Tag: Antonio Shelton

Two Gators land within 247Sports’ top 100 impactful football transfers

Florida football’s quest to build a contender in 2021 has taken them to the portal a number of times including for two of the nation’s best.

The Gators didn’t have much choice but to reshape their team after the offense was gutted by the NFL and the defense was nearly unwatchable all season. One of head coach Dan Mullen‘s tried and true methods for team building is to use the transfer portal as a microwave fix while he slow-cooks a more sustainable solution. He set down that path this offseason, snagging a large group of transfers from the market who figure to make an instant impact on the 2021 squad.

246Sports published a ranking of the 100 most impactful transfers on Thursday, and two of the new additions to the Florida family got a mention. The first was running back Demarkcus Bowman, and a little further down the list, Antonio Shelton was also pegged.

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Bowman’s cameo on this list is no surprise. Awarded the fourth spot among the nation’s top transfers, he’s a speedy running back with incredible explosion and balance. “Former five-star and top-25 player in the 2020 class, Bowman gets a new start in an offense that values the run game and 12 personnel,” they wrote. There’s a good chance that Bowman is the team’s primary back in a crowded and talented room.

Shelton’s placement as the 36th player on the list was a bit more unexpected. He wasn’t a heralded recruit in 2016 and hasn’t made a big name for himself in the years since. The logic here isn’t impossible to figure out, though. He’s an experienced starter coming from a good program and will have every likelihood of entering the season with a starting job in hand. He’s not a flashy addition, but there’s a certain virtue in set-it-and-forget-it lineman.

Two other players with recent connections were also included in the rankings. The third-ranked player, tight end Arik Gilbert, was briefly committed to transfer to Florida, but decommitted for undisclosed personal reasons. In addition, the top-ranked transfer is Henry To’oto’o, who had seriously considered playing for the Gators before settling on Alabama.

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This big defensive tackle committed to play for the Gators next season

The defensive tackle is coming to Florida to serve along the defensive front to fill some gaps left by players departing for the NFL draft.

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Wednesday afternoon, it was announced that the Penn State transfer Antonio Shelton had committed to play for the Florida Gators during the 2021 season. The defensive tackle was a three-star recruit, and although he was not heavily recruited, he’s made a place for himself in college ball as a member of the Nittany Lions.

The Gators’ defense was their obvious weakness during their recently completed campaign. To make things worse, a number of their more productive players filed for the draft, including defensive tackles Kyree Campbell and Tedarrell Slaton. Florida has been unafraid to plug holes in their roster by means of the transfer portal in recent seasons, so it’s not a huge surprise to see them target a transfer again to help out on the defensive line.

Shelton, who is listed as having a meaty 6-feet-2-inch, 327 pound build, is a pure nose tackle who functions as a run stuffer. Take a look at what Sean Fitz, a 247Sports Penn State expert, had to say about Shelton:

He is one of the strongest players that I have seen come through the program and near the top in terms of bench and strength numbers. He’s best suited for holding ups blockers and things like that. Sometimes a penetrator as a pass rusher but not his forte. He is a solid presence in the middle and vocal guy.

The Sports Illustrated report on Shelton echoed that sentiment, pointing out his ability to stand up offensive linemen and prevent them from disengaging at the line of scrimmage. It’s clear that he does his best work when he’s clogging the lanes, which makes sense considering that he’s built more like a landmark than a man.

Shelton has started 40 games over the course of his college career. In 2020 alone, he was responsible for 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Here’s one of those sacks, in which he brushes past an out-of-position offensive lineman in a savvy rush to the quaterback.

Florida faithful can expect Shelton to make an immediate impact on the Gators’ defensive line during the 2021 season. He joins up with head coach Dan Mullen’s squad with a considerable amount of experience under his belt and plays a position where the team lacks depth. If only for those reasons, he’ll be a big factor for playing time along the defensive front. But his strength and vocal leadership certainly don’t hurt, either.

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