Florida Gators Roster Is Built For Quick Passing Game and Aggressive Defense

for the most part the Florida Gator roster is basically finalized going into the spring and we're going to talk about what this team is built for here on locked on Gators you are locked on Gators your daily podcast on the Florida Gators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello and welcome back to another episode of lockon gators part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day thanks for making lockon Gators your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free R this in the podcast happy Tuesday I'm Brandon Olson find me on Twitter at wns Brandon find on my written r with giants country in NFL 33 today's episode of lock on G is brought to you by fan make every moment more right now new customers get 150 bucks in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and like I mentioned today we're going to talk about Florida's roster and kind of what they've been built for because so much of the conversation this off season has been what Florida lost in the transfer portal who they kept or didn't keep in their recruiting class who they brought in from the transfer portal and that's really dominated the conversation around the Florida Gators this this offseason really for the past month or so uh we'll say month and a half and so when you look at what this team is built for I think the first thing that comes to mind like we're going to look at the offense first I think the first thing that comes to mind is is quick game whether that's rpos whether that's just grip it and rip it type throws whatever it may be I think quick game is kind of what we're looking for as what this offense is built to do it it's not a billy Napier team that's built to run the football right now because a a team that's built to run the football generally has a pretty good offensive line and right now Florida's offensive line is questionable it was bad in 20123 I expect it to be better in 2024 but how much better and I think for me that that's where I look at questionable offensive line immediately rules out this team is built to run the football so I think that you can chalk that one up as that's not it but when you look at the rest of the offense I think quick game is what you really have to talk about because let's talk about Graham Merz for a second because Graham MZ and I I'll pull up his numbers was one of the most accurate passers in the entire country this past season but when you specifically look at underneath killer he was a killer uh behind the line of scrimmage had 97 completions and 108 attempts so you're and by the way four drops so he had 11 incompletions four of them were drops um 607 of his yards came from passes behind the line of scrimmage a lot of that was that little swing or pop pass to Eugene Wilson I thir then and by the way 29.8% of his pass attempts behind line of scrimmage you look at at passes that were short this draw by PFF short as in from the line of scrimmage to 10 yards downfield he went 105 for 124 85% completion percentage had a thousand yards that way and in those two areas combined he had 12 touchdowns two interceptions and by the way both of the interceptions were indeed off of receivers hands because all three of his interceptions in 2023 off of receiver's hands you had or sorry off of receivers because the Utah one hit Ricky Piera in like the chest and then the two to Arles Bingham one was high on the uh Kentucky ball was hi hit ARS in the hands sure should have come down with it whatever ball should have been lower if we're being honest I hit AR in the hands and fell into Kentucky players hands and then against uh was Missouri um threw a cross body and hit L's hands and then went to uh hit AR in one hand if I'm not mistaken and then fell to uh Defender there but when you look at 34.3% of his passes there I'm not good at math not going to pretend that I am but I'm going to say I think that's about 64.1% just trying to do that off the top of my head 34.3 plus 29.8 that's 64.1% if I'm not mistaken of his passes came 10 yards or shorter he like this team knows that that's what they're built for and then you look at just what this team did with actually catching the ball that short and you have to look at we're g to obviously ignore uh Ricky piol here because he is NFL bound but then you look at the next three receivers Eugene Wilson the third had 61 catches montra Johnson had 30 catches he was third on the team Aros Bingham had 26 catches who was fourth on the team pH Jackson had 21 who was tied for fifth on the team and then Hayden Hansen had 12 with just six six on the team a lot of those guys were catching the ball short like it average at the Target was not far for any of them at all in fact all of them had an average depth of Target below six yards except for khil Jackson who had an average depth of Target of 14 yards and then you look at who Florida has brought in you talk about Andy Jean you talk about Melle is probably going to have the deepest average depth of Target because he's not really a Shifty guy he's going to zoom past you um and hopefully Florida takes those shots more this season uh then you look at jeray Hawkins at receiver who's coming in and you look at uh TJ Abrams all guys who were like hey just get the ball in my hands and let me run with it and so Florida and Billy Napier have kind of kind of embraced hey we're gonna do quick game catch the ball run whether it Slants screens we don't care but Florida right now has speed speed and more speed at receiver I do think that we maybe see them open it up vertically a little bit more but the bread and but butter of this offense in 2024 is probably going to be quick game because again bad offensive line in 2023 that we do anticipate to be better but also on the interior you're replacing both guards which yeah wasn't wasn't awesome in 2023 sure you're still replacing the guys that were starting there so even if you don't even if you weren't high on Richie or Micah you're still replacing the guys who were backing them up not an ideal situation to be in uh or you're replacing them with the guys who were backing them up it's the reason they weren't starting and so I think you look at grz deadly accurate underneath