfer), and their leading receiver Justin Shorter (NFL Draft) from their opening game roster.
The WR unit is in better shape than they were just a few weeks ago, despite being down three scholarship receivers.
Xzaiver Henderson, Ja’Quavion Fraziars, Thai Chiaokhiao Bowman, and Marcus Burke are expected to return from injury and play in the Bowl game.
SPECIAL TEAMS
This is the area I’m most concerned about. Florida will be without their top two special teams contributors in Donovan McMillon and Chief Borders. They will also be without Llyod Summerall, David Reese, Lorenzo Lingard, and Avery Helm, who contributed heavily to special teams efforts this season.
Florida will be without over 1,000 total snaps of special teams contributions in their bowl game. The Gators have been terrible on special teams this season, and the unit is going to be filled with unexperienced ST players impacting the group.
The biggest challenge for Florida is finding enough players at each position to properly hold a practice. The Gators are only down a handful of impact players, but the depth is as bad as it’s ever been.