New Florida Gators OC Buster Faulkner has earned the right to be in the conversation for best offensive coordinator in the country by consistently putting his players in position to make plays no matter what his roster looks like.

​The impressive part of Faulkner’s career has always been his ability to adapt to the talent on the team, even if that means flipping from a run-heavy team to a full-blown air raid.

​That’s not to say he doesn’t bring anything with him from school to school; in fact, if you watch any of Faulkner’s offenses, you’ll recognize quite a few recurring trends in his system.

​Shifts & Motions​

On just about every play Georgia Tech ran under Faulkner, there was some shift, motion, or both.

​A shift is when an offense essentially resets, with players moving to a completely new spot and settling, unlike when a player goes in motion and the ball is snapped in motion.

​The purpose of these constant shifts is to force defenses to communicate and make proper adjustments when the defensive coordinator can’t help them anymore.

​The clip above is what is called an Pop shift, where the shift brings multiple players from closer to the line of scrimmage out toward the sideline. As always, not all terminology is universal but this is how I know it, others will also call it Explode.

Pitt then brings their linebackers out of the box to match, and Georgia Tech runs QB Draw to pick up a chunk run.

When we talk about Faulkner’s offense on Locked On Gators, you will often hear me say that Buster Faulkner doesn’t have to outsmart the grown defensive coordinator; he has to outsmart the 21-year-old on the field.

​Much gets made of Georgia’s defensive line shifts late in a play clock, because the onus is now on the offensive line to communicate a counter for it.

The clip above is called a Trade shift, ​where a tight end moves from one side of the formation to the other. It helps to displace the defense, which leads to an explosive play for Tech.

Faulkner’s shifts can also be used to “hide” players from defenses because there’s so much to track, creating mismatch opportunities for the offense.

​Motions are another important part of the offense in the same “family” as shifts, which we will see in the next segment.

​Gun Wide Back

​I tried to find a name for this, and the closest that I could find was RB Wide Splits by Coordinator Corner - I have been calling it Gun Wide Back

​It’s almost surprising the first time that you see RB wide splits, because it just looks so unnatural to the eye.

​In the clip above, the running back is lined up completely outside the tackle box, an obviously unorthodox look compared to typical formations with the running back close to the quarterback.

​My personal thought is that this way, the back has slightly more space to build up speed, allow blockers to get in front of him on counter, and attack to the inside or out as a route runner.

​The clip above shows these same wide splits but with two backs, one on each side of the quarterback, to stress the defense even more.

​One of the running backs motions out to get more space toward the perimeter and catch the ball with space to work out wide to catch and run.

​This is one way Faulkner uses motion to stress defenses and get them out of position to attack.

​Screens

​Some fans think an offense that relies on screens, like Faulkner’s, won’t work in the SEC.

​I ask those fans to look at Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama from 2025. Four SEC teams that threw screens on more than 15% of their passing plays, and three of the four had double-digit wins, with the lone exception being Tennessee, who had the highest-scoring offense in the SEC.

​Screens have gotten the same reputation in Gator Nation as dropping edges into coverage, which brings me to an important point - neither of those concepts is bad; they were just poorly used and executed under the Napier regime.

​In 2025, Haynes King completed 80 of his 85 screen attempts (3 drops) for 681 yards and 3 touchdowns; that’s 8 yards per attempt, which was the third-highest average among qualifiers in the country in 2025.

​Screens under Faulkner are genuinely an extension of the run game, with their efficiency, high completion percentage, and high average.

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​With an effective run game that can force a defense to play tighter to the line of scrimmage, screens help widen the defense and create a lighter box.

​When you pair an effective run game with an effective screen game, defenses are more likely to play single-high, which leaves opens for vertical shots downfield.

​Multiple Personnel

​We’ve covered this extensively on Locked On Gators this year; Buster Faulkner is going to use the best players on his roster.

​Many people look at what the Georgia Tech offense looked like and see the heavy usage of two tight end sets and think that will be the norm for Florida, but in actuality, I think it’s more a sign of the roster they had.

​Georgia Tech lacked depth at skill positions but had a plethora of depth at tight end, all of whom could play significant snaps without a significant drop-off in play.

​At Florida, fans can still expect to see 12 personnel (1 running back, 2 tight ends), but they should also expect to see 10 personnel (1 running back, 0 tight ends) as well as 21 personnel (2 running backs, 1 tight end) to maximize the talent.

The running back room and wide receiver room are both in the preseason conversation for being the best in the conference; Faulkner will be trying to get them on the field as much as he can, and I expect to see more Air Raid roots, like 10, 20, and 21 personnel.

The first Florida Gators game of the Jon Sumrall era will see the Gators host the Florida Atlantic Owls.

​FAU is in year two under head coach Zack Kittley and finished the 2025 season averaging 29.5 points per game (51st in the country) while allowing 36.3 points per game (132nd in the country).

​Kittley is the youngest head coach in the FBS right now at just 35, but he’s been an offensive coordinator since 2018.

​The Owls enter 2026 with eight players projected to start on offense, with one receiver, one tight end, and one offensive lineman coming out of the portal.

​Defensively, the Owls will have seven starters who were with the team last year, en route to having the fourth-worst scoring defense in the country.

​Brett Dewhurst is the Owls’ defensive coordinator in his first stop as a defensive play-caller in his career, with safeties coach experience at both Texas Tech and Mississippi State.

​Most recently, Dewhurst was a defensive analyst for Coastal Carolina before joining Kittley’s staff in Boca Raton.

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​The Team

​I’ll use the Ourlads projected depth chart for this first game, since we don’t have an actual depth chart available yet.

​Caden Veltkamp is back as the Owls’ starting quarterback after a 2025 season that saw him throw for 3,641 yards, 24 touchdowns, and a nation-leading 17 interceptions to go along with 8 fumbles.

​When watching Veltkamp’s 2025 film, he showed flashes with some tight-window throws and the ability to layer throws, but too often felt like he was either missing some velocity or was just slightly late as a processor.

​Veltkamp underwent surgery on his shoulder this past offseason after it was reportedly bothering him for most, if not all, of the season, so it’s possible that now that he’s fully healthy, he’s got more zip on his passes.

​There were games in 2025 where FAU tried to lean on Veltkamp in the run game as well, but he just wasn’t very effective; it’s not something he should be asked to do often.

​Kaden Shields-Dutton is expected to step into the starting running back role after spending 2025 as the backup to Gemari Sands, who transferred to Florida State this offseason.

​Shields-Dutton had 460 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns, with another 17 receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown for the Owls in 2025.

​FAU brought in running back Leonard Farrow from Fairmont State, who finished 6th in Division II with 1,438 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns with 8.1 yards per carry.

​At wide receiver, the Owls will often use four receivers and will likely start Easton Messer, Dominique Henry (in the clip below), Branden Hoch, and Kelby Valsin, who transferred in from Texas Tech this past offseason.

​Messer was the Owls’ leading receiver in 2025 with 1,052 yards and 6 touchdowns on 104 catches; Henry finished fourth on the team in receptions with 40 for 575 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Hoch had just 12 catches for 177 yards.

​The tight end room for FAU was completely overturned from last year, though the Owls hardly used tight ends in 2025, with only one playing more than 70 snaps all season.

​FAU’s offensive line from left to right is set to be Ja’Kavion Nonar, Carson Osmus or Aiden Jones, Braden Cunningham, Vincent Fiacable, and Ben Galloway.

​Four of the projected starters were with the team last year - Nonar started at left tackle, Osmus played three snaps in 2025, Cunningham played 16 snaps at center and 2 at right tackle, and Fiacable was the starting center.

​Nonar was someone I left the tape feeling unimpressed with, not just technically, but because there were multiple times when he seemed lost and didn’t even start blocking until late in the play.

​Now that Cunningham is set to be the starting center in 2026, Fiacable will be sliding over to right guard. In 2025, Nonar allowed 33 pressures, which was tied for the 16th-most allowed for an offensive lineman.

​Galloway comes out of the transfer portal from Georgia Tech, where he played 42 snaps through the past two seasons, mostly seeing just a handful of snaps in those games, so Florida will be his first significant game experience.

​The Owls’ defensive line returns CJ Doggette, who played the most snaps on the entire defense in 2025, playing at both spots along the interior, despite lacking ideal interior defensive line size at 277 pounds.

Doggette made it on The Athletic’s Freaks List for 2026. “This offseason, he bench-pressed 500 pounds, did 38 reps with 225 pounds and squatted 615. Better yet, he ran a 4.75 40”

​The other projected interior defensive lineman is Blake Burris, a 6’5”, 320-pound transfer from SMU that should allow Doggette to play more of a 3-technique this year.

​Deshaun Batiste is back as the starting strongside defensive end after leading the team in pressures and sacks in 2025. Batiste played for Jon Sumrall in both 2023 at Troy and 2024 at Tulane.

​Josh Roberts was the third edge on the Owls last year but will be their starting RUSH linebacker in 2026 and ranked fifth with 12 pressures.

​Joseph Sipp Jr transferred in after being a depth piece for the Kansas Jayhawks last season, although he has ample G5 experience with two seasons of 600+ snaps played at Bowling Green.

​Sipp’s projected running mate is Leon Hart Jr, who started last year as the weakside linebacker and was the team’s leading tackler in 2025 with 96 tackles.

​The Owls’ secondary has two returning starters in safety Jayden Sweeney and outside cornerback Damarius McGhee.

​Damon Allen is expected to start in the nickel this year after being the backup in 2025, when he was extremely effective as a pass-rusher with 8 pressures on just 19 blitz attempts.

​Two more starters come via the transfer portal: Tyson Rooks from Illinois at safety and JK Johnson, who comes to FAU from Oklahoma State in 2025, LSU in 2024, and Ohio State before that.

​Rooks has played cornerback to this point in his career but is projected to be a safety for the Owls; he has elite length at 6’4” and has ball skills as a converted wide receiver.

​The Scheme

​The Owls under Zach Kittley run an Air Raid offense designed to throw the football often with quick, simple reads for the quarterback while attacking with tempo.

​In 2025, the Owls ran 78.2 plays per game, the most in the country, with East Carolina and Baylor second at 76.8.

​Like most Air Raid offenses, Florida Atlantic will lean heavily on quick game, perimeter screens, and underneath passing concepts like snag and spacing.

​Personnel-wise, the Owls based out of 10 personnel last year, meaning that they had one running back, four wide receivers, and zero tight ends on the field.

​That could change this year to bring a tight end onto the field more often after turning the entire room over this past offseason.

​The Kittley Air Raid is designed to manipulate space using stacked wide receiver sets and doubles sets, two receivers on each side, but will also bring multiple players into the backfield to condense defenses before attacking open space.

​It’s safe to assume that at least once per game, FAU will break out a formation that at least makes you think “what the…” once they line up. (See above)

​Kittley is one of the better Air Raid playcallers in the game right now due to his willingness to get creative with the run game to at least threaten on the ground, even if it means using the quarterback run.

​Easton Messer is the guy that Kittley loves to dial up his number on a down-to-down basis, but also whenever there’s a high-leverage situation, a third down or low red zone opportunity.

​Defensively, Florida Atlantic runs a modern 4-2-5 with three down linemen and a stand-up edge rusher, two off-ball linebackers, and five defensive backs.

