Coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s offensive formations at Louisiana frequently featured tight ends. He is having difficulty implementing that philosophy with the Gators because of the injuries that piled up at the position.
Napier said that he feared that redshirt freshman Gage Wilcox has suffered a ‘career-ending injury’ during practice earlier this spring on Thursday. Florida was already thin at the position after it was reported that sophomore [autotag]Jonathan Odoms[/autotag] and redshirt freshman [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] will miss the rest of spring ball due to injuries. Senior [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] is currently the lone active scholarship tight end on the roster.
The amount of injuries that the Gators have suffered at tight end and other positions this spring has forced Napier and staff to be creative.
In order to mitigate depth issues, Florida has drastically shuffled its personnel. It moved senior defensive end [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag] back to tight end, which he last played in 2019. The coaching staff also switched redshirt junior [autotag]Noah Keeter[/autotag] to the position from linebacker. Finally, defensive tackle [autotag]Griffin McDowell[/autotag] has caught some passes this week to help out the unit.
Napier said Florida is also struggling with depth at inside linebacker, safety and offensive line and only have enough bodies for a third team behind the starters and backups.
“We’re thin,” he said Thursday after the Gators wrapped up their first spring scrimmage. “When you have three guys get injured — scholarship players at a position that’s already a little thin — that throws a wrench in your plans.”
Florida added five midyear transfers in January and could potentially make that double-digits, according to Napier.
“I think we live in a new era, right?” he said about the transfer portal. “There’s certainly a new way of operating in college football,” he said. “You can anticipate us being very aggressive in the portal this spring. We need players. That window of time is coming. We anticipate doing a lot of business and we’re looking forward to it.”
Napier and the Gators are also planning to present five walk-ons with scholarships for the spring semester.
It’s all hands on deck for Florida right now as it continues to battle injuries.
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