GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida will start spring practice on Tuesday but they will do so without three players.
According to Florida head coach Dan Mullen, as Gators Territory reported earlier, defensive end Jeremiah Moon and offensive lineman Griffin McDowell, as well as defensive tackle Marlon Dunlap are all expected to miss spring.
"Everybody else - might be limited here or there - but those guys are doubtful to get back this spring," said the Gators head coach in his press conference on Monday.
However, wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, who suffered a broken collarbone against Florida State, is expected to return this spring; cornerback Marco Wilson, who tore his ACL, is also expected to be limited the next month for the Gators.
Moon was expected to be one of the players to battle to replace rush end Jachai Polite, who decided to enter the NFL draft early, especially with the Gators losing CeCe Jefferson as well.
Moon, who suffered a foot injury a few months ago, will have to compete for playing time in fall camp that leaves transfer Jonathan Greenard, red-shirt freshman Andrew Chatfield, and true freshman Mohamoud Diabate.
Diabate decided to early enroll and it seems like that decision is to the first year player's benefit.
"There's certainly going to be opportunities for guys. I think one of the things you see that we love is the ability for guys to rotate," said Mullen when asked if Diabate will have more opportunity this spring. "I love playing a lot of players and creating depth, not just depth for the health purposes and the speed and how aggressive we play and the experience of guys, but also for competition. You look at that spot, the outside backer spot with losing one guy to graduation, another guy decides to leave early for the draft and then the next guys gets injured for the spring. A lot of opportunities for guys to go earn some reps and playing time for when the season comes around."
At defensive tackle, all eyes will be on juniors Tedarrell Slaton and Elijah Conliffe, while McDowell will have his opportunity to compete with center Nick Buchanan in the fall.
With four starters gone on the offensive line, the battle in the trenches will be played out this spring.
"There’s just great opportunities there for guys. You look, and I mean there’s one guy with a bunch of experience coming back as a starter from last year. And so, there’s some good young talent, and certainly nobody’s going to be able to complain about their opportunity on the offensive line in the spring," said Mullen. "Everybody’s got an opportunity. It’s what they go do with it is up to them individually."