​The Owls played out of single-high and two-high safety looks last year, but in the game against the Gators, they will likely play more single-high to stop the run better and force early down stops and longer late downs.

​In 2025, FAU ran a blitz-heavy defense and introduced stunts, giving them a versatile pass-rush plan, but they lacked the overall talent and depth to be consistently effective.

​With Blake Burris on the roster now, I’m curious how the defense might change as far as stunt usage goes. He’s got the size to play in a movement-based front but can also be the more stagnant player that still has two-gap responsibilities.

​Leon Hart and Khmari Johnson were the most common off-ball blitzers, especially when lined up near a flexed-out tight end or slot receiver, to rush from outside the tackle box. With Sipp on the roster now, he’s expected to take snaps from Johnson but should still be utilized similarly.

​Coverage-wise, they spend a lot of time playing zone coverage with cover 3 out of single-high looks and quarters out of two-high shells as their primary calls.

​Tackling was a mess for FAU in 2025: five defenders had 11 or more missed tackles; for reference, a Florida defense that wasn’t exactly great at tackling had no players with 11 missed tackles.

​Of those defenders, two of them are expected to be full-time starters again, and one more is expected to be a consistent contributor.

​The American is a conference that plays in space, and FAU defenders struggled to make those open-field tackles; if that’s still the case in 2026, this game could get ugly.​

I’m most interested to see the changes Dewhurst makes now that he has a year of defensive play-calling under his belt and has seen what works and what doesn’t, although he will be at a severe talent disadvantage in this game.

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Peyton Miller, Interior Offensive Lineman

Listed Height: 6’5
Listed Weight: 310 lbs
Class: 2027
RIVALS RANKING: 4-star - 204th Overall - 12th IOL - 24th in Texas
247 RANKING: 4-star - 151st Overall - 8th IOL - 23rd in Texas
Schools Committed Over: Texas Tech, Texas, SMU, Clemson​

Note: Because of the lack of full game film available, HS film evaluation is often based on highlight film, so negatives are naturally hidden, but we will still look for undesirable reps.​

Evaluation​

Before you even press play on Peyton Miller’s film, the numbers will tell you that he’s very tall for a center. Listed at 6’5”, that would have him in the 88th percentile for height amongst centers at the NFL Combine dating back to 1999.​

Miller will probably need some physical refinement once he gets with the Florida strength & conditioning program, but his family also runs a fitness and nutrition brand that has helped him prepare for both football and wrestling.

​His feet just never stop moving once he’s engaged with a defender, and if they get turned just a little bit, he’s almost always going to drive and finish them into the turf.​

Pops out of his stance after the snap and, despite his height, wins the leverage battle by getting his hands in on defensive linemen before they’re even prepared for it.​

Miller will need to get a bit more consistent with his snapping; most of his reps on film get to the quarterback’s torso/ribcage, but some reps go outside of the quarterback’s frame.

​Loves that he keeps his hands active and in an attacking position while waiting for off-ball blitzers to rush; times up that initial punch well.​

As a puller, Miller wastes little time getting out of his stance and on the move, and keeps his path flat before getting downfield. In space, he can play high before engaging with defenders, and that will likely give him issues at the next level, although he wasn’t forced to pay often in high school.​

There were a few reps where it looked like Miller tried to break out a snatch-and-trap in pass protection, which wasn’t exactly clean, but it was effective. Another one of those “it worked in high school but needs development for the next level” moments.

​Has a solid anchor in pass protection and helps set a clean front of the pocket. None of the interior defensive linemen really popped on film, so I’m not sure of the level of competition, but he generally dominated the people across from him.​

There was one rep against Denison where he was straight bull-rushed back into the pocket, and it was the most depth he gave up in pass pro on film; it still ended with him putting the nose tackle in the ground.​

His hands can get a little wide sometimes with the initial punch going outside, but he’s capable of resetting without giving the advantage to defenders.

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​There’s a rep where he has his left hand on the 1-tech, his right hand on a blitzing linebacker, and still doesn’t give up the pressure. It was probably the most he’s been pushed back on a rep, but the quarterback still had space to step up into the throw if he wanted.​

Has a good idea of when it’s time to move off of the double and get to the second level. Did a really good job of doubling the edge, then passing him off to pick up a blitzing DB in pass protection while lined up at left tackle.​

There’s another rep at tackle where he just handles a small edge and an off-ball linebacker in the run game, single-handedly clearing the way for the back.​

Overview

I said on Locked On Gators, when Miller committed to Florida, that I think he’s the perfect center for offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner.​

A high-IQ, athletic, aggressive option that can execute as a puller and is reliable in pass protection gives the offense everything they want as their man in the middle.​

We’ve seen plenty of examples of top high school wrestlers becoming great offensive linemen and it appears Miller could join the likes of Tyler Linderbaum and Tristan Wirfs.

The film isn’t perfect for Miller, but it’s damn good, and his flaws are all things that can be worked on and shouldn’t be long-term limitations for him.​

There are glimpses of advanced pass protection technique like the aforementioned snatch-and-trap, which will need work. Still, I’m personally a fan of having a) the foundation for advanced technique and b) the confidence and awareness to break it out at the right moment.​

For some, height may be a concern when it comes time for Miller to block shorter interior defenders who can drop their pad level, and while it did show up periodically, it was less than I initially expected going into the film.​

Watching his film actually made me question whether or not a taller center is something that we can see more of in football - snap the ball, get hands inside an interior defensive lineman’s pads, and elevate his pad level for him like a forklift.​

He took reps at tackle; it was nothing spectacular, but he generally held his own, and with his size, plus the size profiles Florida has taken at tackle, it wouldn’t shock me if they gave him a shot there - personally, I think he has elite center potential.​

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If you’ve followed my work, then you know I have very few all-encompassing rules about player evaluation, but one is that I do not want true freshmen playing significant snaps on the offensive line.​

Peyton Miller just might be the exception to that rule - partially because of his film being so good, but also partially because he’s already ahead of many other high school linemen as far as strength & conditioning goes.​

Miller’s got my favorite lineman film in the Florida Gators 2027 recruiting class (including Maxwell Hiller) and is firmly in the top three of high school film that I’ve watched since I started covering the Gators in-depth; it’s Miller, Fletcher Westphal, and Tyler Chukuyem.

The Georgia Tech offense under Buster Faulkner had a versatile run game that was built around outside zone, counter variations, and power variations - all of which had variations for a quarterback, running back, or even wide receiver to be a ball-carrier.​

When you watch the Georgia Tech offense under Buster Faulkner, one thing that you’re going to see often is pulling offensive linemen.​

We’ve already taken a look at power read and how Faulkner used it to attack opposing defenses; now it’s time for the true lifeblood of his run game: counter.​

Counter is a gap-scheme run that uses two pullers to create the gap - one of the pullers (usually the guard) is given the responsibility of kicking out the playside edge defender, while the other puller becomes a lead blocker through that gap.​

The way Buster Faulkner and Georgia Tech used counter was a big reason that the Yellow Jackets finished 15th in the country in EPA per rush, 17th in yards per rush, and 3rd in rush success rate.

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When the Florida Gators announced that Georgia Tech Offensive Coordinator Buster Faulkner would be taking over the same position in Gainesville, there was one major pushback: he runs the quarterback too much.

In 2025, Georgia Tech QB Haynes King had 180 carries in 12 games (excluding sacks); only 18 of them were scrambles. 907 of his 1,019 rushing yards came on designed carries, as he was a battering ram that excelled at decision-making on option plays.

The numbers may tell you that Buster Faulkner loves to run the quarterback, but the truth is that he does what it takes to have an effective offense. Throughout his career, Faulkner has adapted depending on his personnel, whether that’s airing the ball out or committing to the run.​

That’s the reason Georgia Tech ran the quarterback so much - that’s what you have to do when Haynes King is playing quarterback for you.​

Buster Faulkner is surely going to bring over some concepts that he used with the Yellow Jackets, and quarterbacks will still run the football, but the frequency with which they run the ball will decrease.​

One of the many concepts that Faulkner ran often at Georgia Tech, and that I think he will bring with him to Florida, is a favorite offensive concept of mine: the Power Read.

​For those who are unfamiliar, this series will be part of a paid series, but as always so far, the first part will be free.​

Power Read​

The power read is an option run that combines gap-scheme and is commonly also called inverted veer.

In the diagram above, the playside is the right side and the backside is the left side, so for future reference on diagrams: playside tackle/guard is right tackle/guard, backside tackle/guard is left tackle/guard.​

The playside tackle moves to the second level to take on the off-ball linebacker while the playside guard down blocks to the interior defensive lineman; the center also down blocks to the next interior defensive lineman while the backside tackle takes on the backside edge defender.​

The backside guard pulls toward the playside, just like if the offense was running power (hence the name power read) and cuts up inside the defensive end on the playside to get to the second level.​

On standard zone read/read option/veer, the backside defender is usually the unblocked read man, with the read being “read man stands = hand it off, read man crashes down = QB keep”.​

With power read, the playside edge is the unblocked read man, and the read flips to “read man widens out = QB keep, read man crashes down = hand it off.” Hence why power read is also known as the inverted veer; the play and reads flip.​

In the clip above, Georgia Tech runs their standard power read, which is actually the least common way in which they used the concept in 2025. Georgia looks like they had an answer here actually and probably would have had a tackle for a loss if not for the tight end picking up the off-ball linebacker that came flying down.

It’s not uncommon for a defense to attack read plays by crashing the end to force the wide option, whether that’s the QB on zone read or back on power read, only to also send an off-ball player to the end to take care of the wide option.

Georgia Tech was explosive on the power read, averaging about 8 yards per call in 2025. Still, they were also effective with a success rate over 80% - while it didn’t generate explosive after explosive, it consistently created gains and would pick up chunk yardage.​

Jet Power Read

​A variation of power read that Florida Gators fans did see under Billy Napier that they should expect to see more of is jet power read. You may remember it from Florida’s failed 4th & short against Tennessee in 2024 or the solid gain last year against Texas below.​

Jet power read operates under the same rules as regular power read: if the read man (end defender) widens out, then the QB keeps the ball, but if the read man stands or crashes, hand it off.​

The difference here is that the player taking the hand-off is usually a wide receiver that comes across the formation and can take the hand-off with a full head of steam already.​

​With jet power read, not only are defenders forced to make a decision, but they’re forced to make it quicker than usual.​

The player that I’ve been referring to as the “read man” is also often called the conflict defender because the offense is using them to create a conflict and make a choice.​

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In the clip above, Georgia Tech also takes advantage of a stunt where the edge defender that is supposed to be the read man loops inside, taking himself out of the play and leading to an explosive gain.​

With jet power read, that threat of speed heading to the outside creates an opportunity for easy straight-ahead yards for the QB keeper if the defender oversets.

