Billy Napier says ‘a lot’ of rotational players have earned right to play
Florida coach Billy Napier will release his first depth chart for the 2022 season on Wednesday night following practice, and you can expect a few shakeups in the two-deep and some “ORs” to be included.
Appearing Wednesday morning on the SEC Coaches Teleconference, Napier was asked what position battles are still getting sorted out ahead of the opener against No. 7 Utah.
“I think one of our philosophies is we play a lot of players. I think you’re going to see a lot of rotational players,” Billy Napier said. “You’ll get a depth chart tonight that I think will give you some indications there relative to all the players that will play in the game, contribute to the team, but I would say that it’s probably easier to talk about the positions that aren’t rotational, aren’t in competition.
“So, I think one of the good things about our team here is we’ve got a core group of veterans, right, but we’ve got a lot of players who have minimal experience that I think are going to be competing throughout the year. So, I think our team in general, that’s a good way to describe our team.”
As Napier alluded to, the Gators already have several established starters such as quarterback Anthony Richardson, inside linebacker Ventrell Miller, outside linebacker Brenton Cox Jr., defensive lineman Gervon Dexter Sr. and their top five offensive linemen.
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However, Florida’s spring and fall camps also featured some “intense” competition for playing time at running back, wide receiver, defensive end and in the secondary.
What will be Napier’s message to players who don’t win a starting job but earn a spot in the rotation?
“I think we have a lot of players who have worked hard and earned our trust to where they are going to get an opportunity,” he responded. “I think that our team, in particular this year, the number of snaps these players play each week will be based off how they did the previous week and also what we observe from a discipline standpoint, from an urgency standpoint and how they perform in practice, meetings, walkthroughs.
“I think we’ve got a lot of players that are in contention for a certain amount of playing time and how much they get is based off what we observe during the week and what they do when we do get to game day. It’s a philosophy that we do have. Once a guy earns our trust, it’s a big deal, it’s a privilege. You have to earn the right to walk between the lines and earn the right to be one of the 11 that represents this current team, but also this place, this community and all the people that came before you.”
