The Florida Gators hit the practice fields running today in full pads in a high paced first few periods of practice (time media is permitted to observe practice). No wasted time or wasted reps. Just like every other head coach in the country, the message from Jim McElwain was improvement and let the competition answer the questions.
FAST BREAK
Felipe Franks, Kyle Trask and Kadarius Toney took the majority of the reps at QB with Franks and Trask armed with the veteran wide receivers. Not many drills were ran to clearly evaluated the performances of the QBs. However, Franks and Trask threw the ball pretty well with plenty of zip and location.
Runnings Back are a group of bruisers. No change of pace back dressed out in pads today. Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine and Mark Thompson are all strong runners with less elusiveness and downfield speed. Gators needs a back who can take a toss 80 yards to the house in the SEC. Didn’t see “That guy” in pads today.
3 BIGGEST QUESTIONS
– Offensive perimeter playermakers home? Antonio Callaway, Brandon Powell and DeAndre Goolsby return. The top three leading receivers from a season ago who accounted for 1450 of the Gators 2805 receiving yards. Then what? Where will the rest of the production come from?
– Creativity on offense? Big concern last season as followers of the Gators complained of predictability and lack of creativity. Well, in the Gators defense the offense could have been hampered by the inconsistency at the quarterback position and inexperience in the offensive backfield in whole. Nothing to report here. Fans and media will not know what to expect until the spring game.
– Will the secondary rebound? What seems like the entire secondary will need to be constructed as several starter declared for the 2017 NFL draft including both corners Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson. The coaching staff is experimenting with Chauncey Gardner at corner with Nick Washington at safety. Marcelo Harris played plenty of press coverage in one on ones versus the wide receivers today. Not saying he will line up at corner, but fans could see him in press coverage more than previous years.