​Power Read Toss

​This variation can get a little funky compared to the other power read concepts. As a refresher, most of the time, power read involves a player from the backside of the formation running to the playside, across the face of the quarterback.​

If the conflict defender crashes down, then the quarterback hands it off. If the conflict defender widens out, then the quarterback keeps the ball himself.​

With power read toss, also often known as toss power read or toss read, the running back in this instance will be lined up on the playside.​

​In the clip above, the edge defender in conflict immediately bails to go wide with the running back, and Haynes King helps sell the play further by faking the pitch before keeping the ball himself.​

Because the defense is aligned in a Penny front (5 down, one off-ball LB behind the nose tackle), that edge takes himself out of the play, and the off-ball linebacker blitzes the A-gap, as well as the edge defender on the opposite side dropping into coverage.​

This gives Georgia Tech numbers, with five blockers and four defenders to block. The playside tackle and pulling backside guard cause a collision that takes out the playside 4i, the recovering conflict defender, and the safety that’s crashing down.​

PA Power Read

​While we call plays PA for play-action, it’s becoming increasingly more common to call some play-action plays “run action.”​

The difference usually comes from what the offensive line is doing; if a lineman pulls, then that’s called run action.​

On PA power read, the backside guard will pull to classify it as run action - especially dangerous for aggressive defenders that will take a pulling guard as an automatic tell for a run play.​

​For an offense that ran power read variations as often as Georgia Tech did in 2025, that made their PA power read that much more dangerous.​

In the clip above, the read man fires down. He wraps up the running back, leaving just a three-man pass-rush with one linebacker (#1) biting down on the play fake and the other linebacker (#33) hesitating just enough to leave him unable to cover the eventual receiver.​

Like most of Faulkner’s offense, there will be multiple plays that look similar, making it nearly impossible to know what you’re seeing as a defense - Georgia Tech used PA Power Read with a variety of passing concepts off of the fake.

The Florida Gators have that new car smell right now after firing Billy Napier and replacing him with Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, who has a 43-12 record as a head coach at both Troy and Tulane.​

There’s a bit of the Florida swagger back, which comes from more than just catchphrases like “Drop the maybe, cuz” or “Winners win. I’m a winner. We’re gonna win,” and podcast appearances. Every team needs its psycho linebacker, and for Florida, it just so happens to be its new head coach.​

Taking over Florida is an interesting task for Sumrall because while the team won just four games in 2025, the roster was visibly talented.​

For the first time ever, the Florida Gators had a player drafted in every round of the NFL draft, and many outgoing transfers ended up at high Power Four schools - very uncommon for a team with only four wins.​

It was clear that coaching was the primary issue for Florida, and a grueling schedule didn’t help, though this is the SEC, so the schedule will always be difficult.​

Florida is undoubtedly a team with unknowns on the roster and staff, but what makes their record so hard to predict is the volume of unknowns on the schedule.​

I can tell you now that South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and Oklahoma will not be talked about here.​

Texas, Georgia, and Oklahoma are all teams that I feel confident will be very good in 2026.​

South Carolina is a team that has talent at the top, but, simply put, it’s not about having questions about the coaching staff; I outright don’t think they’re good.

Auburn Tigers

The Gators open Power Four play with the Auburn Tigers, now led by Alex Golesh, the other highly sought-after head coach from the American Conference.

​Full disclosure: Sumrall and Golesh were the only two Group of Six coaches that we talked about on Locked On Gators as targets I would be happy with Florida hiring after firing Napier.​

Yes, Alex Golesh did lead USF to victory in The Swamp in 2025 and did bring plenty of that USF offense with him to Auburn, but make no mistake - that game was not won because of USF’s offense, and the 2026 game will not be lost because of Billy Napier’s coaching.​

This isn’t to say that Auburn isn’t good, but USF, with much of the same talent now at Auburn, scored 18 points against Florida last season and won because of Florida’s poor coaching and offense.

Both Sumrall and Golesh will have to prove they’re capable of hanging in the SEC week-to-week, with each of their first tests coming against the other.​

Ole Miss Rebels

The following week, the Florida Gators will take on the Ole Miss Rebels, now led by Pete Golding, who did bring the Rebels to playoff success last season, but he wasn’t the coach who got them there.​

The Ole Miss roster is once again stacked, and while I am a Pete Golding guy, we have never seen him lead a team through an off-season and through the records of a regular season.​

While there aren’t many question marks with Ole Miss right now, Florida Gators fans are well aware of what can happen to a team when a coach is in over his head.​

Golding has more backing than most first-year head coaches because of the CFP experience, including beating Sumrall and Tulane there, but the day-to-day of running a program is very unproven at this point.​

John David Baker is the new offensive coordinator in Oxford and comes from the Lane Kiffin system, serving as Passing Game Coordinator and then co-Offensive Coordinator from 2021 to 2023. Replacing the duo of Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. is a tall task.​

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Missouri Tigers

​The following game is against the Missouri Tigers, who again have a coaching-related question that I recognize matters more to me than most: the last time Eli Drinkwitz did not have Kirby Moore calling offensive plays for him, he was on the hot seat.​

Drinkwitz is 46-29 at Missouri but had 5-5, 6-7, and 6-7 seasons before hiring Kirby Moore and going 11-2, 10-3, and 8-5 last season. That’s a 47.2% win percentage pre-Moore hire and a 74.4% win percentage post-Moore hire.​

There are more factors that went into the turnaround, like having Brady Cook at quarterback in each of the two double-digit-win seasons, but nothing is more significant than the Moore hire.​

Hiring Moore and giving up play-calling responsibility turned Drinkwitz’s career around from not-so-lovable loser to not-so-lovable winner as he was able to take on more of a pure head coach role.​

Moore is no longer in Missouri; he’s now the head coach at Washington State, and Drinkwitz hired Chip Lindsey to replace him as play-caller.​

While Lindsey is going to be the offensive play-caller now, he’s been good, not great, for much of his career as a coordinator, mostly bouncing around as a low-P4 coordinator.​

Kentucky Wildcats

The next-biggest unknown on the schedule comes from Lexington, Kentucky, where the Wildcats seem to finally be investing in their football program, with wunderkind Will Stein and some significant NIL moves.​

While I do think Stein will be good for Kentucky overall, he’s never coached in the SEC at any level and is a first-time head coach. This is as “trial by fire” as it gets, so I don’t expect much from the team in year one.​

The defensive coordinator hire of Jay Bateman was a big one to get an experienced mind running the defense, but how Bateman meshes with Stein’s style will add to what should already be a steep learning curve for Kentucky.​

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Vanderbilt Commodores

The biggest question surrounding Vanderbilt is probably the biggest on-field question mark that a team can have: quarterback.​

By the time Vanderbilt and Florida play in late November, quarterback won’t be a question for either team, like it is for both right now.​

The expectation is that Vanderbilt will start true freshman Jared Curtis, and there’s usually heavy volatility through the first year for a young player like that, but with how Vanderbilt put Diego Pavia in position to succeed, it wouldn’t shock me to see some more success for Curtis.​

What happens when plays break down will be the true measure of Curtis’ performance in 2026.​

Florida State Seminoles

​Mike Norvell is entering year seven as the head coach at Florida State, and I have no problem admitting that I was a fan of the hire at the time, after four years of 8+ wins, including two double-digit-win seasons at Memphis.

In his six years in Tallahassee, Norvell has just two winning seasons: 10-3 in 2022 and 13-1 in 2023 (no matter how bad Seminoles fans will try to convince you the team went 13-0).​

The Noles are coming off 2-10 and 5-7 seasons over the past two years, and while I do think they’ve built a more competent roster for 2026, my questions are centered on Ashton Daniels at quarterback under Norvell at the helm.​

Daniels looked average at best in his four games with Auburn last year, but so did every quarterback in Hugh Freeze’s tenure there, so I struggle to fault him much. The last time Daniels was a starting quarterback, he led the ACC in interceptions thrown at Stanford in 2024.

Elias Pearl, Wide Receiver

Listed Height: 5’11
Listed Weight: 183 lbs
Class: 2027
RIVALS RANKING: 4-star - 55th Overall - 9th WR - 4th in Florida
247 RANKING: 4-star - 112th Overall - 14th WR - 13th in Florida
ESPN RANKING: 4-star - 178th Overall - 25th WR - 20th in Florida
Schools Committed Over: Ole Miss, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina

Note: Because of the lack of full game film available, HS film evaluation is often based on highlight film, so negatives are naturally hidden, but we will still look for undesirable reps.

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Evaluation

It’s clear to see why Elias Pearl was a priority target for so many SEC schools from the moment you turn on his tape and see the dynamic playmaking ability.

Pearl’s best trait is his ability to create with the ball in his hands by blending speed, vision, and contact balance.

If you watch Locked On Gators, you already know I love it when a high school receiver has a release package, and Pearl has one that needs work, but the foundation is there, and that’s what matters in high school.

His film shows him break out stick-jab and triple stick releases to beat cornerbacks that are pressed up on him, although he rarely faced legitimate jam attempts - instead, cornerbacks would line up pressed on the line of scrimmage without a jam.

I was impressed with Pearl’s ball-tracking ability, a benefit of playing with Florida State 3-star QB commit Logan Flaherty, who throws a solid deep ball. There were multiple times where Pearl went up top for a ball downfield, though there’s no way for me to know how many times he went up and didn’t reel it in to know how often he wins those 50-50 balls.

Pearl reportedly ran a 4.5 40-yard dash at a Rivals Camp in Miami, which is very good for someone who didn’t spend months preparing specifically to run a faster 40-time like Draft prospects do at the Combine.

While he’s a smooth, fluid route runner, I’m a fan of receivers who mix up their route tempo more, and Pearl looks like he’s consistently running routes at about 80% speed before he accelerates as the ball comes in.

In modern football, quarterbacks are often forced to create plays out of structure, and an overlooked part of that is how QB-friendly a wide receiver is. In this case, Pearl did a good job of running to open space when Flaherty would start moving around.

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Overview

It’s tough not to fall in love with Pearl’s film when watching, but it’s also important to remember that we’re watching highlight tapes - it purposefully excludes negative reps.

Pearl should be able to step in and contribute from day one in Gainesville, even if it’s just on special teams, where he had multiple return touchdowns as a junior.

His junior film was also full of wildcat reps that led to explosive plays as a ball-carrier - get him the football in any way that you can and let him make plays.

My expectation is that Pearl will still be a dynamic playmaker in the SEC. Still, I will need to see him be able to operate through contact at the next level because being listed at 183 pounds with a long frame means he will likely need to add some weight to win the same way that he won in high school.

Florida Gators offensive line recruiting has been underwhelming for over a decade, with Martez Ivey being the last five-star signee in Gainesville.

The issue is that since then, Ivey has completed his college career at Florida, went undrafted, and has been playing in the Canadian Football League since 2021.

Under Billy Napier, offensive line coach Rob Sale was ineffective at landing premium players on the offensive line, instead opting for long-term projects.

The major flaw of the approach that we spoke about on Locked On Gators was that when a team takes on projects, the staff must develop them, but also must win enough games to keep their jobs long enough to see that development through.

Obviously, the latter never came to fruition, as the Napier staff was fired during their fourth season in Gainesville.

During the Napier era, the Gators signed just six blue-chip (4- and 5-star) offensive linemen per the Rivals industry comparison:

(Name - Signing Year - National Rank)

Rod Kearney - 2023 - 122

Caden Jones - 2023 - 389

Fletcher Westphal - 2024 - 192

Marcus Mascoll - 2024 - 384

TJ Dice - 2025 - 260

Tyler Chukuyem - 2026 - 281

I included Tyler Chukuyem on the list because of when he committed and how short the gap was between Florida hiring Sumrall and National Signing Day.

