Spring Review: Florida Gators

Spring practices have concluded across the Southeastern Conference. You kept a close eye on what was happening with Kentucky football, but how did the Wildcats’ opponents fare? KSR has everything you need to know from spring abut the guys that will line up on the other side of the line of scrimmage this fall. Next up is the Florida Gators.

Spring Review: Vanderbilt Commodores

Not a ton of positive buzz about QB1

Anthony Richardson was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft despite just one season in Billy Napier‘s offense when the athletic freak completed just 53.8 percent of his passes, posted a woeful passing success rate (38.7%), and had some bad moments for a team that finished the regular-season 6-6.

Napier inherited a roster in rough shape from Dan Mullen and that has required a reset that will take time. Instead of going all-in on the transfer portal, the former Louisiana head coach is choosing to build most of his roster through high school recruiting while filling specific needs through the portal.

One of those needs was quarterback. Back in December, Florida was seen as a potential player for Michael Pratt (Tulane) and Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina) but the former did not enter the portal after Willie Fritz turned down Georgia Tech and the Green Wave got a major NIL commitment. The latter was forced to withdraw his name from the portal as there appeared to be an academic credits issue. Devin Leary was also linked to the Gators at one point. Napier then quickly moved to Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz who was enrolled for the spring semester.

The former top-100 recruit is a redshirt senior with two years of eligibility remaining. Mertz entered a position battle with former Ohio State transfer Jack Miller and redshirt freshman Max Brown. Mertz did not win the job in spring camp as he split most of the first-string reps with Miller in the spring game. However, most signs point to Mertz being the starter.

Florida had a stagnant offense in the spring game as the offensive line really struggled against a pressure-heavy defense. Meanwhile, the wide receiver position is in rough shape and may need to turn to some young players early in the season. Florida needs Mertz to provide rock-solid play so a young offense can grow.

The spring showed that this group has a lot of work to be done in Napier’s outside zone, play-action shot throw offense that operates primarily out of the gun.

A lot riding on Austin Armstrong

When Billy Napier was hired, Florida’s defensive coordinator search went longer than expected. After seemingly missing out on a few top candidates, Napier promoted Patrick Toney to a play-calling role despite limited experience. The 33-year-old would last just one season in Gainesville taking the defensive backs coach job with the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason.

Napier then went searching for another defensive coordinator and decided to stay young. After being hired by Nick Saban to coach linebackers at Alabama, Austin Armstrong made a quick pivot to become Florida’s third defensive coordinator in three years.

The 29-year-old spent the last two seasons calling plays at Southern Miss leading the Sun Belt program to a top-40 SP+ finish in year two. Under Armstrong, USM’s 2022 defense ranked No. 41 in points per drive (1.97), No. 55 in yards per play (5.41), and No. 3 in tackles for loss per game (8.4). The pressure-heavy scheme wants to create high havoc rates and is willing to take chances.

In Florida’s spring game, Armstrong dialed up multiple exotic pressures leading to a plethora of sacks and non-sack tackles for loss. There will not be a conservative defensive approach in Gainesville this season. The Gators added four transfers who could be starters this offseason to supplement a young defensive roster that does have some intriguing talent. Florida will need their defense to play at a top-30 level this year.

Similar to what we saw at Missouri with Blake Baker last season, Florida will be banking on big defensive improvements to give Napier’s second team a shot at winning consistently this fall as the offensive goes through a significant transition.

Offensive line and wide receiver are major positions of concern

Billy Napier’s massive coaching and support staff had a solid first full recruiting haul. There was a mess made in the Jaden Rashada recruitment, but the Gators inked three top-100 recruits, signed 20 top-500 prospects, and finished inside the top-10 in average star rating, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.

Florida will be depending on multiple newcomers to contribute this season. That really comes into play at wide receiver.

Outside of former Arizona State transfer Ricky Pearsall in the slot, there are not a lot of options. An argument can be made that the Gators have the worst wideout room in the SEC. Florida also lost position coach Keary Colbert in the offseason to the Denver Broncos. There is a lot of turnover here. The Gators will need 1-2 of the three top-400 prospects signed at receiver to play a major role this season. There was some spring camp buzz for Andy Jean.

On the offensive line, Florida lost All-American guard O’Cyrus Torrence to the NFL Draft. The second-round pick will likely be starting for the Buffalo Bills as a rookie. However, the Gators got some bad news when left guard Ethan White and right tackle Michael Tarquin entered the transfer portal. Both committed to USC. That leaves Florida with just one returning starter and a lot of unknowns on the offensive line.

The Gators added Baylor transfer Micah Mazzccua to fill a guard spot, but he might not be available in 2023 due to injury. Alabama transfer Damieon George will start at right tackle but is unproven. So is Richie Leonard at right guard. There are some legitimate worries about this group entering the season.

Florida has bonafide questions about wide receiver and offensive line. Tight end is not a positional strength. Numerous signs point to this being one of the worst offenses in the SEC this season despite Montrell Johnson and Travis Etienne being a strong 1-2 punch at tailback.

Napier and his offensive staff have their work cut out for them.

Surprisingly low expectations

For anyone that watched the Florida spring game, there was not a lot of good buzz. Many Gator fans filled Twitter and message boards for some negative comments about the offense. That likely lowered expectations for a team with not a lot of them.

🔥🔥 ⁦@FloridaGators⁩ pic.twitter.com/F8waijGD6j

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) April 14, 2023

When Draft Kings released their season win totals last week, Florida’s number (5.5) was the second-lowest in the SEC. That is where this storied program with three national championships the last three decades is at the moment.

Florida draws both Utah and Florida State in the non-conference. The Utes and Seminoles will likely be in the preseason top 25. The Gators get Arkansas (home) and LSU (road) from the SEC West. Florida could be road dogs against Kentucky and South Carolina. Florida also travels to Missouri. Napier has one of the toughest schedules in college football this season with a team breaking in a new scheme and play-caller on defense in addition to all of the issues on offense.

A 7-5 finish would be a good season. Napier won’t be on true hot seat watch at any point this year due to the situation he inherited in Gainesville, but this year will go a long way in setting expectations for 2024. There needs to be some proof of concept shown that this can work at Florida with Napier. We didn’t see that in year one and that definitely wasn’t shown in the spring.

Florida will travel to Kroger Field in Week 5.