Grading the Gators: Offensive Line

Over the next couple of weeks, Gators Territory will be breaking down and grading the Florida Gators position by position, followed by a look ahead to the 2021 season and what the depth chart will look like in the season to come.

The Florida Gators offensive line has typically found itself the butt of jokes and drawn the ire of the fan base. In 2020, the line was better in some areas, notably Stone Forsythe was much improved and Brett Heggie put together a very good season at center for the Gators.

Florida's line took a big hit prior to the start of the season when Ethan White, who was working as the first-team center, sustained an injury during the Gators' second scrimmage. White wasn't able to get back on the field until halfway through the season, and that shuffling along the line forced the Gators' hand.

As you can see, there was a clear deficiency on the right side of the line. If you're reading this, you probably watched a game or two and you don't need me to tell you that and we don't need to beat a dead horse. Florida needs to find an answer there moving forward.

PFF actually grades Heggie and Forsythe very favorably as pass protectors and above average as run blockers. You can read how PFF comes up with those grades here and here.

The biggest question when you go to grade this offensive line has to be run blocking. Florida ran 840 plays in 2020, throwing the ball 473 times, or 56.3% of their offensive snaps. Was Florida more pass focused because they had a deep wide receiver room, a smart, Heisman finalist quarterback and Kyle Pitts? Or was it because Florida just wasn't good at running the ball. Probably a little bit of both but more because of the former.