likes to get the ball out quickly good quick game probably going to be a an important part you look at the receiving room and it's just speed throughout probably going to get the ball out quickly to them or even if you do let them run deep probably still going to get the ball out pretty quickly you look at the tight end room it's arus it's Hayden it's Keon and it's Tony Livingston that's most of it I'm not going to cir Jackson I've said this before it's very difficult for a true freshman tight end to be a legitimate contributor especially one that basically played wide receiver in High School uh so I think that you look at that's not the speed speed speed section of it but they're probably going to be your safety valves for the most part and so I think you look at you've got speed you've got safety valves like you could run we'll say three vertical routes goes on the outside a slot post and then you just have a tight end sitting underneath and it's like okay no matter what coverage you're in then we we've got something that can attack that and so I think that Florida has been built towards quick game I don't think that that's what Billy Napier when he got here initially wanted to do he wanted to get speed and we knew that but he still wanted to be like all right we're going to we're going to ground and pound the football get the ball out quickly boom ground and pound the football take a deep shot boom he's being forced to adapt here and I do think that quick game is going to be a big part of that because I think that that's that's where this team is I think that that's offensively what they have to be if they want to find success and again Rob sa still the offensive coordinator for the time being he's not the play caller but he's still the offensive coordinator he still participates in building the offense he's an offensive line coach he wants to run the football like like every offensive line coach wants to run the football um so Rob sale when he's been building or what he's been trying to go for is running the football what Billy Napier wants to do is run the football but I think they're being forced into leaning into the hey you're G to have to you like you could still go 12 personnel and use arless as like a glorified receiver um but you're going to have to get the ball out quickly and I think that's another reason that we do still see 12 personnels to have one of those tight ends mostly Hayden being in pass protection there because I think Florida is desperately going to need it but we're gonna flip to the defensive side of the ball for the next really really for the rest of the show because I do think that it's important and I think that I think that identity wise we we we have a little bit of a better view with with some of that spot uh with some of the defense at least but first we're going to get a quick word from FanDuel the NFL regular season is done the NFL playoffs are almost done but there's still time to get in on the action with FanDuel America's number one Sportsbook and let me like the divisional games Saturday sucked but Sunday beautifully profitable I'm telling you that the conference championships game Conference Championship game is probably going to be pretty profitable because good football teams you usually kind of know what you're going to get from most of them but right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet 150 bucks in bonus bets whether you win or lose so visit fanduel.com lockon make your first bet a layup and remember that FanDuel is an official partner of the NFL thanks for making lock down Gators your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free wherever you listen to the podcast and I think when I look at the defense the first thing I think of when I'm looking at the identity of this team and kind of what this roster is built for I think that I'm I'm looking at the linebacker room because that's where we talk about Shamar came in and pup came in and Miles Graham came in and Aaron Charles came in and Manny nere came back and Derrik Wingo came back and we look at the linebacker room and jadden Robinson is back as well I'm looking at blitzing from that spot uh I I think that when you talk about what this team can bring to the table and also let let's acknowledge this Florida does not have a a dominant pass rusher okay and I don't care what your opinion on princ Ley is truly like I'm I'm just I'm done with it I don't care um but prin Ley was a a good pass rusher whether or not you want to say great awesome Elite whatever the bar the bare minimum that you can give is good pass rusher okay I don't care again about having that discussion I think he was a great pass rusher he just didn't hit home enough but a ton of pressures with that Austin Armstrong still dropped prinsley into coverage a lot which again I think that's something that everyone can agree on where no one wanted that like like I get it I understand conceptually why you have to do it and I understand conceptually why Austin Armstrong did it nobody was like you know who needs to be in coverage Prince Ley um but even with princ Ley Austin Armstrong would drop him into coverage quite a bit more than again I I think more than most of us wanted more than most of us kind of appreciated um prin Ley dropped back on 25 or 23.1% of his passing down snaps so he only rushed the passer on 77% of his pass rush reps so you lost him so even without him now I think that you look at this defense and we've talked about this pretty much since he hit the portal with princ Ley gone you have to look at replacing his production not individually but as a unit like we're talking about bringing in Joey slackman was a big part of that I don't think Joey slackman is going to replace what Prince Ley brought off the edge but Joey slack obviously because Joey slackman is doing it on the interior but I just mean pure number-wise I don't think Joey slackman is going to replicate what princ Ley did of 45 pressures last season but I do think that Joey slackman gives you a an interior pass rushing threat I think that you'll have calby Collins and TJ CC taking their next steps and they're both going to step up from what they did last year because Kelby Collins had 20 pressures last year which by the way third on the