Jon Sumrall put an added emphasis on the offensive line by hiring Florida alum and one of the top OL coaches in the country, Phil Trautwein, to run the unit.

Since then, the Gators have landed three blue-chip offensive line commits in Maxwell Hiller, Elijah Hutcheson, and Peyton Miller.

Hiller is currently ranked as the third overall player in the 2027 recruiting class, as well as the highest-ranked offensive lineman.

Of the Napier blue-chip recruits, only Caden Jones has seen significant playing time as the starting right tackle in 2025.

Kearney has yet to find consistent playing time, and that doesn’t seem likely to change in 2026.

Westphal has been dealing with a wrist injury since the 2025 season and missed this past spring because of it, although the expectation is he should be full-go by fall camp.

Dice will be competing for playing time as well this fall, as both starting offensive tackle spots are still open publicly.

Mascoll is the lone player from the bunch that’s no longer with the program, as he joined the Georgia State Panthers this past offseason.

Rankings are valued differently, of course, but I personally don’t care much for them. I just prefer to watch the players and form opinions of their play, without much need for saying “they’re the Xth best player”.

With that being said, the consensus already is that Florida is recruiting the offensive line much better under Sumrall and Trautwein than under Napier and Sale - rankings or individual film evaluation-wise.

Comparing the Sumrall/Trautwein era to the Napier/Sale era is like comparing the MLB to Single-A ball, and the Gators are in the big leagues now.

Development was clearly an abject failure on the offensive line under Napier and Sale.

While that part remains to be seen under Sumrall and Trautwein in Gainesville, we also have a large sample size of Trautwein developing NFL offensive linemen.

With the first five-star offensive linemen since the 2015 recruiting class, on top of the other top linemen already committed, it’s safe to say that recruiting has already surpassed the Napier and Sale era.

It’s clear through the film evaluation to this point also that the Gators are recruiting linemen that already do what they will be asked to do in Buster Faulkner’s offense - power run game, pin-pull, and block out in space.

Development is yet to be seen, of course, since it’s been just six months since Sumrall and Trautwein were hired in Gainesville but the bar to pass is very low.

While the Napier and Sale regime had some things to hang their hats on, including two players earning a total of three All-American nods (O’Cyrus Torrence in 2022, Jake Slaughter in 2024 and 2025) - successes were few and far between.

In 2025, the best Gators offensive linemen were Slaughter and Austin Barber, both of whom came to Florida as Dan Mullen recruits - they were in Gainesville before Napier got there and were still there after he was fired.

The Florida Gators are building to win in the trenches offensively, and for fans like myself, it’s a breath of fresh air.

The Florida Gators defense is something I’m personally excited to see, given the combination of schemes on this coaching staff and the pure talent in the room.

As we finished spring ball, it became clearer which players were separating themselves from the pack in position battles, and now, most of these spots should be decided as the Gators head into the summer and fall camp.

JACK

Starter: Jayden Woods

Backup: KJ Ford OR Kofi Asare

It should come as no surprise to see Jayden Woods as the starting JACK here. Woods was a prized retention for Sumrall and his staff after initially entering the transfer portal.

As a true freshman, Woods showed flashes of great potential as a pass-rusher but was more reliable as a run defender than anything else.

If he takes those next developmental steps going into the 2026 season, Woods could be primed for a breakout season.

Behind Woods is an “OR” between true freshman KJ Ford and Kofi Asare, who transferred to Florida from UMass following the 2024 season.

Asare was a non-factor in 2025, playing just 154 snaps on the year - most of which came in four games where injuries in front of him cleared playing time.

Ford was a four-star recruit in the 2026 class that got on campus this past January and has impressed in the short time he’s been in Gainesville.

If I were in charge of making the depth chart, this wouldn’t be an “OR”. The upside of Ford is too enticing not to get him as many reps as possible and allow him to develop.

NOSE TACKLE

Starter: Joseph Mbatchou

Backup: DK Kalu

Through the spring, Joseph Mbatchou dealt with injuries that kept him from looking as agile and explosive as he looked during the 2025 season, so until we get to fall camp, I think it’s fair to keep him listed as NT1.

Still just a few years into his football career, Mbatchou’s ceiling is sky-high. Once he’s fully healthy with another camp under defensive line coach Gerald Chatman, we could see a sizable developmental leap.

DK Kalu transferred in from Baylor during this past transfer portal window, and when he committed, he wasn’t someone that I expected to be a significant contributor this year.

After his first spring in Gainesville, that’s changed.

Kalu looked more comfortable in the limited reps we’ve seen, and at this point, I think he’s the second nose tackle on the roster.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Starter: Brendan Bett

Backup: Jeramiah McCloud

I personally think that Brendan Bett is set to have the biggest jump in production from 2025 to 2026. Bett’s film for most of 2025 was clean, and it was obvious that he has the tools required to be a significant impact player on the line.

In the Gators’ new defensive scheme, linemen will have more opportunities to impact the game as disruptors and penetrators, rather than just block-eaters as under Ron Roberts.

As a true freshman, Jeramiah McCloud had multiple impressive stretches on film and effort was always evident from him.

Going back to high school, McCloud was someone who won with an explosive first step and relentless effort as both a pass-rusher and run defender. In 2026, the hope is that McCloud will further develop technically and become a more consistent contributor.

F

Starter: Kamran James

Backup: LJ McCray OR Emmanuel Oyebadejo

The F spot is one that has a ton of talent for 2026 with Kamran James, Emmanuel Oyebadejo, and LJ McCray.

James missed the spring with an injury, but in 2025, he was the best F on the team, so he is my starter until he is given a legitimate opportunity to lose the position.

As always, in-game film will take priority in my analysis over practice clips or even the spring game.

If the situation were that an average or below-average starter were injured and missing time, I would be more receptive to losing a starting spot due to injury, but James was a legitimate quality player and will be treated as such.

Personally, I think all three of Florida’s Fs should play a significant number of snaps this year, so who technically starts isn’t very important to me.

This rotation could be situation-based or a set rotation, but this is arguably the strongest individual position on the defense from top to bottom.

McCray is projected to have a breakout season, and Oyebadejo is making the transition from G5 to P4, leaving the Gators with some room if one of those players doesn’t live up to expectations, the room would still be in good hands.

WILL

Starter: Myles Graham

Backup: Ty Jackson

I was torn between putting Myles Graham or Jaden Robinson at the starting WILL linebacker. Still, I ultimately went with Graham because I think his sideline-to-sideline ability is greater than Robinson’s.

Graham has elite athleticism for a linebacker, and in 2025, he put out strong film to place himself among the best backers in the country.

Behind Graham here is Ty Jackson, who should play considerably more in 2026 now that he’s got a year of college experience under his belt.

Jackson has legitimate sideline-to-sideline athleticism and should be, at worst, a viable “chase” linebacker. “Chase” means that they can simply play “see ball, hit ball” even if they aren’t ready for more.

MIKE

Starter: Jaden Robinson

Backup: Myles Johnson

Jaden Robinson is easily the most underrated linebacker in this room right now, and I’m personally offended by it.

Robinson’s been a high-level linebacker since his second season, and if he had better measurables, he probably would have declared for the NFL Draft after the 2025 season.

Myles Johnson should step into a larger role in 2026 and should be a good scheme fit under Brad White, as we expect linebackers to play a more downhill, attacking style.

It remains to be seen what Johnson is capable of defensively, but he was a consistent special teams contributor as a true freshman.

SAM

Starter: Aaron Chiles

Backup: Malik Morris

No linebacker received as much hype through the spring as Aaron Chiles did.

Chiles should be the starting SAM for the Gators, in a defense I expect will have him playing both as an off-ball linebacker and an occasional edge rusher.

I’m interested to see how much Chiles plays as a pure SAM and how much he plays as either the MIKE or an edge rusher in nickel defense when there are only two linebackers on the field.

True freshman Malik Morris is one of the most sawed-off linebackers I’ve ever seen at 6’ and 261 pounds, but don’t let that fool you, he can fly.

Considering it’s questionable how many snaps Chiles plays, that also leaves questions around how much Morris will play.

CORNERBACK

Starters: Dijon Johnson, J’Vari Flowers OR Cormani McClain

Backups: Ben Hanks, Onis Konanbanny

This is another one of the few “OR” spots on this projection with the starting cornerback opposite Dijon Johnson.

Johnson isn’t the most exciting cornerback option, but he’s, in my opinion, the best in the room without question.

I have questions about Johnson’s long speed, but he’s the most technically sound corner in the room and the most consistently reliable, even if he won’t give you as many big plays as other options. Reliability matters; a quiet corner is a good corner.

Opposite Johnson should be either Cormani McClain, a fan favorite, or J’Vari Flowers, who flashed as a true freshman.

Personally, I don’t have a preference between the two as to who should start, since they should both play heavy snaps this year.

McClain has yet to really put it all together in college, but it’s clear that every year he’s taking those steps toward becoming a complete cornerback - it feels more like a matter of “when” he breaks out, as opposed to “if” he’s going to break out.

Flowers saw inconsistent playing time in 2025, starting two games, playing 40+ snaps in two more, and then playing fewer than 25 snaps in every other appearance, but he performed well in most of his outings.

Personally, the Mississippi State and Florida State games were the ones that gave us a glimpse into what Flowers’ ceiling could be as he had to deal with Brenen Thompson of MSU, an elite athlete, and Duce Robinson, a physical freak, vs Florida State.

Ben Hanks III and Onis Konanbanny should both rotate in during the 2026 season, with Hanks III as a consistent contributor and Konanbanny seeing a handful of snaps per game.

Both have looked much improved throughout the spring, but Hanks started from a higher point and is more ready to contribute than Konanbanny in 2026.

STAR

Starter: Kanye Clark

Backup: Dylan Purter OR Eli Owens

When Kanye Clark came over from UCLA, he had film at both outside cornerback and nickel - I openly preferred his outside film to his nickel.

The likelihood that Clark just received mediocre, at best, coaching at UCLA is pretty high, given how early into the 2025 season the staff got fired.

Clark made an immediate impression on the Florida Gators coaching staff when he arrived in Gainesville, as they constantly talked about how impressive he was in the weight room and during the Gauntlet.

Through the spring, it seems as though Clark solidified himself as the starter at STAR with true freshman Dylan Purter and JUCO sophomore Eli Owens behind him.

Purter’s film at safety in high school was clean, but I did question his long speed and range overall, so a move to STAR could make him a legitimate option there.

BOUNDARY SAFETY

Starter: Bryce Thornton

Backup: Lagonza Hayward

There’s a very good reason that Bryce Thornton is wearing the #1 jersey in 2026. Simply put: he’s like that.

Thornton might lack the elite physicals to be considered a high draft pick in the NFL, but he’s got the tools to be a top defensive back in the SEC and country.

I expect Thornton to play all over the secondary, but he should mostly be aligned as the boundary safety, closer to the line of scrimmage.

Lagonza Hayward played STAR under the Napier regime but will play safety under the Sumrall staff, which should have him playing the boundary spot.

Hayward is a bigger, more athletic option than Thornton, but the instincts and pure football skills are still well behind where Thornton is.

FIELD SAFETY

Starter: DJ Coleman

Backup: Cam Dooley

The field safety in this defense should play the more traditional free safety role, lining up as the deep safety in single-high looks, and is going to be portal-heavy with Baylor’s DJ Coleman and Kentucky’s Cam Dooley back there.

