How Florida's transfer additions have improved Gator defense

The Florida Gators’ defense was not a strong point on the football field last fall and required some pretty significant changes this offseason.

When speaking with Andy Staples on the On3 YouTube channel Monday morning, Nick De La Torre of Gators Online was asked what the biggest improvement for the defense has been in the offense. He told Staples that it really comes down to the talent on the roster.

“Add. They added a lot,” said De La Torre of the defensive personnel. “I think Florida, if you look at their last five games, the defense averaged giving up 38.5 points a game. Offense just wasn’t able to overcome that.”

Specifically, he’s excited about some additions in the secondary that should shore up some of the gaping holes.

“DJ Douglas, Trikweze Bridges and Asa Turner come in to give you a lot of experience and a lot of tackling in a secondary that wasn’t really interested in tackling last year and wasn’t good at it when they did find the interest to tackle,” added De La Torre.

“So I think adding those veteran guys, adding thousands of snaps to the secondary and guys who are proven tacklers is the biggest thing. The secondary, in my opinion, this spring, is the group that has transformed the most.”

Elsewhere, there are a couple of returners ready to step up along the defensive line, per De La Torre, along with a transfer or two in that position group to provide depth as well.

“I think TJ Searcy can play at the level of Princely Umanmielen. Some of these guys in the middle, I don’t know that they have an All-SEC guy outside of maybe Searcy, but they have two or three deep at every position. I think getting those guys 20-25 snaps a game and keeping them fresh should help the pass rush.”

De La Torre really wants to see that interior part of the line hold up a little better this time around.

“But I’ll put the challenge to Florida’s interior defensive linemen, Joey Slackman, Cam Jackson, Caleb Banks. I think Banks probably held off Slackman to hold on to his starting job. And then, big Desmond Watson, can he finally make an impact?”

Slackman is a transfer, and he along with that trio in the secondary are massive pieces on this defense. Without strong performances from those four, the UF defense could be in trouble again. That’s why Nick De La Torre ultimately believes Billy Napier’s third season could come down to how well he hit the portal.

“It is really about how well they evaluating in the transfer portal. And that’s kind of been one of the problems of the Billy Napier era. It doesn’t seem like they’ve really brought in the impact transfers.”

Hopefully, for the Gators’ sake, that changes this season.