In part one we broke down the offense. Now, it’s time to do the same for the defense. The defense figures to be the strength of this club yet again this season as they are loaded with talent at seemingly every position. Will Muschamp has done a fantastic job of bringing his defensive vision to Florida, recruiting the athletes to make it happen, and it has been paying dividends on the field. Check out our breakdown of each position on this loaded Florida Gators defense.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Starters: Dante Fowler (Junior), Darious Cummings (Senior), Leon Orr (Senior), Jonathan Bullard (Junior)
Key Backups: Bryan Cox Jr. (Sophomore), Jay-nard Bostwick (Freshmen), Alex McCalister (Sophomore)
The defensive line has been a strength for the Gators in stopping the run over the last few years, but has been very inconsistent when trying to get pressure on the quarterback. They haven’t ranked higher than sixth in the SEC in sacks since 2009, including dropping all the way to eleventh last season. They are hoping to get more pressure this season with Dante Fowler on the edge and Cummings and Orr making the push in the middle. Fowler certainly has the athleticism and capability to do the job, however to this point he has been plagued by inconsistency. I expect him to put things together this season and have a big year for the Gators.
Position Grade: A-
LINEBACKERS
Starters: Michael Taylor MLB (Senior), Neiron Ball OLB (Senior), Antonio Morrison OLB (Junior)
Key Backups: Jarrad Davis (Sophomore), Alex Anzalone (Sophomore)
The linebacker unit is very talented and loaded with experience. There were high expectations for Antonio Morrison last season, but a knee injury ended his campaign early and really weakened the position. This year he is healthy and ready to go, looking to lead the charge.
The LBs should be able to assist the defensive line with rushing the passer and really stuffing the opponent’s running game. They are another year more experienced and we should see this group rally the rest of the team and be the vocal leaders of a hard hitting defense. Jarrad Davis should see playing time early and could emerge as a full-time starter by seasons end.
Position Grade: B+
CORNERBACKS
Starters: Vernon Hargreaves III (Sophomore), Jalen Tabor (Freshmen)
Key Backups: Brian Poole (Junior), Duke Dawson (Freshmen)
The cornerbacks are lead by Vernon Hargreaves III, a stud sophomore who played out of his mind as a freshmen. Because of that he appears on many pre-season all-conference teams and is already creating a name for himself as one of the best corners in the nation. Beyond VHIII the corners are unproven. However, Jalen Tabor comes in as the number one recruit from this year’s class and the coaching staff is hoping he can have a freshmen campaign similar to Hargreaves a season ago. If he is able to perform anywhere close to that, the Gators may have one of the best shutdown corner tandems in the entire country.
Position Grade: A
SAFETIES
Starters: Marcus Maye SS (Sophomore), Jabari Gorman FS (Senior)
Key Backups: Marcell Harris SS (Freshmen), Keanu Neal FS (Sophomore)
The Gators will rely on the cornerback position to anchor the secondary and hopefully take some of the pressure of the safeties, allowing them to play over the top deep or come up on the occasional blitz to help pressure the quarterback. The safety position is a little unproven and lacks the big time playmaker that seems to be everywhere else on this defense. There is some young talent, but they have yet to emerge and separate themselves as the guy at the position.
If the corners can play the lock-down man to man coverage we all expect, the safety position should have most of it’s flaws covered and be able to play adequately in this defense. If there are any injuries at the corner spot, we may see the safety position exposed over the top, and that is something the coaching staff wants to see avoided.
Position Grade: B
KICKING GAME
Kicker: Austin Hardin (Sophomore)
Punter: Johnny Townsend (Sophomore)
The kicking game took a big step back and was very frustrating a season ago as the Gators broke in two freshmen at both positions. The once automatic field goal unit was missing far too often and the punter wasn’t giving them the kind of field position they were accustomed too. With another year under their belt, the kicking game figures to take a step forward this season. How big of a step? Well, that remains to be seen. I expect Hardin to improve. He has a big leg and once he learns to settle his nerves in big spots and tough atmospheres, the kicks will start to go through the uprights. Townsend needs to prove it on the field, but if the offense improves, so should the field position from the punter.
Position Grade: C+
The defense is once again going to be the strong point of this team. They are big and mean up front, have tons of experience in the middle, and are young and super athletic on the outside. There are very few holes on his defense and opposing offenses are going to have to work for every yard.
Overall Defensive Grade: A-
If the Gators are going to have a big turn around season from the 4-8 campaign from a year ago, it’s going to be on the back of their defense. They will need the offense to improve as well, but in a offensively unproven SEC this year, even an average offense with this defense will be dangerous. If Driskel and company can put something like 20 to 24 points a game up on the board, this defense figures to do the rest. We predicted each and every game in our Gators schedule analysis, now it’s time to see it play out on the field.
Overall Team Grade: B+
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