Coleman was a top-three safety in the transfer portal this past season and was someone we spoke about on Locked On Gators before we knew the Florida Gators were interested in him.

Coleman should make a high-level impact from day one as an upgrade over Jordan Castell, who transferred to Kentucky this past offseason.

Cam Dooley came over from Kentucky with two years of eligibility remaining, and he should be the second field safety and third safety overall in this defense.

Comfort and familiarity with Brad White and safeties coach Chris Collins should make Dooley an immediate significant contributor who could play multiple spots in the secondary.

The Florida Gators have wrapped up spring after just over a month of practices and scrimmages.

While many battles are still to be determined, including many of the battles listed here, here is what I think the offensive depth chart looks like following spring practices.

Quarterback

Starter: Aaron Philo OR Tramell Jones
Backup: Aidan Warner

The starting quarterback is an “OR” position because the competition isn’t settled yet, and I expect it won’t be decided until the fall.

Whether it’s Aaron Philo or Tramell Jones at starting quarterback, the position will remain a question for me until proven otherwise.

Based on the limited reps I’ve seen, Trammell Jones was clearly the better passer of the two, but that’s a very small sample size from the spring game and from game reps in their careers.

The quarterback competition will include how these quarterbacks play on the field, but also how they lead off the field, and that’s something that is getting overlooked right now.

Aidan Warner would likely be the third quarterback on the depth chart, given his experience over Will Griffin, who will likely redshirt before competing for QB1 next season.

Running Back

Starter: Jadan Baugh
Backup: Duke Clark, Evan Pryor

Unsurprisingly, Jaden Baugh is going to be the starting running back for the Florida Gators in 2026 before he goes to the NFL as a day two pick in the 2027 draft.

Baugh is one of the best backs in the country and will lead what I personally believe is one of the top running back rooms in the country.

Duke Clark is listed as RB2 in my projection, not because I think he will have the second-most touches, but because I believe that if Jadan Baugh (knock on wood) gets injured, Clark would be the lead back.

Evan Pryor is listed as the third back here, but will see significant playing time during the season, and could even have the second most touches in the backfield.

Pryor’s home run hitting ability means that he doesn’t need volume to be an effective part of the offense.

Regardless of what the order actually shapes up to be, there’s no question that the Florida Gators have a talented running back room in 2026.

Wide Receiver

Starter: Eric Singleton Jr., Vernell Brown III, Dallas Wilson
Backup: TJ Abrams, Bailey Stockton, Micah Mays

The Florida Gators are going to have a lot of wide receivers taking snaps for them in 2026.

Because many of the receivers will be playing multiple positions, I’m going to sort this by snaps played, without much indication of whether that’s inside or outside.

The first trio would be Eric Singleton Jr, Vernell Brown III, and Dallas Wilson.

Singleton and Brown will especially be rotating between the perimeter and the slot. At the same time, Wilson will primarily play outside as a true X but will occasionally move inside as a power slot.

The next trio will be Micah Mays, TJ Abrams, and Bailey Stockton.

Mays had a very strong spring coming in as someone who I thought would be WR6, though he may have played his way into being WR4.

I would expect Abrams to play a role similar to Singleton and Brown, playing both inside and out often.

Stockton is likely to be strictly a slot receiver, playing most of his snaps under Buster Faulkner there last year and already having a rapport with Philo.

More players like Kahleil Jackson, Davion Groce, Justin Williams, and Jaylen Lloyd will potentially see playing time throughout the year, but how much is up in the air and will likely be determined by game script and situation.

Tight Ends

Starter: Y-Lacota Dippre, H-Amir Jackson
Backup: Y-Evan Chieca OR Micah Jones, H-Luke Harpring

Similar to wide receiver, this is going to be broken down more in a rotation than strictly Y and H roles.

While we can classify some players as Y or H tight ends, we’re likely going to see a combination of skill sets on the field at the same time.

The Y tight end is your in-line blocking type, and that will likely be played by Lacota Dippre, Evan Chieca, and Micah Jones.

The H tight end is supposed to be a better receiver, but must also be a capable blocker, and those snaps will be mostly played by Amir Jackson and Luke Harpring.

The labels aren’t as important in this instance, or even in this offense, just because of how Buster Faulkner has used multiple tight ends in a variety of alignments and responsibilities.

At Georgia Tech, Faulkner had four tight ends play a similar number of snaps and I could see that being replicated in Gainesville.

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I would also expect to see times when there are two Y tight ends on the field at the same time, and other times when there are two H tight ends on the field at the same time.

The purpose of the tight end in this offense is to create mismatches and force defenses to play ways that you could attack.

Offensive Line

Left Tackle: Emeka Ugorji, Eagan Boyer
Left Guard: Knijeah Harris, Rod Kearney
Center: Harrison Moore, Jason Zandamela
Right Guard: TJ Shanahan, Bryce Lovett
Right Tackle: Caden Jones, Tavaris Dice

The Gators’ offensive line still concerns me given the talent, though I have faith in Phil Trautwein as a coach to field a solid unit.

The interior of the offensive line is where I feel most confident that the Gators have some clarity through the spring.

Knijeah Harris, Harrison Moore, and TJ Shanahan are all going to start on the interior in my opinion from left to right.

Harris was never in a true competition at left guard in my opinion, Moore quickly took over the center job it seems, and Shanahan will still need to fend off Bryce Lovett, but should be able to do so.

The projected starting offensive tackles here are Emeka Ugorji on the left side and Caden Jones on the right, although I think these battles are far from over.

I chose not to include Fletcher Westphal simply because we have not seen him play or practice in a long time, but it is possible that he comes in and earns playing time for 2026.

The Gators opted not to go big game hunting in the transfer portal at offensive tackle, instead trying to find the best line without elite talent throughout.

The Florida Gators might have a quarterback issue in 2026, as both Aaron Philo and Trammell Jones are still battling for the job after the spring game.

That’s not surprising, considering Jon Sumrall has been open that he would name a quarterback when he is ready, as opposed to an arbitrarily chosen date.

This past weekend at the spring game, Jones was the quarterback who connected on explosive plays and protected the football, whereas Philo had two interceptions.

Through the spring, neither quarterback has been able to truly separate from the other. In my opinion, that’s usually an indicator that they’re both average rather than either of them being great.

There’s the saying “if you have two quarterbacks, you have none”, and that might be the case for the Gators during the 2026 season.

Based on my experience and what I saw, Jones was the more impressive of the two options, but even that was more due to Philo’s turnovers than anything else.

It’s also important to remember that I am basing this solely off of what I’ve seen with my own eyes, which is a small sample size.

Throughout camp, reports indicated that Philo struggled with ball protection, which reared its ugly head again during the spring game, but the media has been present for so few team reps that it’s tough to judge the context.

Routes on air and one-on-ones favor Jones because he’s the more physically talented of the two, so when it’s as simple as “take the snap, throw the ball” and all other factors are eliminated, the better thrower will impress more.

Obviously, playing quarterback requires much more than just a stronger or more accurate arm; it’s the most nuanced position in sports.

That’s why I personally have a hard time basing my entire decision on the spring game. All I can say  is that neither quarterback blew me away.

Personally, I think the Florida Gators need to take this battle into fall camp before determining a winner.

While Jones has been focusing on learning the offense this spring, not enough people have discussed Philo needing to adjust to SEC speed.

The last time Philo threw passes against an FBS defense was in the 2024 season as in 2025 he only threw against Gardner-Webb.

It’s no surprise that faster SEC defenses may be capitalizing more and making more plays on the ball when Philo throws it.

That’s not to excuse any turnovers or any miscues. Still, context matters, especially when we talk about turnovers we don’t see with our own eyes and rely on second-hand information for.

Barring significant development over the summer and through early fall camp, quarterback is a position that will concern me until proven otherwise.

That’s not to say I think the quarterback spot will be bad, but I don’t have expectations that it will be great.

Philo is the option with experience with Buster Faulkner. Jones has a clearly higher ceiling.

This battle should come down to who does the little things right and who is a better leader of this team.

Personally, I have confidence in Buster Faulkner to ensure there is an offense that is respectable and explosive, and there’s plenty of time before the season. Still, at this point I remain cautious about the quarterback situation.

Todd Golden’s Florida Gators won the national championship in 2025 behind a perfect marriage of scheme and talent.

While many will point to elite shooting and Walter Clayton Jr’s heroics, which certainly played a large part, it was more than that as well.

The 2025 championship team was Golden’s approach in the best form we’ve seen it - strong perimeter shooting, offensive rebounds, quick offensive possessions, multi-positional defenders, they had it all.

2026 had all of those things as well, except for the shooting, and that’s ultimately what did them in.

The expectations were always going to be difficult to reach because once a team wins a championship, it’s yours to defend, but you don’t have the same pieces to defend it.

Going into 2026, the Gators had a much bigger starting lineup than in 2025, an inch and a half taller on average per player.

The Gators went from a backcourt-led team to a frontcourt-driven one, which is generally fine, but not at the expense of perimeter shooting.

This past season, Florida had a stretch from January 17th through March 7th during which they shot 36.2% from three with a three-point attempt rate of 33.8%.

For the rest of the season, the Gators shot just 26.4% with a three-point rate of 39.3%.

Five of Florida’s eight losses came in games where they had a three-point rate of 40% or higher - they were not built to shoot the three with volume.

The only two Gators in 2026 that shot 34% from the three or better were Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown, who ranked third and fifth in attempts on the team.

Last year, Florida had six players shoot 34% or better, and five of them were among the team’s top five in attempts.

In 2026, Florida had poor shooters as their volume shooters, and it destroyed their team percentage.

Particularly, the starting guards dragged down the percentage, with Xaivian Lee shooting 29.2% on the most attempts and Boogie Fland shooting 24% on the fourth-most attempts.

Without a frontcourt spacer, Thomas Haugh shot 32.8%, and Alex Condon shot just 17%; the Gators had little spacing or explosive ability.

At the time of release, Boogie Fland, Urban Klavzar, and Isaiah Brown have all already announced their return next year from the rotation, as well as AJ Brown, who redshirted after a shoulder injury.

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It’s unclear what’s going to happen with the frontcourt at this time. Personally, I think we see Haugh, Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu all declare for the NBA Draft while leaving the door open to return to school if they’re unhappy with their feedback.

What is clear is that Florida will need to look to the portal to find more contributions on the perimeter, whether that’s a wing or frontcourt player.

Especially considering that Florida could be without its dominant glass cleaner, Chinyelu, being more explosive offensively will be vitally important.

I am also personally begging the staff to find more reliable free-throw shooters, as the team shot just 71.2% from the line this year, which ranked 232nd in the country.

Defensively, I have faith that Golden’s staff will have a similar plan they can execute - force the opposing team to shoot midrange shots and win the battle on the glass.

This team was far from perfect, but it ultimately was their lack of ability to shoot from the perimeter, especially once Klavzar was contained, that limited how far this team would go.

We’ve talked about the Florida Gators defensive backbone. We’ve talked about their defensive front. Now it’s time to talk about how the Florida Gators plan to use that defensive front.

There are plenty of ways for defenses to generate pressure beyond “let our four guys rush straight ahead.”

While many fans will think that defensive line play is just about having better players or great athletes, there’s much more strategy than that.

