On the other side of the gridiron, standout freshman Jason Marshall Jr. is the frontrunner for reps squaring off against opposing Z receiver. He was pegged as the second-best corner in the 2021 recruiting class by 247Sports, who (unsurprisingly) also named him the Gators’ breakout freshman candidate.
He’s fast and fluid, with impressively smooth footwork for a young guy. That makes him a pretty sticky corner who can mirror routes and interrupt the timing of a downfield route. He impressed his future teammates at spring camp and earned a shoutout from Trey Dean III as the best performer among incoming freshman.
With their powers combined, Elam and Marshall Jr. have the potential to be the best duo of cornerbacks in the conference. Of course, that would hinge on massively improved communication the backfield. One has to imagine that will be a focal point of defensive backs coaching at Florida through the coming months.
The resulting trust that was missing from last year’s squad will let the team’s stars do their thing and blow away the competition.
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