Billy Napier shares injury update on Myles Graham, Kamryn Waites

Billy Napier and the Florida Gators are in the middle of spring practice, but unfortunately some injuries have sidelined a couple key players.

Napier revealed two of them on Saturday afternoon following one of the team’s practices.

“Probably two significant ones would be Myles Graham (and Kamryn Waites),” Napier said. “(Graham) had an injury coming in. We went through Phase 1 and Phase 2. We kind of set a deadline, like, ‘Hey, when we get to spring break if we feel like this is going to be a long-term issue we want to go ahead and get it fixed.’ So we made that decision and we anticipate getting him back for the fall camp.”

Graham is an ultra-athletic linebacker prospect who many had thought could contribute right away as a true freshman in 2024. And while the injury in the spring won’t necessarily keep that from happening, it will slow his on-field development quite a bit.

The son of former Florida star Earnest Graham, Myles Graham was a top-100 four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class. He was ranked as the No. 57 overall recruit in the country, as well as the No. 5 linebacker in the class and the No. 11 player from the state of Florida.

He’s expected to be a good one down the road.

Waites entered Florida as a bit of a developmental prospect, but he has the size to be a force once he gets fully up to speed. He is listed at 6 foot 8, 350 pounds. Billy Napier provided an update on his status, too.

“Kam Waites had a strained calf and soft-tissue injury,” the third-year Florida coach said. “Nothing major there, but he’ll be out for a bit. So those are the main two. We’ve got some other soft-tissue things, but overall those are the main two.”

Waites played primarily as a reserve offensive lineman and special teams player during his first two seasons at Florida, though he started two games at right tackle at the end of 2023. He’s being counted on to be a much bigger contributor going forward.

Unfortunately, he may miss the spring entirely. Napier was asked about a potential return this spring and made it sound questionable.

“It’s probably going to be tight,” Billy Napier said. “Probably Grade 2 strain there, but not a long-term issue. He’s done a really good job, had a good offseason. Sometimes these soft-tissue things are perplexing, but he’ll be back.”