In this piece, we’ll talk about some of the main ways that Florida in 2026 will attempt to generate pressure.

We’ll break this down into sections that will likely be most common:

Stunts

Blitzes

Safe Pressures

To be clear, while we’re talking mostly about rushing the passer here, these same tactics are used to defend the run as well - run stunts and run blitzes, but we’re prioritizing pass-rush.

As always, I may use some terms to describe concepts that have different names for different people; football terms aren’t universal.

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STUNTS

Stunts have always been around, but in recent years, they have become more common among defenses looking to cause havoc.

A stunt is when two or more defensive linemen essentially swap gap assignments post-snap.

In a two-man stunt, one defensive lineman will crash down into an offensive lineman while another defensive lineman loops around.

It’s much easier to explain visually, so we’ll get to our first stunt here, the ET stunt.

When we’re talking about identifying stunts, it’s fairly simple: the letter that comes first is the player acting as the penetrator, and the letter that comes next is the looper.

In an ET stunt, the end crashes down to penetrate toward the interior of the line while the defensive tackle loops back around him.

See? ET stunt because the end, in this case marked as the J (for JACK), crashes down into, or in front of, the left tackle and disrupts the left guard. This occupies the tackle, who should still be focused on the end with an inside rush move while also attacking the guard’s outside shoulder.

The purpose is that the end needs to occupy the offensive tackle from being able to get back outside to pick up the stunt, leaving a free lane for the defensive tackle to loop/wrap and attack.

One of the reasons that defensive fronts like Indiana worked so well in 2025 despite being relatively small is that they were athletic enough to attack offenses with stunts (and sim pressures, more on those later).

Expect Florida to try to attack offenses similarly.

The next stunt we’re going to look at is just the opposite of ET; it’s a TE stunt.

Just like the ET stunt, the first letter indicates the position that attacks first, and it is the penetrator.

The pathing here is also different from an ET stunt. In an ET stunt, the edge crashes down through the front of the offensive tackle.

In a TE stunt, the defensive tackle attacks vertically with a slight outside path. The guard is already going to pick him up as a blocker, so the defensive tackle engages with the guard, then runs into the offensive tackle’s hip to knock him off course.

In the clip above, Tulane’s defensive tackle (#6) engages with the left guard before knifing vertical into the left tackle while Tulane’s bandit (Florida’s JACK equivalent) loops from the edge into the A gap.

Memphis does a good job of passing off the penetrator and picking up the looper to stop the pressure from hitting home here. I can’t help but think that having more athletic players there would have made it much more difficult for an offense to pick up.

That allows the end to loop behind and into the A gap, between the guard and the center. The guard is put in a near-impossible situation, and the end should get a free run at the QB with a head of steam.

On the interior, there are two types of two-man stunts we’ll look at today: the first of which is the NUT stunt, which is built around the nose and defensive tackle.

In the NUT stunt, the nose tackle is the penetrator toward the defensive tackle, who then loops around the nose tackle.

This makes the (typically) bigger nose tackle engage the center, disrupt a guard, and the lighter, more agile defensive tackle gets a free rush.

In the clip above, #60 on Kentucky (gross number for a defensive lineman) knifes right into the hip of the left guard. The center’s responsibility is to block #60, so he’s already committed and engaged there.

The contact with the guard causes just enough of a delay for the guard, while the nose maintains engagement with the center, for the defensive tackle to loop and get a free rush through the A gap.

Of course, this doesn’t lead to pressure this time because it’s a quick throw underneath, but the stunt itself still works.

The inverse of a NUT stunt is the TON stunt, unsurprisingly, where the defensive tackle initiates contact and the nose tackle loops around him.

Florida fans might not know it, but they’ve seen the TON stunt plenty of times, as it was a favorite of previous defensive coordinator Ron Roberts.

As you can see, defensive tackle Brien Taylor Jr (#33) slants inside to the center while being engaged with the guard.

That allows nose tackle Michai Boireau (#93) to loop around to the B gap and try to generate pressure.

Where this play goes wrong on the defensive front is that JACK George Gumbs (#34) is in coverage, leaving Florida with only a three-man rush.

The right guard and right tackle handle Tyreak Sapp (#94). The left tackle helps block Boireau, and the center and left guard block Taylor until he spins, and Trinidad Chambliss takes off running.

Had Gumbs been told to rush the passer here, the stunt would’ve had a much higher chance of success, as the left tackle would have had to choose between picking up Boireau or Gumbs.

There are also three-man stunts, but because of their relative rarity and heavier focus on run defense, we won’t discuss them here, as this is the pass-rush plan.

BLITZES

A blitz is when a defense rushes more than four defenders on any play to try to generate pressure, but it generally leaves defenses more vulnerable on the back-end.

For every other rusher that a defense sends, they take one defender out of coverage - that’s why we’ve seen defenses shift to using stunts and creepers (more on those later) so that they can rush the passer in more creative ways without sacrificing coverage on the back-end.

For this piece, we won’t focus too much on blitz names, but instead on the responsibilities and how the rest of the defense reacts to it.

The first blitz family we’re going to talk about is called a fire zone, which sends five defenders on a blitz while having three underneath defenders in zone coverage and three overtop defenders in zone coverage.

Often in a fire zone, a defensive lineman or edge will drop into coverage, usually the weakside edge defender.

In the clip above, Kentucky brings their safety to show that he’s going to rush through the B gap, only for him to actually rush through the A gap.

This gives the Wildcats a numbers advantage on the left side of the offense. The tight end is in a block-and-release, but he’s the only one blocking the edge defender.

The line slides to the right side of the offense, so the center is occupied, which sets up a three-on-two (plus running back that isn’t good in pass pro) on the left side of the offensive line.

Whether it’s a three-on-two or three-on-three, defenses are often looking to create as many one-on-one assignments as possible - at that point, it only takes one player to win his battle to generate true pressure.

When defenses want to be more aggressive than just fire zones, there’s the outright zone blitz available, too.

This could still be done with just five rushers as well, but often isn’t three under, three deep like a fire zone, so could be more susceptible to the big play.

The more rushers a defense sends, the more aggressive they are, and the more open spaces there are on the field.

In the above clip, Kentucky’s defense sends their three down defensive linemen and a stand-up edge rusher as traditional rushers with their nickel DB (called Medium, equivalent to Florida’s STAR) as the fifth rusher and a sixth blitzer from a linebacker spot.

Texas is in power pass protection, with the right guard pulling across the formation and the running back imitating a hand-off. This is to try to sell the run and displace linebackers, who often come down for the run when they see a pulling guard.

Instead, what actually happens for Texas is that the pulling right guard and running back both go to block the blitzing defensive back on the left side of the offensive line, leaving the other four blockers to block five rushers.

The blitz isn’t even what ultimately hits home here; it’s the 2-technique (#60) beating his man and then essentially creating an on-the-fly stunt by working back over the slanting F (#90).

The most aggressive form of blitzing is a man blitz. Generally, when a team is man-blitzing, the defense is playing either cover zero or cover one, leaving minimal deep help.

The thought there is that while a defense is susceptible to giving up the deep play, playing man coverage should stall a quarterback enough for pressure to get there.

Coach Gasparato at Tulane was the more aggressive coordinator between himself and Coach White, who will call plays at Florida.

Here, Gasparato calls a five-man pressure that turns into a six-man pressure with cover one on the back-end.

All four of the defensive linemen rush in, all taking paths toward the right side of the offensive line, with the WILL rushing outside of the left tackle.

Memphis’ offensive line does a full slide to the right, leaving the running back in one-on-one pass protection against the blitzing WILL.

The MIKE is supposed to be playing man coverage on the running back, but since the back stays in to protect, the MIKE becomes a blitzer now, too.

Tulane’s pressure hits home and causes the quarterback to throw too high over the receiver on the outside - with a roughing the passer penalty negating the play overall.

SAFE PRESSURES

While many Florida Gators fans may cringe at the word “Creeper” after the previous three defensive coordinators’ stints, the fact remains: they’re part of football.

Florida fans may remember the dozens of times that Sharif Denson rushed from the nickel (STAR) while Jayden Woods dropped into coverage from the edge (JACK).

That’s what a creeper is - when the defense does not show a blitz, rushes an untraditional rusher like an off-ball linebacker or defensive back, and drops a traditional rusher like an edge or defensive lineman into coverage.

The key is that it’s not a blitz; only four defenders are rushing the passer. This is classified as a safe pressure - one that is designed to generate pressure without sacrificing coverage on the back-end.

The purpose is to overload a side with four rushers against their (at most) four blockers, if the offense keeps a tight end or running back to block, but usually only two or three blockers on that side.

In the clip above, pre-snap, it appears as though Tulane is just going to play cover four, maybe disguised cover two or cover six (I believe it ended up being cover six, we’ll elaborate on that in the next piece) - based on the two-high safeties with cornerbacks in off coverage and the uncovered slot on the boundary side.

Once the ball is snapped, the BANDIT drops into coverage on the boundary side while one of the off-ball linebackers blitzes.

There’s also a TON stunt here where the defensive tackle (#29) rushes into the A gap while the nose tackle loops around to the boundary side.

I believe that the stunt and blitzing parts of this call were poorly executed, which made it a somewhat ineffective rush. Nothing occupied the left tackle, so he was able to pick up the stunt with ease, and the linebacker took an inefficient rush route that took far too much time.

Having seven defenders in coverage means that even if the offense does keep extra blockers in protection, that gives the defense a numbers advantage in coverage.

Sim(ulated) pressures are similar to creepers, and can sometimes even be a creeper.

Sim pressures are when a defense presents pre-snap as if they are going to blitz, crowding the line of scrimmage.

Once the ball is snapped, however, only four (at most) defenders rush while (at least) seven drop in coverage.

As you can see in the clip above, Tulane crowds the line of scrimmage at every corner.

The edges are at the C gaps outside the offensive tackles; the F and defensive tackle are occupying the B gaps; while the nose tackle and MIKE in a mugged look are both threatening the A gaps.

Both of the edge rushers take rush steps in before dropping back into coverage underneath. The three down linemen and the mugged MIKE all rush, overloading the interior.

This also features both the defensive tackle and F taking outside-rush paths to create rush space on the interior and prevent the offensive tackles from helping handle the middle.

The mugged MIKE essentially runs a stunt with the nose tackle, where the MIKE slams into the side/back of the center, breaking his engagement with the nose tackle and creating a one-on-one between the nose and the running back.

The F is the one who wins this battle on his own and gets pressure before the MIKE or nose tackle can disrupt on the interior, but the F wins partially because the offensive tackle doesn’t help, expecting the edge defender to rush.

Both creepers and sim pressures have been around for a long time, but former Florida Gators defensive coordinator Ron Roberts is often considered the “godfather” for popularizing them as significant parts of the game plan.

When facing RPO-heavy offenses, they can cause confusion on who the quarterback is supposed to read.

Even more traditional offenses, the slight hesitation caused for quarterbacks identifying coverage and pressure could be enough to give the defense an advantage.

SLANTS

A slant is technically a type of stunt, but since there’s no “looping,” it will have its own brief sections here.

While most of what we’ve talked about primarily focuses on rushing the passer, slants are primarily used to defend the run and could be part of a team’s base defense - like an Indiana, who had a smaller defensive front.

It gives the offensive linemen moving, east-west targets to block as opposed to static, north-south targets.

