Gators make no changes on defensive depth chart for Georgia
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators have, to put it nicely, struggled on the defensive side of the ball this season. With a week to self-assess and implement any necessary changes, the UF coaching staff made none on the defensive side of the ball.
The starting defensive line against Georgia will consist of Princely Umanmielen, Desmond Watson, Gervon Dexter, and EDGE Brenton Cox. Ventrell Miller and Amari Burney will start at inside linebacker. Jason Marshall and Jaydon Hill remain the cornerbacks.
There were also no changes at safety, where Trey Dean III has been one of the lowest-graded Gators, per PFF. Freshman Kamari Wilson has played well this season when replacing Dean and garnered praise from his head coach on Wednesday.
“Kamari’s got a good skillset,” Billy Napier said. “He has character, he’s a worker, he’s got some mental toughness, he realizes that this is a journey, and it requires a lot of time energy and effort to develop in this game. And I think he’s got a bright future in front of him.”
Napier was asked on Monday if he used the bye week to go out and really take a deep dive into the defense. Napier is the Gators’ offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach, so his involvement on gameday with the defense is limited. As the head coach, however, he does have the final say over the depth chart and the structure of his organization.
“We’re very intentional about how we put our team together,” Napier said on Monday. “This is not like, ‘Hey, you guys handle the defense, we’ll handle the offense, you handle the special teams.’ We’re very much a team approach relative to playing complementary, winning football. I think we understand what the issues are. Throughout the year we’ve played really good at times, and then we’ve played very inconsistent at times.”
Gators on the injury report
Devin Moore (upper body) – OUT
Diwun Black (lower body) – OUT
Marco Ortiz (upper body) – OUT (entered the transfer portal Wednesday)
Arlis Boardingham (upper body) – OUT
Nick Elksnis (upper body) – OUT
Lloyd Summerall (upper body) – Questionable
Full depth chart
![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier walks during the first half at the Orange and Blue spring football game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 13, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://on3static.com/cdn-cgi/image/height=215,width=393,quality=90,fit=cover,gravity=0.5x0.5/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/04/18141240/Untitled-design-72-2.png)
