Post by Rock Gator on Aug 27, 2022 7:06:30 GMT -5
A little light read I pulled from the Twatter, as Week 0 starts.
Barstool SEC
@secbarstool
The Florida Gators are the next team we’re going to preview
To be honest, I really thought Dan Mullen was going to be the answer for Florida. He came in and started 29-5 and then his tenure fell off hard. Mullen also did no favors for Billy Napier on the recruiting trail, which brings an immediate negative impact to the depth Napier is going to have right off the bat. I love the Billy Napier hire for Florida though. Napier inherited a Louisiana program coming off a losing record and went 40-12 in 4 years, including 2 Sun Belt championships and a division title every season during his tenure there. Not once did Louisiana lose a single game to Sun Belt western division rival. I don’t care what conference you’re in, that is impressive. On top of that, he’s got experience coaching under Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney.
By this point everyone’s seen the team picture that consists of 60+ assistant coaches, which is all by design. Napier put a massive emphasis on instilling structure into this program that’s been a bit of a mess as of late, and I’m expecting this team to be much more buttoned up immediately. There’s also reasons for optimism for the 2022 team starting on defense. Napier runs a 3-3-5 which should allow the Gators to rely on, what should be the strength of this team, the secondary, where the Gators are loaded. Jason Marshall is a 5* and the #2 overall corner from the ‘21 class who had an elite freshman year. Jalen Kimber transfers in from Georgia who was a top 10 corner in the ‘20 class, IMG alum Kamari Wilson was a top 3 safety from the ‘22 class, and Rashad Torrence is one of the top returning safeties in the SEC.
Up front, Gervon Dexter is a 2nd team all SEC stud that PFF projects to be a top 5 defensive lineman off the board in next years draft, as well as Brenton Cox who is a projected day 1 pick & 2nd team all SEC player. On the other side of the ball, the offensive line returns three starters from a unit that graded out quite well last year. The Gators OL was 5th in the country in sack rate and 3rd in the country in passing down sack rate. They were also top 30 in standard down line yards and opportunity rate. Napier also brought in O’Cyrus Torrence, the #2 interior offensive lineman in the transfer portal and Kamryn Waites, the #2 tackle in the transfer portal, both from Louisiana, which should only bolster this line.
On top of these two, Napier brought his RB, Montreal Johnson, from Louisiana who was the Sun Belt freshman of the year and led the team in touchdowns. Napier ran the ball nearly 60% of the time at Louisiana, which I’d expect to decrease a bit, but this is a team that’s going to want to win on the line of scrimmage and establish physicality right off the bat. If Keon Zipperer and Justin Shorter can contribute and allow Anthony Richardson to play on time in a more structured environment, this is a team that could surprise people, but it’s not going to be easy. Florida has a top 10 most difficult schedule in the country but will start the year playing 6/7 games in the Swamp. Utah is going to be an measuring stick game right off the bat followed by an SEC East rival Kentucky coming into town the next week. I like the way the Gators matchup with Kentucky and Tennessee, but there’s so much variance for this team that’s got so many new pieces. I can see this team winning 9 games just as easily as I can see them winning 6 games, but I do know that the future in Gainesville is bright and Billy Napier is going to elevate this program back to where it’s fans expect it to be.
@ufbarstool
Barstool SEC
@secbarstool
The Florida Gators are the next team we’re going to preview
To be honest, I really thought Dan Mullen was going to be the answer for Florida. He came in and started 29-5 and then his tenure fell off hard. Mullen also did no favors for Billy Napier on the recruiting trail, which brings an immediate negative impact to the depth Napier is going to have right off the bat. I love the Billy Napier hire for Florida though. Napier inherited a Louisiana program coming off a losing record and went 40-12 in 4 years, including 2 Sun Belt championships and a division title every season during his tenure there. Not once did Louisiana lose a single game to Sun Belt western division rival. I don’t care what conference you’re in, that is impressive. On top of that, he’s got experience coaching under Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney.
By this point everyone’s seen the team picture that consists of 60+ assistant coaches, which is all by design. Napier put a massive emphasis on instilling structure into this program that’s been a bit of a mess as of late, and I’m expecting this team to be much more buttoned up immediately. There’s also reasons for optimism for the 2022 team starting on defense. Napier runs a 3-3-5 which should allow the Gators to rely on, what should be the strength of this team, the secondary, where the Gators are loaded. Jason Marshall is a 5* and the #2 overall corner from the ‘21 class who had an elite freshman year. Jalen Kimber transfers in from Georgia who was a top 10 corner in the ‘20 class, IMG alum Kamari Wilson was a top 3 safety from the ‘22 class, and Rashad Torrence is one of the top returning safeties in the SEC.
Up front, Gervon Dexter is a 2nd team all SEC stud that PFF projects to be a top 5 defensive lineman off the board in next years draft, as well as Brenton Cox who is a projected day 1 pick & 2nd team all SEC player. On the other side of the ball, the offensive line returns three starters from a unit that graded out quite well last year. The Gators OL was 5th in the country in sack rate and 3rd in the country in passing down sack rate. They were also top 30 in standard down line yards and opportunity rate. Napier also brought in O’Cyrus Torrence, the #2 interior offensive lineman in the transfer portal and Kamryn Waites, the #2 tackle in the transfer portal, both from Louisiana, which should only bolster this line.
On top of these two, Napier brought his RB, Montreal Johnson, from Louisiana who was the Sun Belt freshman of the year and led the team in touchdowns. Napier ran the ball nearly 60% of the time at Louisiana, which I’d expect to decrease a bit, but this is a team that’s going to want to win on the line of scrimmage and establish physicality right off the bat. If Keon Zipperer and Justin Shorter can contribute and allow Anthony Richardson to play on time in a more structured environment, this is a team that could surprise people, but it’s not going to be easy. Florida has a top 10 most difficult schedule in the country but will start the year playing 6/7 games in the Swamp. Utah is going to be an measuring stick game right off the bat followed by an SEC East rival Kentucky coming into town the next week. I like the way the Gators matchup with Kentucky and Tennessee, but there’s so much variance for this team that’s got so many new pieces. I can see this team winning 9 games just as easily as I can see them winning 6 games, but I do know that the future in Gainesville is bright and Billy Napier is going to elevate this program back to where it’s fans expect it to be.
@ufbarstool
