ESPN’s Bill Connelly previewed the SEC East on Monday, and he had quite a bit to say about the Florida Gators, as one may expect.
Connelly tackled several big questions surrounding the top programs in the conference, and one of them was how long Gator Nation could expect it to take for Billy Napier to succeed in Gainesville? The answer isn’t so simple, but he’s expecting it to take a bit longer than most that fill the Swamp on Saturdays would like to hear.
“The Gators could indeed be positioned to make a leap next year. This year? Hard to say,” Connely said.
Florida’s offense might actually be in a better spot right now than it was last year at this time, but the defense has much to prove. Eight of the twelve returning players on defense were freshmen last year, and the youth showed on the field. Connelly pointed to [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] returning as difference makers for this year, but he also said that the sophomores need to take a big leap for the team to be competitive against the conference’s best.
If [autotag]Gervon Dexter[/autotag] and Co. can shake off the Todd Grantham funk quickly enough, Florida could impress quicker than expected. Offensively, the line is in better shape than it was last year. Napier brought in [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag] from Louisiana to help lead that front and has [autotag]Montrell Johnson[/autotag] to lead the running backs room. Of course, [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] has the biggest ceiling of anyone on the team, and Napier’s job is to help him control his raw talent and turn it into something consistent. If Richardson gets it together, Florida should be able to put up some gaudy numbers.
Napier lost three of his first four with ULL, but the Ragin’ Cajuns won six of the next eight and wound up winning the Sun Belt West title that season. Florida’s got far more talent to work with, but the SEC East isn’t exactly a walk in the park.
Connelly’s SP+ projections have Florida finishing third in the East this year, ahead of Kentucky and behind Tennessee.
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