Especially against zone-run offenses, slants are generally effective to attack down into the gaps that the offense is trying to create.

For an example of a stunt, this is the Kentucky zone blitz against Texas. Notice how the entire defensive line rushes one gap over to the right side of the offensive line with blitzers filling the vacancies on the left side.

There’s also a nickel DB that isn’t pictured on the left side of the offensive line that fills that lane as well.

OVERVIEW

The easiest way to describe the nuances of a defense and its pass-rush plan is that it’s a team effort. 

Yes, teams need pass-rushers that can win the one-on-one opportunities that they get against offensive linemen, but it’s a team effort to create those one-on-one chances.

In a way, it’s math. Wanting to create four or five one-on-one opportunities, where only one of your players needs to win his battle. With a four-man rush, that’s 25% of your rush needs to truly win on that play.

Creepers and sim pressures give you four-man rushes, but you could have a four-on-three opportunity to create pressure.

Jimmy’s and Joe’s matter, but the Xs and Os are going to help put those Jimmy’s and Joe’s in position to succeed.

If you’re interested in the first two parts of this series, the links are here:

What the Florida Gators Defense Will Look Like in 2026

What the Florida Gators Defense Will Look Like in 2026: The Front

When Jon Sumrall took the Florida Gators head coaching job, he inherited arguably the best running back in the country in Jadan Baugh.

Despite Baugh being on the roster when Sumrall took the job, Sumrall still had to fight to retain him.

There were plenty of rumors about Baugh potentially entering the transfer portal: the Texas Longhorns pursuit, the desire to win in 2026, and replacing offensive line starters - all valid reasons to look into the portal.

After much speculation and the coaching staff going all out to retain him, Baugh decided to come back to be the starting running back once more in Gainesville.

Baugh will only spend 2026 in Gainesville before declaring for the 2027 NFL Draft, where he should be one of the first running backs drafted.

Backing up Baugh will be a committee of different backs, all capable of contributing in different ways - so how does the staff determine how they will divvy up the carries?

The Criteria

For running backs, there isn’t really a clear criteria for what is going to determine who is going to overtake whom on the depth chart.

There are so many different types and styles of runners that it could come down to “who fits the situation better,” but there will be someone who separates from the pack as the true RB2.

Ball security, vision, and the ability to create explosives are all traits that every coach will look for in their backs, especially in Buster Faulkner’s offense.

Pass-catching and pass-blocking ability will also be valued in the offense, but that’s where we start getting into the “situational” conversation amongst backs.

The Players

There are three running backs who will all compete for the primary backup job, with the start of the battle essentially being broken down into two tiers.

Tier one is just one player: Cincinnati RB Evan Pryor, the favorite.

Pryor was one of the most explosive backs in the country in 2025 with 522 yards and three touchdowns on just 76 carries, a whopping 6.9 yards per carry. It wasn’t a one-year fluke either, as Pryor also averaged 7.5 yards per carry in 2024.

Where doubt creeps in is that Pryor did it against Big 12 defenses, which stylistically aren’t built to stop the run well - the Big 12 had only one team hold opponents to under 120 rushing yards per game, every other P4 conference had at least six teams do that.

Pryor also had drop issues in 2025, with three drops, but also had zero drops in his three seasons prior so that’s something that could be an anomaly or could outright be a hands issue.

The counterpoint is that Pryor has speed that we know can still outrun defenses, being clocked at 20.8 MPH in-game before.

The second tier has two players competing for RB2, but even if they end up behind Pryor, they should compete for RB3 snaps.

First, we’ll talk about the back returning to Florida in Duke Clark, who redshirted in 2025 but finished with 15 carries for 58 yards and two catches for 14 yards.

Clark is the second-heaviest of the scholarship running backs at 202 pounds, down from the 211 pounds he was listed at in 2025.

As a freshman, Clark impressed with his ability to create yards through contact, with 40 of his 58 yards coming after contact.

Clark’s physical abilities as a ball-carrier and won’t shy away from contact at all, but his pass-catching ability is in question.

Clark was targeted just four times in 2025, and both incompletions were passes that he dropped against Long Island in week one.

With that being said, I believe both drops were more about a true freshman in his first career game getting antsy and looking to make a play, rather than any larger issue.

In high school, Clark was an explosive back who won with acceleration to separate and the speed to not get caught from behind often, but never really got the opportunity to showcase it in 2025.

In the transfer portal, the Gators brought in East Carolina’s starting running back, London Montgomery.

Montgomery posted 742 yards and seven touchdowns on 156 carries with another 76 yards on 15 catches.

While Montgomery doesn’t really have the game-breaking speed that fans love, he’s got solid vision and enough speed to break off long runs.

One of my favorite things about Montgomery at East Carolina was his ability to slip between blockers and pick up yardage.

Overview

The Florida Gators have one of the best running back rooms, not just in the SEC but in the country, with Baugh at the top.

Behind him are Pryor, an explosive back, Clark, a promising freshman in 2025, and Montgomery, a smooth, productive runner from East Carolina.

Out of that trio, someone will step up to be Baugh’s backup. Still, the expectation is that all should have at least somewhat of a role in the offense, with both Clark and Montgomery having eligibility beyond 2026, setting the possibility that they’re both back in Gainesville in 2027.

Prediction: Evan Pryor as RB2

In the first year under new head coach Jon Sumrall, the Florida Gators will have an open competition for their starting quarterback spot starting in the spring.

Sumrall hired Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech as his offensive coordinator, and Faulkner brought quarterback Aaron Philo with him.

Tramell Jones, coming off his true freshman season, is also going to be in this competition.

While many give Philo the leg up due to his comfort with the system, the coaching staff insists that this is going to be an open competition.

Faulkner said during Gator Tales with Sean Kelley, “There are several quarterbacks in the room. They all get a shot at it.”

While the spring may be telling for this battle, this likely goes into the early fall before a decision is ultimately made.

The Criteria

Faulkner is widely thought of as one of the best offensive coordinators in the country after his stint at Georgia Tech.

The goal isn’t to have an air raid offense or power spread - it’s to score points and win football games.

What ultimately decides the starting quarterback job might not even be who is considered “the best” quarterback in the room; it will likely be who leads the offense more efficiently and consistently.

At Georgia Tech, Faulkner called an offense that heavily involved the quarterback in the run game - but that isn’t to say that it’s a requirement for the offense.

One of Faulkner’s biggest strengths is his ability to adapt his offense to his personnel. With Haynes King, the quarterback running 15 times per game made sense, but that won’t make sense in Gainesville.

Both Philo and Jones are capable runners who could be involved, but shouldn’t be considered major factors with their legs.

While I personally think Jones is more athletic, I think Philo uses his legs better. That sounds weird to say, but some quarterbacks want to operate from the pocket regardless of their athletic ability.

Operating this offense at a high level means consistently completing the open passes Faulkner schemes up while also taking the deep shot when it’s there.

That should be the biggest determining factor at QB1, especially with a high-quality offensive coordinator.

With a high-level coordinator and play-caller, the open receivers are going to be there, but the quarterback needs to be able to execute.

See: Kyle Trask under Dan Mullen.

While Trask could likely operate just about any offense he played in while in college, playing under Mullen allowed him to produce like a Heisman-caliber player - not because he had an elite arm or athleticism, but because he can execute the offense.

The Players

The most likely starting candidates in 2026 are Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones, but we’ll briefly touch on freshman Will Griffin as well, since there is a small minority of the fanbase that wants him to start.

It’s not much of a secret that I’m lower on Philo than just about every Florida media member and fan who has watched him.

That said, I still think he can be very effective in the offense. Teams don’t need a future first-round pick to succeed; they need a quarterback.

Philo has the arm to make every throw in the short and intermediate game with ease, but the velocity on his deep ball is worrisome for me.

Not to harp on Trask, and not to compare Philo to Trask directly, but Trask also didn’t have velocity on his deep passes.

Timing and execution will erase (or at least mask) the overwhelming majority of issues.

There are few college quarterbacks returning who throw with the accuracy and placement that Philo throws with, consistently creating opportunities for receivers to catch and run, rather than needing to break stride to make the catch.

One advantage that Philo has is that he’s played in do-or-die situations before, leading Georgia Tech on a game-winning drive against NC State in 2024.

Jones has 42 dropbacks in his career, and they all came against either Long Island University or Kentucky.

Not only has Jones never played in a high-pressure situation, but he’s never even played in a low-pressure situation, as both of his appearances were blowouts.

Jones did throw passes against an SEC defense in Kentucky, whereas Philo hasn’t thrown a pass against an FBS team since 2024.

In the limited Jones reps available, he has more zip on his passes further downfield than Philo, but there is a bit of an accuracy sacrifice there.

I don’t think either advantage, Jones’ velocity or Philo’s accuracy, is significant enough to separate them, but if there’s a preference, we’ll find out here.

Will Griffin comes in as a freshman who committed to Florida before the 2024 season and stuck it out fully - no visits elsewhere, no Signing Day theatrics.

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Frankly, I wasn’t a big fan of Griffin’s junior film at Jesuit.

It was littered with awful mechanics, forced plays, and risks that very few quarterbacks can take against SEC defenses - A+ for the confidence, though.

Then I waited for our three-hour Locked On Gators Signing Day livestream to watch his senior film, and I felt like I was watching a brand new quarterback.

The mechanics cleaned up dramatically, and Griffin was ripping the ball through defenses.

Mobility was always there for Griffin, and frankly, it makes him a fantastic fit for Faulkner if he ever did want to go back to a consistent QB run game.

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The physicals are there with Griffin, but the mental are way behind, unsurprising for a true freshman.

I don’t think he’s got a shot to start in 2026 because of that; he needs to learn a college-level offense for the first time and improve his decision-making.

Overview

The Florida Gators are taking a risk in 2026, leaving their season in the hands of two players with a combined 151 dropbacks and 137 pass attempts in their careers.

Whether it’s Philo or Jones, the Gators coaching staff has made it clear that they intend on starting whoever gives them the best chance to score and win.

Philo has the early advantage for familiarity with the offense, and that’s why I will predict him to be QB1 in 2026.

I’m not as convinced as others that this is a guarantee, and I certainly don’t think it should be.

I’d say right now, I’m leaning Philo 55%/Jones 45%.

Prediction: Aaron Philo

The Florida Gators hired Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, who was met with much negativity, late in 2025.

It only took about 30 hours before he had his introductory press conference and won over the majority of the fanbase.

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In that press conference, Sumrall noted that not only would he not hire friends just for the sake of hiring friends, but he also pointed out that he’s lost friends because of it.

“Winners win. I’m a winner. We’re gonna win” is more than just a cool catchphrase or motto; it’s establishing the culture that winning is the priority, nothing else.

With a new coaching staff, that opens a unique opportunity that not enough coaches take advantage of - the ability to make every player earn their spot.

There will be players like Jadan Baugh and Myles Graham, who should still have to earn their spots, that will earn that starting role by day two.

There are going to be other spots that might come down to the wire and not get decided until a week before the first game against Campbell, or even go through those first two games before Auburn.

Sumrall and Co. even made sure players earned the right to wear the Florida logo at the start of spring workouts.

Throughout spring and fall camp, the Gators will look to sort out their depth chart with a clean slate.

