Florida’s offense took on a totally different look without John Brantley taking the snaps at quarterback Wednesday as the Gators completed the fifth of their allotted 15 practices for the spring. With Brantley out for the day (running a fever), true freshman Trey Burton got the majority of the snaps. Call it a learning experience for the newbie.
Burton showed a nice command of the huddle and made some nice plays when the circumstance called for a quick decision and throw, but on longer developing plays, he showed his inexperience. Burton seemed far more confident in the red zone drills than he did in 11-on-11 when he had the whole field to work with. He has to become more decisive with the ball. When the games go live and there are no red jerseys to protect the quarterback, he’ll get killed if he holds the ball too long. Still, for a first time taking the snaps when he had to be THE man, it was a reasonably good piece of work.
The highlight of the day was a very crisp slant route by Justin Williams and sharp throw by Burton that resulted in a 15-yard touchdown. The second best play of the day was the Burton-to-Williams touchdown on a corner route. It wasn’t a great throw but it was a terrific adjustment on the ball by Williams, who made the catch for one of his three touchdowns on the day.
Here is the position-by-position breakdown of Wednesday’s practice:
QUARTERBACKS: John Brantley didn’t practice. We were told that it had nothing to do with the hyper-extended knee but that he was running a fever and it was feared he might be coming down with strep throat. That meant Trey Burton got 90 percent of the reps with punter Chas Henry taking a few as the backup. In the red zone drills, Burton actually got off a few very nice looking passes. He throws a nice pass when he takes a 1-2-3 step drop and then cuts it loose. When he has to go through his progressions and has more time to throw, he’s more likely to cut loose with a duck or a pass that sails. During the red zone drills, Burton threw a touchdown pass to Deonte Thompson that was more about Thompson, who turned on the jets and ran away from Jon Bostic than it was about the throw; two touchdown passes on slants to Justin Williams, both of which got there quickly and on the numbers; and he made a very nice throw to Frankie Hammond for a touchdown on an out pattern just inside the end zone. He also had a potential touchdown pass dropped by Jordan Reed, who only needed to bring the ball in and he could have waltzed into the end zone. Those were the good throws. He overthrew Stephen Alli in the end zone for what would have been a touchdown; nearly got picked off by Miguel Carodine on a throw he telegraphed; missed Reed in the end zone when he threw high and away on a crossing pattern; nearly got picked off by Brendan Beal and then threw an easy pick to Jelani Jenkins who would have gone 95 yards in the other direction except the whistles blew. In the same red zone drills, Chas Henry had one touchdown pass called back for offensive interference on Thompson but threw a very nice 15-yard corner route to Justin Williams for a touchdown. Burton took 95 percent of the snaps in the 11-on-11. Again, he didn’t look comfortable when he had to make multiple reads and in probably 80 percent of those situations he either threw a ball that sailed or took off running. He did make a couple of impressive runs, one off a scramble and another when he tucked on the option and turned the ball upfield for a gain of more than 25 yards. His best throw was on a short out route to Jordan Reed, who turned upfield and turned a five-yard throw into a 30-yard gain.
RUNNING BACKS: There isn’t much to report about the running backs. Emmanuel Moody tweaked an ankle but all reports are that he’s fine. Mike Gillislee is getting the bulk of the work and it’s easy to tell that the added weight (he’s at 200-plus now) has really helped. He runs with a lot of authority and he hits the hole very quickly. I liked the vision he showed on a couple of plays when he hit the hole hard and then ran to open space. He also had a nice run when he lost his helmet but kept charging forward for another 5-6 yards. Both Moody and Gillislee had troubles at times holding their blocks.
RECEIVERS: The star of the day was Justin Williams, who is having the most impressive spring he’s had since he’s been a Gator. He caught three touchdown passes in the red zone drills, the most impressive on a corner route in which he had to adjust on the ball to bring it in. Williams seems to be playing with a confidence that hasn’t been seen in the past. His routes are crisp and he really concentrates on bringing the ball in. Another impressive day for Deonte although he didn’t run too many downfield routes. Mostly, he took short stuff and turned it into extra yards. Frankie Hammond grabbed his back after making a touchdown catch. He writhed in pain on the ground for about 30 seconds, then got up and walked with a little bit of a limp while holding has back. About four or five minutes later, he was back in the rotation, running routes and showing no signs of the injury so it seems pretty evident that it was just a ding and nothing serious. Stephen Alli continues to impress. He is a long strider so it doesn’t seem like he’s moving all that fast, but he finds an extra gear, kicks it in and then explodes by the secondary. It’s going to be interesting to watch his development. There is no question he is this freak of nature with size (he’s 6-5 and 215) and great speed although the long strides seem to disguise how quickly he’s actually moving. Great leaping ability, too. Of the tight ends, Jordan Reed had a standout day although he did have a drop. Gerald Christian got open several times during 11-on-11 but never got the ball thrown to him. The more Robert Clark gets the ball in his hands, the more evident it becomes that he will be on the field as a true freshman. He’s got the speed and elusiveness and good things seem to happen anytime the ball goes his way. Chris Rainey was dressed but didn’t participate in any contact drills.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Once again Carl Johnson was dressed but didn’t participate in contact. Marcus Gilbert was also dressed but didn’t do any contact so the first team line for most of the day was Mike Pouncey at center, James Wilson at guard and Xavier Nixon at tackle on the left side; and on the right side, John Halapio at guard with David Young at tackle. Halapio had a really nice day. He’s a natural interior lineman — loves contact, doesn’t mind that it gets mean and nasty in there, and seems to relish getting in the first and last hits. Nick Alajajian worked at center with the second unit most of the day. I saw Sam Robey wandering around over near The Pit so I think it’s possible he has some sort of injury issue that kept him out of practice. Whenever the second unit line was on the field, Mike Pouncey was coaching up the first unit linemen. The entire offensive line seemed out of synch today, but that could be, in part, because they were breaking in a rookie quarterback in Burton. When the second unit offensive line was on the field, Ian Silberman looked like he’s going to be really good once he figures out where he is and what he’s doing. He looks lost a lot, and when he’s lost he just finds someone to hit but he does hit hard. He’s been well coached but needs to learn the offense.
IN THE PIT: Andre Debose (wide receiver); Matt Patchan (offensive line); Kyle Koehne (center); Desmond Parks (tight end).