Marco Wilson will anchor talented young Gators secondary

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- It has been a solid week for the Florida secondary.

In the last few days both Marco Wilson and Shawn Davis have announced their intentions of staying for another season and not enter the NFL draft.

With Florida losing junior cornerback CJ Henderson to the NFL and senior safety Jeawon Taylor due to eligibility, having two veterans like Wilson and Davis returning is big for the young secondary.

But let us not forget the talented underclassmen that are ready to step up in 2020 as well.

"All the freshmen have to step up but they have been stepping up since fall camp because they have been getting a lot of reps," cornerback Marco Wilson told Gators Territory. "Maybe not a whole bunch of game reps, but we have been trying to throw them in here and there so they are prepared. They have been practicing like they have been getting ready for a game. I'm really excited to see how they continue to grow."

"All of those guys have been a pleasant surprise in the sense of that they have taken the coaching and they are working hard to be good players," defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. "I think all of those guys moving forward are going to be good for us."

Kaiir Elam has stolen a lot of the headlines so far.

The true freshman earned a starting spot when Wilson had to move to nickel from corner.

"When you look at Elam, he is a guy that is really patient," said Grantham. "He will play the ball in the air and he takes coaching."

Elam picked off three passes this season, including one in the Orange Bowl against Virginia - and considering he predominately played on special teams and saw limited snaps up until the final three games, thats a good illustration of whats in store for the unit.

The South Florida native also recorded one pass break up in the win over the Wahoos, while amassing 11 tackles and four pass break ups.

Elam is going to be good, however, it is not a time to sleep on either Jaydon Hill or Chester Kimbrough either.

Although Hill has played in few more games than Kimbrough in 2019, the Louisiana native has caught the attention of a few Gators receivers.

"Chester's really good; he's going to be really good," said wide receiver Van Jefferson. "Him and Kaiir and Jaydon, they're going to be really good. I think those guys, CJ and Marco, they're going to elevate their game. I know when they get in this season they're going to make some big plays for us. They've been doing good, but Chester's really good. Chester's really good."

"I've been slept on all my life because of my size that doesn't phase me," Kimbrough told Gators Territory in an exclusive interview. " I just take the criticism and makes me push harder."

Kimbrough feels blessed to be recognized by his teammates.

"I'm just trying to push those boys to be better, so they can make the plays that they made today [Orange Bowl]," he said. "It's an honor hearing that from them."

According to Kimbrough, his redshirt year has allowed him to work on his tackling, which he will continue to work on as he hopes to get his weight up this offseason.

"Coach [Torrian] Gray really just made me a learner on the field, beyond the physicality but brought me up on the mentality side as well," said Kimbrough. "Grantham is always on my behind."

Kimbrough is a versatile option for Grantham and his staff - he can line up both at corner and at nickel.

"I play both. It doesn't matter where I play. I'm still going to play ball. I can play anywhere," he said. To me it's the same. I just have to go against a couple of faster people [at nickel], but I find it easy because my hips are twitchy."

Florida has also added talented recruits to the roster this offseason including: Mordecai McDaniel, Ethan Pouncey, Jahari Rogers, Fenley Graham, Tre'Vez Johnson, Avery Helm and Rashad Torrence - all of which signed their LOIs back in December.

The Gators still have Marc Britt, an athlete they have recruited at safety, committed, while they are also pursuing talented safety Avantae Williams ahead of February's signing day.

This list does no even include some other returns like Trey Dean and Donovan Stiner.

What can you take from this?

The secondary is young but talented.

"We are all trying to ball," said Kimbrough. "We are all trying to eat."