team that's not a good number to have as third on the team TJ Seri had eight pressures which was about seventh on the team and then you're you're bringing in those guys now um and that's kind of like all right that's that's what we're looking at with they're going to take their next steps Joey slackman is another pass rushing threat the only not pass rushing threat that I'm looking at in the starting rotation is Cam Jackson but again I I don't I personally don't give a damn if he's a pass rushing threat he's an elite nose tackle so I'll take that 10 times out of 10 but so I think that you're going to get more production from the other pass rushing spots okay and then I think that you're going to get more production from your linebackers as pass rushers this year like you look at that room and you see Shamar James you see pup Howard you see miles Graham you see Aaron Charles you see Derrik Wingo you see Manny nund you see Jade Robinson and you go I think a lot of those guys Excel when when coming downhill I look at Pop Howard as a guy that you know the expectation is he's going to come down to the edge every now and then and rush the passer I look at Manny N is a guy who rushed the passer not a ton but you know a bit last season I look at jadden Robinson as kind of a a younger W with a higher ceiling Manny H in terms of he can be that that linebacker safety hybrid but like you could put him on the edge and let him rush to the passer like Manny nry did that a lot in fact I know that a lot of people go oh Grayson Howard's gonna replace what Scooby Williams did in terms of playing off ball linebacker coming down to the edge every now and then I think Manny nuner did that a lot more and I'd rather see or at at a higher percentage of his snaps and I'd rather see pup Howard do that um you look at Miles Graham Aaron Charles like I've said it is very difficult to come in as a true freshman and play linebacker in the SEC you know what makes it a little bit easier when you don't have to react too much when you're not functioning in coverage because you know whether it's a run or a pass I'm coming downhill that that makes your job a little bit easier and so I do think that looking at linebackers like they're built to rush the passer here obviously not you know I'm not looking at them as like hitting swim moves and Spins and all that but in terms of just being able to come downhill and and blow up a play I think the Florida's linebacker room is significantly better equipped to do that this year than they were last year and I think Austin armr is going to want to do that because I think when you look at this room also you're looking at first off let's let's talk about the secondary for a second um it's not awesome right now I'm not a huge fan of it but last year uh I I don't think you rushed the passer much with with defensive backs in general I don't think you do that that again this year but I do think you can get a bit more aggressive with linebackers and I think now that you don't have the Elite pass rusher good pass rusher don't care whatever you want to call whatever princ Ley was I think now that you don't have that you you probably feel a little bit more freedom to go okay we're gonna put Manny uh Manny n at Jack we're gonna put pup Howard at Jack we're gonna put Jaden Robinson at Jack and we're gonna drop them back into coverage and you're not going to know who is going to come at you hell you could I could realistically in an obvious passing situation I could see something like instead instead of like a strong set defensive end just two standup Edge rushers and have that be pop Howard Manny n then you look at the two off ball linebacker spots and it's Shamar James and Miles Graham and then on the interior you got Caleb Banks and joy slackman which we'll talk about in the next segment you got that and it's like who who's dropping back and who's rushing the only people that we really expect to rush are the two on the interior and everyone else is a rush threat from somewhere else and you can kind of cause a bit of Havoc because your past rush needs to step up because your secondary is not that good right now which we talked about yesterday that's completely unacceptable at the University of Florida but that's the reality of the situation so I think blitzing from the linebacker spot is something this team's built to do genuinely and honestly I love that when Austin Armstrong got hired that was the thing he love to do as Southern Miss I don't and he he blitzed the star a lot not something he did last year I don't expect him to do that this year I think that at the SEC you have to kind of respect that a little bit more by keeping your star in coverage more than just blitzing the hell out of people with with group of five which again no disrespect to the group of five group of five tattoo on my arm um but with group of five quarterbacks and group five offenses they're more likely to be tricked by that kind of stuff at the SEC I think you're dealing with a different beast and so you see stars drop into coverage more frequently um to wrap up today's show we are going to talk about the final thing that I think Florida's built to do defensively and honestly I think it's win the trench battle on the interior defensively like like the offensive line I'm not going to pretend that Florida's built to win the battle there on the edges Highly Questionable in my opinion but we've talked about this a lot in recent weeks where I think Florida's interior defensive line actually really really good like you look at nose tackle it's going to be cam Jackson Desmond Watson Jamari lions like those those are the main guys that you're going to look at and say all right they're the players that we're looking at as our main rotation like and frankly I'm a fan of of that rotation like have no problem with that rotation then you look at who's going to play that other spot that that three technique spot that is uh the the big end that they tend to call out of Florida and I'm looking at Caleb Banks I'm looking at Joey slackman I'm looking at Jamari lions and I'm thinking all right Jamari Lions is gonna play both spots and also important to note that Caleb banks will probably play a little bit of that nose spot like if I don't see Caleb