Florida football continues to move one step closer to spring ball. This will be Dan Mullen and company's second spring in Gainesville and an excellent opportunity to see how far the younger playmakers have come under their leadership.
GT has already taken a look at:
- Which five players to watch this spring
-Break down of the redshirt players vying for more playing time
- A look at which early enrollees can make an impact
- Which Gators could see their stock rise
So what about the top questions headed into spring?
Where will Amari Burney play?
Mullen and his staff have one big philosophy when it comes to recruiting, they like to recruit versatile athletes. Amari Burney fits that bill.
The Clearwater, Fla. native made a name for himself on special teams last season, however, he also saw some time at the nickelback/Star position last year and at linebacker during the Peach Bowl.
According to Mullen, the Gators have moved Trey Dean to the nickel position, replacing Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who left for the NFL draft. So does that mean Burney will now move to linebacker or safety?
The Gators have a lot of bodies at safety with Jeawon Taylor, Brad Stewart, Shawn Davis, Donovan Stiner and John Huggins - one can even argue that Chris Steele has the physical attributes to play the position if needed.
At linebacker the Gators lost Vosean Joseph and Burney has the speed and size to be a force blitzing. Florida looks to be already exploring this option, as we saw in the video linebacker coach Christian Robinson tweeted out earlier this week.
Kyle Pitts emerge as the number one tight end or split time at WR?
Speaking of versatile athletes, Kyle Pitts is another talented playmaker that can see himself play a variety of roles for Florida.
Last season, due to the tight end room being a bit crowded with both Moral Stephens and C'Yontai Lewis on campus, the staff felt that they could use Pitts as a mismatch at receiver. Will he split time this spring at both tight end and receiver this spring?
The tight end room is a little less crowded with both Stephens and Lewis gone. Kemore Gamble and Lucas Krull should see some increased playing time, however, both need to develop further as pass catcher and blocker respectively.
Emory Jones leap frogs Kyle Trask as the backup quarterback?
Heading into spring Emory Jones has more college football experience than Kyle Trask, so Jones has an excellent case of becoming the backup signal caller behind Feleipe Franks.
The former four-star quarterback played in four games last season, including against Georgia and Michigan.
Jones demonstrated his ability both in the air on the ground. He finished throwing 12-for16 for 125 yards and two touchdown and running for 41 yards on 16 carries.
With the staff not limited by the redshirt rule, Jones is expected to feature in several different packages in 2019 so it is not a stretch to think that the Peach State native will see more action this spring.
Can the OL build quality depth?
The Gators lost four starters on the offensive line: Jawaan Taylor, Fred Johnson, Martez Ivey and Tyler Jordan. Nick Buchanan is the only starter returning for the Gators.
The story in 2018 was also focused around the staff thinking they had a drop off between the first line and the second line.
Stone Forsythe is one that could very well emerge in the group as a starter. The staff like the progression and development they have seen so far from him. In addition to Forsythe, Brett Heggie and Noah Banks are also two guys that have some game time experience in the group. However, the key with both of them is they each need to remain healthy.
That brings me to my next point.
This spring will be about finding out how deep this O-line actually is. The good news for the Gators is that they will have several linemen early enrollees on campus and both Chris Bleich and Richard Gouraige have both benefitted from a year under John Hevesy.
How do you replace Jachai Polite and CeCe Jefferson?
How do you replace a guys like Jachai Polite and CeCe Jefferson?
Find a grad transfer with experience and skill: Jonathan Greenard.
Greenard did not play for Louisville in 2018 due to an injury, however, in 2017 he led the team with seven sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss - he only started five of 13 games that year for the Cardinals.
With Jeremiah Moon expected to be limited, how limited will be determined by how quickly he recovers from his injury, Greenard allows the Gators to have another plan off the edge. To be honest even if Moon was healthy, the Alabama native may have still needed some more time to develop and the addition of Greenard allows Moon to have that time.
The battle for playing time in the secondary
Last season Florida had to manage without enough bodies in the secondary. Barring any injuries, this does not look like the case this spring.
Marco Wilson is still recovering from a tore ACL so Chris Steele will get his chance to receive several reps with the 1s next month. Dean, as mentioned above, is expected to move to nickel, while the battle at safety could see the addition of Burney - although more than likely the standout will see more time at linebacker.
Torrian Gray and Ron English will have plenty of bodies to work with in the spring and thats not even factoring in the addition of Kaiir Elam in the summer.
We broken down the defensive back position in more detail HERE.
If you missed our position outlooks here they are:
