What We Learned: Eight spring practices
Spring camp is a little more than halfway over as the Gators have completed eight of 15 practices in the early steps of rebounding from a 4-8 season. With six of those practices open, Inside the Gators has gotten plenty of opportunities to get a read on the current product. Here's what we've come away with.
There is certainly no quarterback controversy: It would have taken the most unabashed lover of unproven freshmen to expect Will Grier to truly challenge Jeff Driskel for the starting quarterback job this spring. That has not happened. Driskel has been far from perfect, battling issues with eight transfer on his release that leads to overthrows, but he has separated himself from Grier and Skyler Mornhinweg as the clear-cut starter. The only question moving forward will be the backup job and who stands where before Treon Harris arrives on campus in June. Grier is the option with the most upside, but Will Muschamp is not ready to lean either way publicly.
Jonathan Bullard is starting to look like a full-time defensive tackle: At least that's what my advanced football intellect has gathered by watching Bullard take all of his snaps this spring as an interior defensive lineman. Bullard knew the transition was likely after - begrudgingly - playing the position in a more limited capacity last season. He worked on learning the three-technique all offseason and it has shown while he and Darious Cummings distance themselves as the Gators' best defensive tackles. His move has been opened by Bryan Cox Jr. emerging as a first-team player at strongside defensive end. Redshirt senior defensive tackle Leon Orr (wrist) will be back in the mix for fall camp, but the starting job might not be so easy to attain if Bullard keeps it up.
Running backs deserve a vote of confidence: There aren't many positions on the field where Florida has unquestionable depth and ability, but running back is one of them. Kelvin Taylor has worked as the first-team running back, but Kurt Roper proved during his time at Duke he can be more than willing to use a committee backfield. He at least has the personnel for it right now. Former walk-on Mark Herndon has impressed and seems to do something special every time he gets a carry. Adam Lane, at 5-foot-7 and 222 pounds, has seen his first significant action and taken advantage of it. Mack Brown is putting together enough big runs to keep his name near the top of the conversation. And all this comes with expected 2013 starter Matt Jones and speedy freshman Brandon Powell inactive.
Better consistency is needed at defensive back: Let's be honest here. Florida's passing game through eight practices in a new offense shouldn't be as productive as it has been. The Gators are wildly talented but dangerously young at defensive back. Vernon Hargreaves is the rock of the group. He is also a sophomore. Florida will likely start a freshman opposite Hargreaves and that's in front of a stable of safeties in which only Jabari Gorman has instilled much confidence in Muschamp, the position coach. Everything else is an extremely talented work in progress but a work in progress nonetheless. The potential is there, but young players like Keanu Neal (hamstring) and Duke Dawson have to get in the mix and fin a rhythm.
"Tempo" has arrived: For the past few years, the Gators have sworn off the up-tempo offense trend that has swept the nation like your grandpa who still doesn't have a cell phone. Given their personnel and talent base in Florida, they couldn't deny it any longer. If Florida is somehow going to revert back to a methodical, conservative offense when the season rolls around as some fear, then it is wasting the entire spring running a system that looks nothing like what fans have seen the past three years. UF coaches constantly stress tempo. Monday, players thought they had given them what they were looking for, but Muschamp left complaining the scrimmage wasn't fast enough. Times have certainly changed.