Florida football’s season opener against the Utah Utes is days away as the Gators get geared up for the second year of the Billy Napier era. A tough road lies ahead, but the Orange and Blue are up for the challenge.
As the coaching staff wraps up the roster, a great deal of attention has been placed on players who are dealing with injuries and whether they will be able to suit up for the tough road match.
Among those is redshirt senior [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag], who has assumed the starting role in the absence of senior Keon Zipper, who sustained an ACL tear in March. The former suffered an undisclosed injury during Florida’s fall camp and has missed practice since Aug. 8, but the Gators Nation received some good news recently.
On Friday, Napier addressed the media and answered their many questions, including the status of Zanders.
“We do anticipate getting Zanders back,” Napier told them. “He’ll be able to participate (Friday) and (Saturday), so we’ll see where he’s at relative to being ready for the game.”
As noted above, the injury bug ravaged the Gators’ tight end room over the past few seasons. Zipperer, Gage Wilcox, Nick Elksnis and Jonathan Odom have gone down with season-ending ailments since the start of Napier’s tenure. That attrition has caught up with the corps; the current room is heavy on unproven freshmen, headlined by former four-star athlete Arlis Boardingham.
2023 Florida Football Position Preview: Tight Ends
Florida opens its 2023 schedule on the road against the Utah Utes on Thursday, Aug. 31, with a kickoff time of 8 p.m. EDT.
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