Biggest questions for the Florida Gators entering fall camp

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Football is back! After reporting for training camp on Tuesday, the Florida Gators return to the field Wednesday for their first fall practice.

Here are UF’s biggest questions entering camp.

The right side of the O-line

The Gators open practice with two of their offensive line positions still to be determined on the right side. Redshirt senior right tackle Brandon-Crenshaw Dickson , a transfer with 35 career starts at San Diego State, and redshirt junior right guard Damieon George Jr ., UF’s starting right tackle last season, both came out of the spring as projected starters. However, each one will have competition for those jobs.

Redshirt junior Kamryn Waites , a former guard who played tackle last season and this spring, has moved back to right guard to compete with George in fall camp. Waites is able to make the switch due to the emergence of redshirt freshman Caden Jones . He’s trending up this offseason and has been in a “heated battle” with Crenshaw-Dickson during OTAs for the right tackle spot, which will carry over into camp.

How will the carries be split?

The Gators are now without running back Trevor Etienne , who transferred to Georgia after splitting carries last season with starter Montrell Johnson Jr . Johnson averaged 12.6 carries per game and Etienne, who was out vs. Vanderbilt with an injury, averaged 11.9 carries. Johnson led the team with 817 yards on 152 carries (5.4 avg.) and Etienne rushed for 753 yards on 131 carries (5.7 avg.)

With Etienne no longer in the rotation, it will be interesting to see how UF decides to distribute carries. Johnson received 49 percent of the 309 carries that went to scholarship running backs last year. What percentage of the workload will he take on this season? How will the rest of the carries be split among Treyaun Webb , Jadan Baugh , KD Daniels and Ja’Kobi Jackson ? It’s TBD in camp.

Open competitions on defense

The F spot, which features Justus Boone , Tyreak Sapp , Kamran James and LJ McCray , is one of Florida’s most talented groups and will be one of the biggest position battles in fall camp . However, the Gators have a few more spots up for grabs on defense. They have to replace a total of five starters from last year’s unit at MIKE linebacker, JACK linebacker (EDGE), cornerback, safety and STAR.

Redshirt senior safety Asa Turner , junior cornerback Devin Moore and sophomore EDGE TJ Searcy are all projected to start at their respective positions, but there’s still competition to be had at MIKE LB and STAR. Senior Derek Wingo and sophomore Grayson Howard will battle it out at linebacker, while sophomore Sharif Denson and redshirt freshman Aaron Gates are competing at nickel.

Can the Florida Gators tackle better?

The Gators had eight defenders last season with PFF tackle grades lower than 50.0, and half of them were safeties (two were starters). Another player at the position, Bryce Thornton , finished with a tackle grade of 51.9. Four of those eight players are no longer on the team, including three former starters in STAR Jaydon Hill (49.3 tackle grade), safety Miguel Mitchell (43.0) and linebacker Scooby Williams (39.7).

Two of Florida’s additions from the transfer portal could help the defense improve on tackling. As a true freshman at South Carolina, Howard recorded a team-high tackle grade of 88.0 and missed no tackles. Safety Asa Turner recorded a PFF tackle grade of 72.4 at Washington last season and should be a solid tackling tandem with Jordan Castell , who led the team with 60 tackles and had a PFF grade of 76.8.

Who will be the returners?

The Florida Gators have to replace both of their top returners from last year. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall served as the team’s punt returner (126 yards on 11 attempts, 11.5 avg), while Etienne took over on kickoff return midway through the season (224 yards on nine attempts). Eugene Wilson III and Chimere Dike appear to be the top options on punt returner, but UF has a several candidates to return kicks.

New special teams senior analyst Joe Houston revealed Tuesday that the Gators have a total of 10 players in the mix as returners. “Guys like Tre Wilson, Chim Dike, Montrell Johnson, Tank Hawkins , Jadan Baugh , Aaron Gates , Elijhah Badger , Aiden Mizell , Trey Webb and Ja’Kobi Jackson are all names that have been getting on the rotation this spring and we look forward to having a lot of effort,” Houston said. “It’s going to be competitive.”

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