A close look at Florida's defensive roster after Early Signing Day

The word of the season for the Florida Gators football program could very well be “change”. A change in head coach, a change in most of the coaching staff, a change in the tone of the team and a change in the actual team.

While the end of each season and subsequent signing day allows for a natural change each year, the beginning of the 2018 season got another change with an early signing day—the first in a new experiment by the NCAA.

The more traditional signing day will still take place in February, further updating Dan Mullen’s first roster as Gators head coach. But after the December 20, 2017 signing day here is where the Florida roster on defense currently stands.

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* TWO DAYS ONLY: 50% OFF AN ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

* A closer look at the offensive roster

* Early Signee In-Depth Analysis

* Former five-star transfers to Florida

* TDA: Grading Florida's early signees

* Thamel: Inside Mullen's hectic first signing day

* Reaction to Florida flipping Jones

* Florida an Early Signing Day Winner

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Returning: CeCe Jefferson~, Jordan Smith (suspended), Khairi Clark, Tedarrell Slaton, Richerd Desir-Jones, Antonneous Clayton, Marlon Dunlap, Jabari Zuniga, Keivonnis Davis (suspended/injured), Luke Ancrum, Jachai Polite, Kyree Campbell, Elijah Conliffe, Zachary Carter

Signees: 0

Need: 2-4

Subtractions: Jordan Sherit, Taven Bryan

The Breakdown: One of the strongest units on the Gators roster will take a big hit as Sherit and Bryan move on from Gainesville. CeCe Jefferson still has time to declare for the NFL as well. If he chose to stay however it would be a huge boost to a room that is ripe with underclassmen. Zuniga and Polite made a case to be the duo of the future and will lead a group that has been the bread and butter of Gators success the past few years. No defensive lineman signed with the Gators during the early signing day.