Banks and Joey slackman on the field at the same time for obvious passing Downs again not always not every obvious passing down but on some obvious passing down it's like I'm gonna be upset and the lineup that I threw together in the last segment of going okay uh slackman and down slackman and banks in the middle and then you got you know Shamar Manny ner and and Miles Graham and uh and pup Howard and then that combination like if I don't see that at some point I'm going to be a little disappointed I'm just letting you know whoever on the staff watches this I know that at least someone listens or watches if I don't see that rotation I'm gonna be upset and I'm just saying you're gonna ruin my day um but I think having the the room that you have on the interior is actually very good I think that you have guys who are dominant at their spot like cam Jackson I I know that not a big pass rusher you're never going to see big pass rushing production from him but he is a hell of a nose tackle like an NFL caliber nose tackle and I want you when you watch the Florida Gator in 2024 and if you watch back any games from 2023 I want you to appreciate that you have a true two gapping nose tackle that is not easy to find there's a few good ones every year and that's why I thought cam Jackson was NFL bound truly like I thought he was NFL bound because he's one of the few good ones he's never going to get drafted at high unless he becomes a tremendous pass rusher out of nowhere but what he does as a just two gapper is huge uh so I wanna I want to point that one out as like appreciate that you have players who could play multiple spots on the defensive line Caleb Banks can play that three te he can play the nose he's gonna be a light nose but he could play the nose he did it last year like we saw him rotate in there every now and then last year you can play Joey slackman I think at at three spots you can put him at the light nose spot you can put him as three Tech or strong side defensive end if you want to have Cam Jackson cayb Banks and Joey slackman then you could do that with Joey slackman so I think that when you look at having a top tier guy at the no spot you have that in cam Jackson you look at having guys who can rotate in Freely at multiple spots that positional versatility I think Florida has that like I'm I'm very happy with what Florida has on the interior of the defensive line and this is where I talked about this um it was yesterday's show when I was talking about deontre Robinson and I was like it's nothing against him I really don't expect him to play much at all this year because Florida has genuinely Five Guys that can play on that defensive line on the interior at any given moment in cam Jackson Desmond Watson Joey slackman cayb Banks and Jamari Lions you those five and FL didn't rotate a ton of guys on the interior they just rotated their bunch a lot and the only one you really lost that was a uh like like a significant contributor or a significant player was Chris Mullen and even then he he was a backup and and he's the only guy that you lost from that rotation in 2023 and again I think that that really helps your linebacker play because it's going to help keep them clean like you only lost Chris mlen who is backup quality and you brought in Joey slackman who I believe is a starter quality at the SEC player so you're looking at that and as far as like me saying oh put Caleb Banks and Joey slackman on the field at the same time for obvious passing downs and I mentioned the rotation of uh Caleb Banks of Cam Jackson at the nose kayb banks at the three Tech and Joey slackman at the F you can do that as well like in an obvious rushing situation you can see cam Jackson Desmond Watson Caleb Banks and Joey slackman like if you're looking at the goal line or if you're looking at third or in third and inches or fourth and inches like when you play UCF you're gonna go up against KJ Jefferson again and KJ Jefferson just beat the crap out of the Florida Gator when when Florida played Arkansas November 4th 2023 KJ Jefferson just beat the crap out of them all game I don't expect that to happen when you're looking at the UCF game like looking at what Florida has on the interior defensively it's really good granted I I don't think that's enough to carry your defense but I do think that that puts you in a significantly better spot along the trenches defensively than you were last year even with the loss of Prince Ley even if you don't get the step that you're hoping for from the entire group of Kelby Collins TJ cersi uh cam James uh Gavin Hill Justice Boone coming back Tyreek Sapp doesn't take the next step even if not all of those guys have you can reasonably expect that two of them will take the next step and fill that other spot on the in on the edge next to a strong interior like I think even with losing princ Ley your defensive line might genuinely be in a better spot I think your linebackers are in a better spot I I'm okay with this current safeties I would prefer preer another one I prefer more um but I I think when you look at the secondary that's the big question mark here at corner specifically where I'm hesitant but I think you look at linebacker room got significantly better you look at safeties like I've said you you can reasonably expect significant improvement from that room you look at the interior of the defensive line I'm expecting to be significantly better when you add Joey slackman you look at the edge like your talent's probably going to be worse at that jack spot but production over overall should be kicked up a notch from everybody there unless of course teams just go oh their their Corners are weak just just throw bombs on them but even then that's assuming they don't take jumps at any point so I I really think that this team is built to win that that kind of interior inside the tackles I think that this team is built to win defensively thanks make lock Gator your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and fre revist in the podcast and on YouTube we'll be back back tomorrow at the absolute latest for lockdown Gators I'm Brandon Olson don't forget to follow me on Twitter at wns Brandon find all my written work with giants country NFL 33 and as always I will see you all next time