Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson – Syndication Server

Florida Football 2024 Position Preview: Offensive Tackles

Let’s dive in to who the Gators have lined up at the offensive tackle position for this upcoming college football season.

Next on Gator Wire’s annual position preview series are the big guys that anchor the trenches and most importantly, protect the quarterback. That’s right. We’re taking a look at the offensive tackles.

Florida’s offensive tackles are arguably the most important players on the offensive side of the ball. They need to do their jobs if they want to have any success through the passing or ground game.

There are some familiar pieces for the Gators such as Austin Barber but also some new faces like Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson.

Nonetheless, this should be a better OT group for the Gators than last season.

Let’s take a look at what Florida has in store this season with their OTs. Check out Gators Wire’s other position previews for the 2024 season below.

Starting Left Tackle: No. 58 Austin Barber (R-Jr.)

Barber returns as a veteran anchoring this Florida Gators offensive line.

As he comes up on his fourth season with the Gators, Barber is hoping for a healthy 2024 year. Last season, the redshirt junior missed four games due to ankle and arm injuries. But even when he did play, it wasn’t as if he was fully healthy either.

The 6-feet-7-inches, 314-pound left tackle looks to make his presence known on Florida’s offensive line.

Left tackle is arguably the most important position on the offensive line because it protects quarterback Graham Mertz‘s blind side. Florida needs to have Barber healthy this season if they hope to have success protecting the quarterback.

Starting Right Tackle: No. 65 Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (R-Sr.)

Holding down the opposite end of the offensive line is Crenshaw-Dickson, the starting right tackle.

Crenshaw-Dickson is entering his first season with the Gators after transferring in the offseason from San Diego State. The redshirt senior started nine games last season with the Aztecs and played both the right and left tackle positions. So he has experience with the left side of the line as well.

During his collegiate career with San Diego State, Crenshaw-Dickson played 1,187 snaps in pass protection and gave up just six sacks and averaged 15 QB pressures per season, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). His PFF run-blocking grade was named “above average” in 2023 with a grade of 69.4 out of 100.

Backup Tackle: No. 57 Devon Manuel (R-Jr.)

Like Crenshaw-Dickson, Devon Manuel was a transfer that the Gators were able to acquire in the offseason.

Manuel transferred from Arkansas after playing nine games last season and started four of those games at left tackle. According to PFF, Manuel had the second-best graded run block on the Razorbacks last season and had a ton of snaps (417) under his belt.

Given the history with injuries on this offensive line, Manuel’s experience, especially at the SEC level, is valuable and he adds some much-needed depth at the OT position.

Reserves: No. 75 Kamryn Waites (R-Jr.), No. 53 Bryce Lovett (R-Fr.), No. 63 Caden Jones (R-Fr.)

Kamryn Waites is going into his third season with the Gators and he is also a guy who provides some experience and depth. Waites played in every SEC matchup as a reserve and started at RT in the last two games of the 2023 season.

Bryce Lovett is a redshirt freshman who has yet to see game action as a collegiate athlete. But that will likely change fairly soon. Lovett was ranked a four-star recruit by Rivals and signed with the Gators in 2022.

Caden Jones is another redshirt freshman who is still in development. On3 had Jones ranked as a four-star recruit out of high school and head coach Billy Napier was such a fan of him that he recruited him when he was in the 10th grade.

Freshmen: No. 68 Fletcher Westphal (Fr.) and No. 55 Mike Williams (Fr.)

Fletcher Westphal and Mike Williams are the two freshmen in this OT group.

Westphal is a four-star recruit out of Tuscarora High School in Leesburg, Virginia. He was ranked as a top-5 player in the state of Virginia and was invited to play in the 2024 All-American Bowl.

Williams was a three-star prospect and went to Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland. He was the No. 17-ranked recruit in the state of Maryland by 247Sports.

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Most intriguing transfer portal options at offensive tackle

Most intriguing transfer portal options at offensive tackle for Ohio State #GoBucks

We already broke down our expectations for how Ohio State could handle the quarterback position and then dived into the possible running backs and most recently covered the wide receiver position (if things break a certain way) and tight ends, but now we need to discuss one of everyone’s favorite positions, offensive tackle.

I try to keep up with social media and the recommendations we receive and it is very clear and obvious that everyone wants to know who are some of the top offensive tackles in the transfer portal. Josh Simmons will be back for 2024 and so will Josh Fryar, but rumor has it that the goal is to move Fryor to the inside and potentially find another option on the outside.

I don’t want to guarantee Ohio State will snag an offensive lineman in the transfer portal, but there are strong rumors circulating that it is a very likely outcome. The following are the top five most interesting offensive tackles for Ohio State that entered the transfer portal.

Gators add veteran SDSU offensive tackle through transfer portal

After seeing the names of the departed, it is good to finally see a transfer portal acquisition for the Gators.

Florida football made its first big splash in the NCAA transfer portal on Sunday when three-star offensive lineman [autotag]Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson[/autotag], who has spent the past five years with the San Diego State Aztecs, committed to the Orange and Blue per a post on his personal Twitter account.

The 6-foot-6-inch, 310-pound behemoth played 37 games in SoCal and was looking to spend his final year of eligibility somewhere he could make his mark. Crenshaw-Dickson will not only bring size but experience to Florida’s O-line.

As a sophomore, he made 14 starts at right tackle taking 932 of the team’s 967 offensive snaps while allowing just one sack in 403 passing chances. He then switched to left tackle in his junior campaign, starting in 12 of the 13 games he appeared in. His senior season saw him play on both sides of the line making 10 starts out of 12 appearances, playing in a mix of left and right tackle.

That versatility has been one of his calling cards as a transfer prospect. Additionally, he was listed as the 50th draft-eligible offensive tackle by Phil Steele Magazine following his senior season.

The Golden State product had also visited the Texas Christian Horned Frogs, Louisville Cardinals and Virginia Tech Hokies since entering the portal on Nov. 29.

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San Diego State OT transfer portal target sets official visit with Gators

This well-experience big man would be a helpful addition to Florida’s depleted offensive line.

This coming weekend looks to be a busy one for Billy Napier and Co. as Florida football plays host to both JUCO and NCAA transfer portal targets.

Among the latter category is three-star offensive lineman [autotag]Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson[/autotag], who has spent the past five years with the San Diego State Aztecs. The senior, originally from City Harbor, California, will make an official visit to the Swamp alongside the others, according to Swamp247.

The 6-foot-6-inch, 310-pound behemoth played 37 games in SoCal and is looking to spend his final year of eligibility where he can make his mark. Crenshaw-Dickson would not only bring size but experience to Florida’s O-line.

That versatility has been one of his calling cards as a transfer prospect. Additionally, he was listed as the 50th draft-eligible offensive tackle by Phil Steele Magazine following his senior season.

The Golden State product has visited the Texas Christian Horned Frogs, Louisville Cardinals and Virginia Tech Hokies since entering the portal on Nov. 29.

Crenshaw-Dickson is ranked No. 163 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite JUCO. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has the California Bears (22.2%) and TCU (19.4%) as his most likely transfer destinations.

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