Will the new coaching staff lead Florida to an elite defense over the next few years? ESPN like UF’s chances.
If you like way-too-early predictions and projections, ESPN’s latest ranking of future defenses might interest you. Georgia made it clear in 2021 that defense is king, at least for now, and it’s worth taking a look ahead at which teams have the most talent on that side of the ball.
Before we dive into it, let’s take a look at exactly what’s being measured in these defensive rankings. It’s impossible to know exactly what a team is going to look like over the next couple of years, but ESPN has opted to take the current rosters and look as far ahead as 2024 to get the job done. Returning players, incoming transfers and expected NFL departures are all factored into these rankings. Still, those changes can continually affect a program if they come up consistently.
With that being said, ESPN has Florida at a respectable No. 21 on the list after finishing at No. 12 last year. The drop is hardly surprising considering the disaster of a defense the Gators have fielded over the past two years. Let’s not forget that defensive coordinator [autotag]Todd Grantham[/autotag] was the first domino to drop in the collapse of the Mullen regime. [autotag]Kaiir Elam[/autotag] and [autotag]Zachary Carter[/autotag], two key contributors over the last two seasons, are also gone via the NFL draft.
“Florida is one of the tougher teams to project after so many changes, on both its roster and the coaching staff. But the foundation on defense, combined with a promising start to recruiting, vaults the Gators into the rankings for the first time in this year’s FPR series.”
Co-defensive coordinators [autotag]Sean Spencer[/autotag] and [autotag]Patrick Toney[/autotag] have plenty of talent to work with in 2022 and showed promise by nabbing five-star safety [autotag]Kamari Wilson[/autotag] among a handful of other blue-chip recruits in a short cycle.
[autotag]Gervon Dexter[/autotag] and [autotag]Brenton Cox Jr[/autotag]. are the players to look for up front, and “the development of others will significant” as well. [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] leads a young group of linebackers, including freshman [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag], and the secondary has some returning talent in [autotag]Trey Dean[/autotag], [autotag]Rashad Torrence[/autotag] and [autotag]Jason Marshall Jr.[/autotag] [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] is also coming back from an injury that kept him out all of last year.
That leaves Florida sixth in terms of future defenses in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia, Texas A&M and Alabama take up Nos. 2-4 on the list, in that order, after reeling in strong recruiting classes year after year. If [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] can keep up the early success he’s had at Florida bringing in young talent, then Florida should start to close the gap between No. 21 and those three schools in the top five.
At the very least, the goal should be to get above Kentucky (No. 18) and start creeping up on LSU (No. 9). There’s a real feeling that Florida can reclaim the title of DBU over the next few years with former LSU defensive backs coach [autotag]Corey Raymond[/autotag] in tow. The recruiting class of 2023 should have a huge impact on the Gators’ future defense ranking.
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