Florida Fall Camp: Friday Insider Notes

Inside the Gators was on the sidelines for the second day of the Florida Gators fall camp, which consisted of the whole team for the first time this camp season. Here are some of the biggest takeaways and observations from the open portions at the start at each practice.

Overall, the quarterbacks looked average, which is what you would expect with the first day of practice.

As a sign of his maturity, and value as a team leader, Gators wide receiver Antonio Callaway stood along the gates and slapped hands with his teammates as they ran to the fields to get practice underway.

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The team split up into three groups during the fastball period with a mixture of players integrating with some of the starters from last year.

Fast Ball Offense:

Feleipe Franks was the quarterback who went out first. Luke Del Rio was with the second group, but also saw time with the starters while Malik Zaire was with the third group, which consisted mostly of younger players - with true freshmen such as Malik Davis and Daquon Green and Kemore Gamble.

The first wide receivers out consisted of Dre Massey, Tyrie Cleveland and Freddie Swain. Brandon Powell and Antonio Callaway went out with the second group.

Somewhat of a surprise along the offensive line was Kadeem Telfort going out with the first group today.

Fast Ball Defense:

Some of the defensive linemen who were with the first group included Kyree Campbell, Jachai Polite and Taven Bryan.

True freshman Marco Wilson was included with the secondary grouping that had Chauncey Gardner and Duke Dawson.

The third group secondary consisted enirely of true freshmen C.J. McWilliams, Donovan Stiner, Brian Edwards and Shawn Davis.

Zaire had issues with moving the ball up the field in his first full practice, as wide receiver coach Kerry Dixon was yelling from the sidelines to pick up the tempo. The graduate transfer connected with tight end Kemore Gamble on a slant route across the middle of the field for a 20-yard gain.

Soon after, the offensive line could not hold their blocks well, which lead to linebacker Lacedrick Brunson running untouched through the A-gap, forcing Zaire to get rid of the ball to the far-right sideline. Zaire later looked for Kadarius Toney, who has seen reps at wide receiver the first two days of camp, but overthrew Toney in the back of the end zone.

Franks looked like he was the best quarterback on the field. He stood tall in the pocket as the defense brought pressure and connecting on 1 of 3 passes during fastball. Defensive back Nick Washington made a great play by breaking up the intended pass to running back Mark Thompson along the sideline.

The offensive line looked like they were holding together well during drills, as they allowed no sacks and gave the quarterbacks ample time to get the ball out of their hands.

The running back unit looked very solid catching the ball, noticeably Malik Davis, who was able to catch and turn to catch the ball that was thrown in his direction. Running backs coach JaJuan Seider pulled Adarius Lemmons to the side to help him with catching an out-route and turning and getting up the left sideline.

Daquon Green has looked very impressive with the second team unit. He possesses the ability to run crisp routes and reel the ball in for a catch under any circumstances, which is something current Gators wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland praised about the freshman during the Gators Media Day on Wednesday.

Sophomore Freddie Swain really struggled to catch anything that was thrown his way during multiple drills on Friday.

The freshman defensive backs have impressed Jim McElwain during their first practice, and they didn’t disappoint during drills on Friday.

C.J. Henderson lined up at corner with Brain Edwards and Shawn Davis back at safety, and they really made it difficult for Zaire to get the balls to the receivers. Henderson showed that he could press the line off the snap and could catch back up the receiver when beaten.

Gators wide receiver James Robinson, wearing #85, has enrolled at Florida and was with the team during Friday’s practice. Though he was out there, we didn't see him participate in drills while the media was there.

Overall, the three units that impressed the most were the offensive line, running backs, and the defensive backs during the first two days of practice.

The offensive line neutralized the defensive line and the running backs have shown the ability to put their foot in the ground and turn up field with a burst of speed. The young defensive backs have shown promise in their first two practices, as they have shown the ability to stay with defenders in 1-on-1 coverages and the ability to show their strength off at the line of scrimmage.

Joseph Hastings contributed to this report.