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 about a month.
Over the next month or so, we’ll break down what to watch for from each position during the spring. We’ll start today with the offensive line.
The Returnees
Austin Barber, Josh Braun, Kingsley Eguakun, Richard Gouraige, Will Harrod, Richie Leonard, Yousef Mugharbil, Riley Simonds, Jake Slaughter, Michael Tarquin and Ethan White
The good news is that the Gators return 11 of their 14 scholarship linemen from the 2021 team. The bad news is that the group – like most of the team – really struggled over the final half of the season as the program unraveled.
This will be a run-based offense, so the offensive line is going to have to take massive strides for the offense to be effective.
Gouraige provides a solid foundation to build around at left tackle. He was their most consistent lineman last year and should do a great job of protecting whoever wins the quarterback competition. He could use some improvement in the running game, though, as he got pushed back more than you’d like to see.
The strength of the line should be in the middle. White, Braun, Eguakun and Leonard are quality options to choose from at left guard and center, as the right guard spot should be filled by a massive addition (read on). White, Braun and Eguakun all had moments where they looked like dominant run blockers last year, but inconsistency was a major issue.
Depending on what the coaches decide to do with Braun, Tarquin could be in line to get first-team reps at right tackle this spring. He did a pretty good job with his limited opportunities in 2021.
Napier has made it clear that getting better on the offensive line will be a point of emphasis this offseason, and that process will begin with spring ball.
The Newcomers
O’Cyrus Torrence, Kamryn Waites
Torrence and Waites both followed Napier from Louisiana and could play huge roles on this team.
Torrence, a massive 6-foot-5, 335-pounder, started 35 games over the past three years and was named First Team All-Sun Belt after last season.
He played so well that it wasn’t a given that he’d follow his coaches to Florida, as other major programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and Clemson made a push for him.
It would be a shock if he isn’t the first-string right guard to start spring practice. He did play at right tackle some at Louisiana, so moving him there could become an option at some point if the coaches don’t like what they see from the guys working there.
Torrence recently showed up on the first team of ESPN’s way-too-early preseason All-America team, which tells you everything that you need to know about the type of impact he’s expected to make.
Waites is more of a developmental player. He only played in three games for the Ragin’ Cajuns last fall and redshirted.
He’s even larger than Torrence at 6-foot-8 and 358 pounds, but he was primarily a basketball player in high school. So, he’ll likely have some catching up to do with some technique stuff.
Still, you can’t teach size, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him make a run at playing time at right tackle this spring.
Breakout Watch
Josh Braun
Braun appeared in all 13 games last year and started seven of them. He played OK at times, but it feels like he’s capable of achieving so much more with better coaching and more consistent playing time. He should get both this year.
It’ll be interesting to see what they do with him positionally. Moving him out to right tackle would seem to be the most logical choice, as that would allow them to get him, White, Eguakun and Torrence on the field at once. However, if Tarquin, Waites or someone else emerges as a viable option at tackle, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them keep him at guard and bump White inside to center.
The coaching staff definitely has plenty of options to choose from, and Braun’s flexibility should be a big part of that.
Three Questions
1. How will the coaching dynamic play out on the field?
For the first time since the Urban Meyer era, the Gators will have two offensive line coaches in Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton.
While the concept of having two full-time coaches at the position makes a ton of sense, it also presents some logistical questions that will need to be answered.
Will Sale work with the interior linemen and Stapleton with the tackles, or will Stapleton serve as Sale’s understudy for the entire group? If it’s the latter, how are they going to make sure that they don’t provide conflicting messages to the players?
Having more coaches can create more individualized instruction for the players, but it can also lead to more confusion if not handled correctly.
2. How big of a jump can the line make during the spring?
The additions of Torrence, the new coaches and a new energy into the program should be enough to improve the unit a little bit by themselves, but can they improve enough to where the offense will be able to function at a high level by the fall?
This is a veteran-laden group, which actually works against them in some ways. They’ve underachieved for multiple years, and some of them are going to have to improve more in the next few months than they did in the last couple of years for this line to be one of the better ones in the SEC.
Plus, as the saying goes, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” These guys have been doing things a certain way for two or three years; it probably won’t be that easy to forget everything that they learned and do things differently.
3. Who’s going to step up and provide depth?
On paper, the first six or seven guys that the Gators trot out there should form at least an average SEC offensive line. However, as the last couple of years have shown, getting through a season with only six or seven players is almost impossible to do. Guys are going to get injured and miss games at some point.
So, they need two or three more players to emerge as quality depth options. Leonard, Slaughter and Mugharbil are three guys to watch for.
Leonard started a game last year and can play any of the three interior spots, which gives him value.
Slaughter only played in one game as a freshman last year, but he’s known as a pretty strong and aggressive run-blocking guard.
Mugharbil was one of the Gators’ top recruits in the 2021 class, but his freshman campaign was derailed by a scary accident in which his scooter was hit by a semitruck. Now healthy, he could earn himself a role as a backup tackle with a strong spring.