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Florida football edge rushers coach Mike Peterson is aware of the lack of production from his position group last season.
The Florida Gators finished with 22 sacks in 2023, ranking 12th in the SEC. But Peterson views it more of a symptom of the entire defense.
“Sacks is a combination of the whole defense,” Peterson said. “You know, it’s not only on the front guys, not on the secondary, not on the linebackers, you know, I don’t think the defense as a whole has been where it needs to be.”
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Peterson, a former UF linebacker standout from 1995-98 who went on to a 14-year NFL career, is excited about the potential of UF’s edge rushers effecting the quarterback heading into the 2024 season. Florida lost its sack leader, Princely Umanmielen (39 tackles, 7 sacks, 17 quarterback hurries in 2023) to the transfer portal as he wound up signing with Ole Miss in January.
“I got a lot of guys, man, and I’m excited about them,” Peterson said. “I got some young ones, I got some old ones that was here last year. So, I’m excited about the group as a whole.”
Florida football DE Justus Boone the leader of the group
Peterson said Justus Boone, coming off a torn ACL suffered last August the week before the start of the 2023 season, is the leader of the group. The 6-foot-3, 267-pound Boone, from Sumter, S.C., posted 1.5 sacks in his first two seasons before being sidelined the entire 2023 due to injury.
“Boone kind of gets the group right,” Peterson said. “So, he’s definitely the leader of the group, and you know what he can do on the field. Right now, he’s going through probably the hardest thing in football. I tell all the guys,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-football-edge-rushers-prove-160248354.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-03-27 16:02:48
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