As I mentioned earlier, Jadan Baugh and Myles Graham (and others) will quickly separate themselves. Still, the Gators are set to have an “iron sharpens iron” mentality throughout the roster.

Forcing players to earn their spot and prove themselves not only sets a clear tone that nobody is being handed a job, but also forces players to push each other.

Starters will likely be players who rose to the occasion and overtook others at the position. Overall depth should improve through this approach as well.

The amount of new faces on the roster, in a new system, makes the battles particularly interesting to watch because some players will be perfect fits, while others may struggle to pick up the playbook here.

Consider this the introduction to our next series, where we will preview those position battles, what might decide them, and who I think will win them.

The coaching staff has given some indicators of what will be the deciding factors on both sides of the ball, and we’ll incorporate those into our discussion.

Some of this is going to be speculative about how a player may fit with the scheme or what we project to be the scheme.

Maybe most importantly, most of these evaluations will be based on the 2025 film and projected reasonable development, not caring much about the reports of every player “impressing” this spring.

Our first preview in our next installment: QB1.

If you have any positions you think should be battles and want them previewed, feel free to comment, and if they aren’t already on the list, I’ll update it.

If you missed part one of this series, here is What the Florida Gators Defense Will Look Like in 2026.

Many Florida Gators fans have spent time talking about whether this defense will look more like the Kentucky Wildcats under Brad White or the Tulane Green Wave under Jon Sumrall and Greg Gasparato.

The reality is that both of those defenses were very similar at their core.

Defensive coordinator Brad White even said during his press conference that “We are a 3-4 team no different than the Indianapolis Colts were 3-4, it’s way more 4-down than it is 3-4.”

White, of course, used the Colts as his reference point because he was there under Gus Bradley from 2012-2017.

Linebackers coach Greg Gasparato, who was Sumrall’s defensive coordinator at Tulane, comes from the Nate Woody East Coast 3-4 defense.

The East Coast 3-4 may be considered the base, but this team will often operate out of a 4-down front.

As we mentioned in part one, this defense is going to be multiple on all levels, but with the amount of 4-down looks we will see, I’m inclined to call it a hybrid 4-2-5 - although with how much overlap there is between modern defensive systems, a name is just a name.

PERSONNEL

Before we can discuss what these defensive fronts will look like, it’s important to get familiar with the positions and personnel we’ll be discussing.

Most of what we’ll talk about in this piece is about what the Florida Gators will do with their defensive line, so those are the positions we’re going to prioritize.

The defensive line spots we’re going to talk about are: field end (F), nose tackle (NT), defensive tackle (DT), and boundary end (JACK).

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In year three under Todd Golden, the Florida Gators shot the lights out on the way to a national championship.

That team was led by its backcourt trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard - all three went on to be NBA Draft picks and are currently on active rosters.

This season, the frontcourt trio of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu were set to be the driving force.

Haugh, a 9.8 PPG and 6.1 RPG contributor, was the best sixth man in college basketball last season (screw the award if we’re being honest), but has emerged as the star of the Gators.

Condon, who was a very real first-round prospect in the 2025 NBA draft, returned to school to make another run and improve his stock.

Rueben Chinyelu has exploded onto the scene this season as the best defensive player, and maybe the best center, in the country.

Despite having what is undoubtedly the best frontcourt in America, this is still a Florida Gators team that has its limits.

Perimeter Shooting

Todd Golden, one of the most analytically driven coaches in college basketball, prioritizes three-point shooting and around-the-rim twos.

With the additions of Princeton’s Xaivian Lee and Arkansas’ Boogie Fland through the transfer portal, it was clear that this team wouldn’t be as lethal from beyond the arc as last year’s team.

Lee and Fland are shooting a combined 39.6% from the field this year and 23% from three.

Last year in the regular season, the Gators shot 35.2% from three on 28.1 three-point attempts per game.

Through the first 22 games this year, the Gators are shooting just 28.9% on 25.3 attempts per game.

The volume has ticked down considerably from last season, but the percentage has absolutely plummeted.

In non-conference play, Florida had a three-point attempt rate of 41.2% - meaning two of every five field goal attempts were from beyond the arc.

Since the start of SEC play, however, Florida has decreased their volume to 24 attempts per game, but their efficiency has climbed to 30.1%.

In SEC play, Florida has a three-point attempt rate of just 36%, 13th in the SEC.

The emergence of Urban Klavzar has helped breathe life into this Florida offense, as he’s shooting 39.2% from three in SEC play.

On corner threes specifically, Florida is shooting 42.3% - shoutout to Klavzar, shooting an unreal 61.5% from the corners.

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The Shift

Florida has instead figured out different ways to get those points that they aren’t finding on the perimeter.

As I mentioned earlier, the Gators under Golden are looking for three-point shooting and around-the-rim twos.

This year, Florida has attempted 84% of their shots from those distances, with just 16% of their attempts coming from mid-range.

The Gators attempt 45% of their shots around the rim and are shooting 66.6% from that range.

This past weekend against Alabama, the Crimson Tide scored 77 points total. The Gators had 72 points in the paint alone.

Condon and Chinyelu have shot a combined 71% on around-the-rim attempts.

The Gators’ 41.1% offensive rebounding rate in conference play has helped them figure out offense.

Florida has a 43.3% offensive-rebounding rate through the season so far, second-best in the nation.

It helps that even when your team isn’t shooting well, volume should be in your favor by grabbing roughly two of every five misses.

The decrease in three-point volume, with an added emphasis on paint scoring, and the excellent efficiency in the paint, with an increase in three-point efficiency (albeit still poor shooting), have opened this offense up.

Pace has also slowed for Florida in conference play - the Gators played with a pace of 74.4 possessions per 40 minutes before conference play, down to 72.3 possessions per 40 minutes in SEC play.

A more deliberate offense has led to increased efficiency across the court for Florida, with cleaner looks and players figuring out their roles.

Offensively, Fland has started to find better ways to contribute after his abysmal start to the year.

Fland has a different measure we’re going to use from conference vs non-conference play. Boogie changed his mindset before the Tennessee game on January 10th.

Through the pre-Tennessee slate, Fland shot just 38.2% from the field and 19% from three on 9.6 field goal attempts per game.

Since then, he’s shooting 48.7% from the field and still 19% from three on 10.9 field goal attempts per game.

Fland’s big shift was that even though he’s shooting 1.3 more field goal attempts per game and still has an awful percentage from three, he’s attempting 1.2 fewer threes per game.

That’s essentially a 2.5 shot shift for Fland, where he began attacking the paint more consistently and taking more of his efficient shots.

Many will point to Fland cutting his locs as the shift, but the real shift was how he approached the game.

Fland’s eFG% climbed to 51.32% from his previously abysmal 42.36%.

Lee is still struggling offensively but has taken more of a backseat shooting-wise, decreasing his field goals attempted from 10.5 attempts per game before conference play to 8.6 attempts in SEC play - addition by subtraction there.

Florida has also done a significantly better job of protecting the ball in SEC play.

In the non-conference slate, Florida had a turnover percentage of 14.4%. Since conference play began, the Gators have brought that percentage down to just 10%.

Defense

Where Florida has made massive strides from last season is their defense.

The Gators have allowed just one kill shot this year, in their home loss to Auburn on January 24th.

A kill shot is a run where a team scores 10 or more points completely unanswered.

Florida has had 21 kill shots themselves, giving themselves the sixth-best kill shot margin per game in college basketball.

Opposing teams are shooting 54.8% on around-the-rim twos and 33.2% from three against Florida, neither of which are great marks.

Why that doesn’t matter much right now is the volume. Florida is forcing opposing teams to take 46% of their field goals from mid-range.

The mid-range shot is inefficient, so while teams are shooting fairly well from three and the paint when they attempt those shots against Florida, the Gators are limiting those opportunities.

The Gators’ defense is forcing opponents to take bad shots at a high volume. At the same time, Florida is also the second-best defensive rebounding team in the country, allowing just 22.9% of opposing misses to turn into offensive rebounds.

Since SEC play began, Florida has become a much more dangerous fastbreak team.

Before SEC play, Florida was forcing a turnover percentage of 13.1%. In SEC play, Florida has forced a turnover percentage of 13.3%.

While those percentages are virtually the same, Florida’s steal percentage has climbed from 8% to 10.6% - going from 5.9 steals per game to 7.7 steals per game.

In that same span, Florida has gone from averaging 13.46 points off turnovers and 14.62 fastbreak points per game to 17.11 points off turnovers and 19 fastbreak points per game.

A team that has consistently struggled to score on its own has used defense to find offense.

Overall

It’s a testament to the coaching staff that, despite their offensive woes for much of the season, Florida has made simple adjustments to become national contenders again.

While guard play drives success in March Madness, and that will certainly need to continue improving, the Gators are playing defense and building their offense around it at a high enough level to win big.

If a Gator other than Thomas Haugh or Urban Klavzar can start finding perimeter success with even a little bit of consistency, this team shifts again from national title contender to a legitimate threat.

Kanye Clark, DB

Listed Height: 6’0”

Listed Weight: 190 lbs

Class: Redshirt Sophomore

Eligibility Remaining: Three Years

School: UCLA

Strengths

• Played nickel and outside cornerback at UCLA

• Positions himself nicely to contain the edge against the run

• Quick to identify perimeter screens and attempt to undercut the ball or blocker, depending on how close to the line of scrimmage he is

• Mirrors the QB when they start to scramble

• Solid eyes to not lose receivers in man coverage coming out of a stack alignment

• Gets a decent (legal) bump on receivers running through his zone

• Decent eyes in zone coverage. Positions himself to not get beat for a big play but also to maybe make a play on the ball as well

• Quick to trigger down on swings, screens, and wide runs

• Slightly improved run diagnosis as the year went on

• Patient in press coverage, lets the receiver close space then gets hands on him

• When working on the outside, does a good job to squeeze vertical receivers to the sideline and close windows

• Matched up well vs Makai Lemon (potential first WR off the board in the upcoming NFL Draft)

Weaknesses

• Lunges too much as a tackler, leaving him open to getting juked out

• Struggles to get off of blocks once he’s engaged with a TE

• 2025 vs Utah, there were a few times that the safety talked and pointed something out to him. Likely means he didn’t do what he was supposed to there.

• Takes him a little while to identify what’s happening in the run game

• Can get grabby in man coverage when he’s matched up with a big TE

• Tackle angles need a ton of work. Throws himself at ball-carriers and is often left behind

• Doesn’t always seem very invested in shedding blocks, instead is fine just occupying the blocker

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Overall

While Clark played both inside and out at UCLA, his film on the outside was significantly better.

He’s solid in coverage but needs work to become more consistent in just about every area defensively.

His most glaring issues came when playing run defense - an immediate indicator that he shouldn’t be playing the nickel in the SEC.

Tackling technique will need improvement, but it was also an area where he progressively got better as 2025 went on.

Clark walked on to UCLA in 2023 and redshirted, rotated the first two games in 2024 before missing the rest of the season with an injury, then played fairly consistently in 2025.

That leaves Clark with three years of college experience (practice, lift, play, mature) but still with three years of eligibility remaining and plenty of room to grow.

If he were a rotational piece in Florida’s secondary in 2026, then that would be a welcome role for him, but I don’t expect more than that.

2027 and 2028 should be better opportunities for him to get significant playing time.

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