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Florida has a few intriguing position battles brewing in fall camp, including at center and STAR.
The Gators must replace the quarterback of their offensive line in Nick Buchanan, while settling on a new starter in the nickel with Trey Dean III moving to safety and Marco Wilson expected to play more cornerback this season.
Sophomore Ethan White, who started at right guard last year, is now playing center and has been working with the first-team group alongside guards Brett Heggie (left) and Stewart Reese (right). But White is one of several linemen taking reps at that position, which is still up for grabs.
“We’ve got about five different guys playing center right now,” Mullen said, “just to get that experience and get that depth. And when you have experienced guys up there that can communicate, the communication gets really good. One of the big keys to the offensive line is communication. The more veteran guys in there, the more comfortable they are with what’s going on, the easier it is for them to communicate. It makes life easier for anybody.”
Despite being a newcomer, the addition of Reese has helped improve the unit’s communication. He’s a multi-year SEC starter who played two years under Mullen and offensive line coach John Hevesy, so he understands their expectations and has familiarity with the offense.
His presence, along with a handful of experienced returners, gives the Gators more quality depth up front.
“Much deeper this year than last year, obviously,” Mullen said. “My first year here we had a bunch of older, veteran guys who played some football. So I don’t know that our depth was great, but our experience in that top group was really good.
“Last year’s group was really young. We only lost one senior off of last year’s offensive line and we had Stewart Reese transfer in as a grad transfer. So really that depth, the group that you played last year is back which creates a lot more depth on the offensive line. Plus, some news guys, so it is much deeper.”
Florida is also deep at defensive back, with a total of 19 players in the secondary. Many of them can and have lined up at multiple spots, including Amari Burney, Dean and Wilson.
Dean started in the nickel last season, but Wilson took over for the final four games. With C.J. Henderson gone and Dean playing safety, Wilson likely starts opposite Kaiir Elam at cornerback this fall.
However, he’s also still taking STAR reps and will play there when needed.
“The reason that we’ve got to have multiple guys ready to play the nickel position, and guys to move to safety, is so that we can try to match the best person on the best person,” Mullen said. “If they’re going to have a premier route-runner in the slot all day long, we're going to have a Marco be able to go cover that guy, be able to move him there.
“Then you have a big blocker that teams are going to use at the point of attack, we've got to get a bigger body in there at the nickel to be able to go take away the run. I think a lot of that, when you see the guys moving and playing the different positions, it's for us to be able to matchup against whoever we have to play throughout the course of the season.”
Burney appeared in eight games last season at STAR and linebacker, making three starts. He got the nod in the nickel against Virginia and has continued receiving first-team reps there in camp.
Burney is the “bigger body” defender Mullen described for run support, while Wilson or Chester Kimbrough possess the coverage ability to stick with premier slot receivers. Like Wilson, Kimbrough could play corner or STAR and is cross-training at both spots. C.J. McWilliams and Tre’Vez Johnson are also working in the nickel.
“The reason we call it the STAR, and the deal is, you've got to be a star player because you've got to be able to do multiple things,” Mullen said. “Corner is kind of a cool deal, but we don't ask them to do as much as we ask the STAR to do. We need somebody that, obviously the more you can do the better you are at that position, and I don't have to sub a lot of different guys, right?
“So you want somebody that is a great cover guy, that can be physical at the point of attack, that can rush off the edge. But those guys, you know, they're kind of unicorns, right? You gotta go try to find them, and there's not a lot of them out there. You do see one, and it's a pretty special deal, you've got to be excited that you have one.”
