ITG In-Depth: Trouble along the line II
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In a three-part series throughout this week, Inside the Gators will take an in-depth look at Florida's offensive line situation. Today, we take an in-depth look at the true and redshirt freshmen who have started games for Florida in recent years.
It's highly likely that a true or redshirt freshman could start along the offensive line this year.
Of the seven returning scholarship offensive linemen, three are redshirt freshmen - Travaris Dorsey, Kavaris Harkless and Andrew Mike. Six 2015 signees join UF at the position, including five-star offensive tackle Martez Ivey, and that's not including three-star defensive lineman Andrew Ivie if the coaching staff does choose to move him to the offensive line to improve numbers there.
There's no denying it: Florida is in a situation numbers-wise where true and redshirt freshmen will need to step up in 2015.
Looking at the Gators over the past decade since the start of the Urban Meyer era, not very many true freshmen have started games. Some redshirt freshmen have during that time, but it hasn't been the most common practice for the Gators as Meyer and Will Muschamp preferred to give their freshmen time to develop before handing them significant playing time.
Maurkice Pouncey, Xavier Nixon and D.J. Humphries were the only offensive linemen to start games as true freshmen over the past decade, while Mike Pouncey's starts came on defense. Chaz Green (nine starts in 2011), Jon Halapio (seven starts in 2010), Marcus Gilbert (one start in 2007), Maurice Hurt (one start in 2007), Jonotthan Harrison (one start in 2010) and Roderick Johnson (three starts in 2014) were among those who started at least one game as redshirt freshmen during that span.
Maurkice was the only true freshmen offensive lineman during the last decade to start double-digit games in his first seasons as a Gator. In 2007, Maurkice, a four-star recruit, appeared in every game and started 11 contests at right guard, including the season-opener, while also taking snaps under center for Florida. Meanwhile, Mike, also a four-star talent, moved to the defensive side of the ball due to a lack of depth there during the final month of the season and started the final four regular-season games of his freshman year on defense.
In 2008, Mike moved back to guard, while Maurkice shifted to center in the wake of Drew Miller's departure. The rest from there is history, as both went on to win national championships at Florida, earn numerous honors and awards, and then carve out successful careers for themselves in the NFL.
The following year, Nixon arrived at Florida as a decorated recruit out of Fayetteville, N.C., and the No. 37 overall recruit in the 2009 recruiting class. Nixon saw playing time in the rotation and impressed coaches with his play, enough so to where he started the final five games of the 2009 season (the only loss in that span came in the SEC Championship game to Alabama). Nixon was the first Florida freshman to start at left tackle since Reggie Green in 1992 and also earned an SEC Freshman All-America Team honorable mention in 2009.
A solid freshman season did not translate to success throughout the remainder of Nixon's Florida career. Although Nixon went on to start 28 more games in his final three years at Florida, inconsistent play and injuries hurt his NFL draft stock. Since going undrafted in 2013, Nixon played for the Indianapolis Colts until getting waived after last season. The Washington Redskins most recently waived Nixon on May 8.
Humphries, the only five-star offensive line signee of the Muschamp era, appeared in 12 games as a true freshman and started in three in 2012, with two starts coming at left tackle over Nixon. Like Nixon, Humphries' final two years in Gainesville are remembered for up-and-down play and injuries. But unlike Nixon, Humphries' physical tools and potential intrigued NFL teams - enough so to the point that he was selected 24th overall in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
A situation Florida's offensive line dealt with about 15 years ago is somewhat comparable in nature to what it is experiencing today. If you look back even further on the timeline, Shannon Snell and Max Starks were two former Gators offensive lineman who did not start but saw key roles as true freshmen in 2000. Both joined a Gators team in a similar predicament as McElwain's current squad. In the spring of 2000, Steve Spurrier had just seven healthy scholarship linemen due to roster moves and injuries, but during that summer brought in six signees at the position.
"Spring practice, I think they were running with only seven or eight linemen," Snell told ITG. "It was really bad, because a lot of the time linemen get hurt during the year or in practice. It's one of those positions where you can't count on the numbers being the same by the end of the year. When (offensive line coach) Jimmy Ray Stephens was recruiting me, he made it no surprise that, 'Hey, if you come in and you play even halfway well, you're going to play as a true freshman. That's kind of what happened, myself and Max. The funny thing about that is that everything they said came true because Thomas Moody, who was in front of me, got hurt a lot."
As true freshmen 15 years ago, Snell and Starks were in the "Fast Pass Lane" - as McElwain would coin it now. Snell played in 10 of 12 regular-season games in 2000 as a backup guard for 161 plays, while Starks made seven appearances that year as a backup offensive tackle and logged in 125 plays. Snell saw significant playing time in the 2000 SEC Championship Game when Thomas Moody went down, as Florida knocked off Auburn 28-6 for the title.
Ultimately, the playing time early in their careers benefitted Snell and Starks. After a four-year career at Florida where he started 36 games, Starks went on to play nine seasons in the NFL as a third-round pick in 2004 and win two Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Snell started 36 contests as well during his final three seasons in Gainesville until going undrafted and playing two seasons in the league for the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars. Snell earned first-team All-American honors in 2003.
Snell remembers how things were when he was thrown immediately into the fire when he arrived in Gainesville for the start of the summer B semester in 2000. Like Snell and Starks, some of UF's 2015 signees may not have the luxury to redshirt this upcoming season. The circumstances concerning Florida's depth may not allow for it.
"I've got to be honest with you, it was really tough," explained Snell. "The coaches could have limited interaction with you, because once camp and all of that started you could go full force. So your playbooks and all that other stuff aren't coming to you guys really until camp. They can give you some stuff here and there, but it wasn't the whole playbook. The bad thing about it is once you know that, then you have to adjust to life on campus and school. You don't have that redshirt year, like a lot of guys do, to get yourself prepared.
"Those first couple of games, those are really important for those guys because it's going to give them a gage on what they're going to see down the road. That first SEC game, you're really going to get a true test. The toughest thing moving forward is that these guys are going to have to get themselves prepared. They're all going to have to be ready to play, because I really think it's going to be hard-pressed to redshirt anybody at this time."