Some UF position battles have ‘shaked out’ after competitive week in camp
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When Gators coach Billy Napier met with the media last Monday, he explained how the next six practices would be very competitive on his football team.
And ultimately, this past week of fall training camp would go a long way in determining Florida’s depth chart for the 2022 season.
“There’s going to be some urgency, it’s going to be intense and there’s going to be a ton of competition,” Napier said last Monday of practices 10-15.
The intense week of camp culminated in the second scrimmage on Saturday, which marked practice No. 15. Napier assessed how his team performed in the scrimmage over the weekend but on Wednesday discussed how the players handled what he called a “critical window” of camp last week.
“We made significant progress (during practices 10-15),” Napier said. “You’re in the middle of training camp and it’s not necessarily a light at the end of the tunnel. So how well your team handles that is important. Things have shaked out to some degree (with the position battles).
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“We’ve got a core group of veterans, but I think there’s a lot of players on our team that the percentages of the snaps they play relative to their position is going to be based on their performance — meetings, walk-through, practice, self-discipline off the field, all these things contribute to those decisions. I think you’ll probably see quite a bit of that this season. This week will be no different.”
The Gators’ most competitive battles for playing time appear to be at running back, wide receiver, defensive line, cornerback and kicker. One area where Napier feels significant progress been made in camp is the physicality of his team.
“I think our practice environment requires that,” Napier said. “How sharp is the sword? I think we’ll find out when we get to the season when we start playing games. But ultimately, you want to go into the season ready to go. There’s a fine line in there between managing those things. I think that’s one of the areas where we made progress.
“We can have a very physical practice environment, but we’re also able to stay off the ground and keep the roster healthy. I think that’s an important piece. I don’t know that you know (how physical your team is) until you get out there and start putting the ball down and playing. But we made progress in terms of how we practice.”
