Cole Cubelic ranks Florida Gators O-Line No. 5 in SEC

Former SEC offensive lineman and current ESPN college football analyst Cole Cubelic has released his top five SEC offensive line rankings (watch HERE). The Florida Gators, who return four starters, landed at No. 5. His entire top five looks like this:

5. Florida
4. Alabama
3. Auburn
2. Texas A&m
1. Georgia

Cubelic went in-depth on why he thinks Florida offensive line is the fifth best in the SEC …

Introduction, reasoning for the Florida Gators’ ranking

—He likes that UF has depth on the line: “Lot of continuity, lot of feel here. A big reason the Florida Gators are at No. 5 is going to be depth. I think 10 guys that can play. Now, is that 10 No. 1 quality starters on any SEC team? Maybe not. But they can go and get the job done.”

—Cubelic is high on the returning starters, beginning with the left side: “Austin Barber played a lot of football at left tackle. Knijeah Harris is going to be back at left guard. We’ve all seen Jake Slaughter at center. Kid played over 800 snaps last year. He is a quality football player.”

—He thinks Slaughter, a first-team All-American in 2024, will be even better this year: “I expect him to make a little bit more of a jump this year, find some more consistency. And be a leader.”

—He thinks Damieon George is in the right spot: “Damieon George back at right guard. I think he belongs there at guard. Does he have the frame to play tackle? Yes. But I think when he’s allowed to tee off a little bit more, not out an an island as much, he’s someone who can really help this football team. He can probably help them more at guard. Probably where his future is in the NFL.”

That UF returns so many players is a big deal

—To Cubelic, the continuity and chemistry should be there with so many starters back in 2025: “When you get into this zone scheme that they run, lot of stretch play, lot of inside zone, you have to know what the guy next to you is thinking. What his tendencies are. Is he going to leave me early. Do I need to get my head across a little more to combo block with stretch play to the left or inside zone to the left?

Is he going to come off that linebacker quickly? Do I need to make sure he knows pre-snap what our responsibilities are in pass pro? They know all this because they’ve played a ton of snaps together. And not just the middle three but all of them. “

—More on the Gators’ O-Line depth: “Then, Bryce Lovett is back at right tackle. So you’ve got good experience there all the way around. And then (Fletcher) Westphal, (Kamryn) Waites, I think Rod Kearney can play, Caden Jones can play. You’ve got four guys, maybe five guys off the bench that can give you legitimate snaps for this Florida football team.”

—Experience matters, especially with UF’s O-Line scheme: “They’ve now been in this system for multiple years. And the guys who came in last year are going to have an extra year of experience. I can tell you when I was at Auburn, we went to zone scheme my junior year. Senior year, lot better feel for how it operated and how we were going to work together.”

The Florida Gators have a blocking scheme that benefits the O-Line

—Cubelic says Florida’s system “helps this group.” Here’s why: “It’s an offensive line friendly system. Quarterback friendly system. Because you’re going to get split zone with the tight end coming across or jet motion coming across. Heavy bootlegs where the perimeter has to be defended at all times. You’ve got a quarterback with some mobility that’s going to test that as well that makes good decisions. The width of the field has to be protected but you’re showing physicality initially. It’s a great system for an offensive lineman because it can make guys think east and west. And if you attack north and south, we can make one cut off of that and we can make you pay.”

—He says the Gators’ stable or running backs is a plus: “I’ll just be honest, another thing that helps this group are the running backs. I like Jadan Baugh. You guys have heard me talk about him. I think he’s tremendous. I think he’s going to have a great year. But I think Ja’kobi Jackson will take some of those carries, too. Two-headed monster for Florida in the backfield that’s going to help that offensive line be right a lot of the time.”