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Florida found itself in the mix for the College Football Playoff this season during championship weekend, but three-straight losses to end the year torpedoed what started as a promising season.
Coming off an 8-4 finish, Florida has to replace a lot of pieces. It loses almost every major contributor on offense (including Heisman finalist quarterback Kyle Trask) and a number of starters on defense.
2021 seems like it could be shaping up to be a rebuilding year in Gainesville, but crazier things have happened. ESPN released its “best-case scenario” for each team ranked in the preseason top 25, detailing how they can reach the playoff.
Here’s what Alex Scarborough said about Florida.
16. Florida Gators
As it does every year, it will come down to beating Georgia. But what it will look like will be much different than a year ago. Picture a sort of throwback version of the Gators, running the football and playing solid defense. Without Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney, that’s what it will take. Emory Jones appears ready to take over at quarterback, but he is a different player than Trask, who is most effective running the zone read. With Dameon Pierce, Malik Davis and Demarkcus Bowman to hand the ball off to, the ground game should be in good shape. What will need the most help is the defense, which struggled mightily last season, especially in coverage. Dan Mullen fired secondary coaches Ron English and Torrian Gray, and their replacements have their hands full. — Scarborough
He’s certainly right about one thing: This team will look a lot different next year. With Emory Jones likely starting under center, the run game will likely be much more of a focus, taking advantage of Jones’ strengths. But this will rely on improvement from the offensive line, which didn’t provide many run lanes last season.
Furthermore, the defense will need to be much improved. The Gators offense almost certainly won’t be as explosive, so UF won’t be able to rely on beating teams without some semblance of defense.
Ultimately, it’s hard to imagine Florida will be a playoff team next year. But if the defense can improve and Jones is the guy, it’s certainly possible.
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