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The SEC is a line of scrimmage league, and Florida football needs to show improvement up front to contend with the top teams in the conference.
The Florida Gators lost top pass rusher Princely Umanmielen (7 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss in 2023) to Ole Miss last season, but added new defensive line coach Gerald Chatman, who brings a no-nonsense approach in leading the position group. Chatman was hired from Tulane after Florida jettisoned former defensive line coach Sean Spencer, who landed at Texas A&M.
“We talk a lot about mentality — attacking what’s in front of you,” Chatman said. “Kind of like we’re not hitting a man in the back, so to speak. If you took it to an actual fight, right? We want to see everything we hit. We want to attack everything that’s right in front of us, that’s on and off the field.”
Florida will again look to generate more of a pass rush up front this season after recording 22 sacks in 2023, which ranked 12th out of 14 SEC teams.
Here’s a look at UF’s defensive line entering the 2024 season:
Florida football defensive tackles
Cam Jackson and Caleb Banks are back as the starters inside. At 6-foot-6 and 374-pounds, Jackson used his long wingspan to deflect two passes near the line of scrimmage last season. But he would like to slim down to a playing weight of 345 to become a more effective pass rusher after recording no sacks last season.
Banks, in first season at UF after transferring from Louisville, recorded 19 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack while playing at 6-6 and 325 pounds.
Desmond Watson and Jermari Lyons return to provide depth. Listed at 6-5 and 464 pounds in the spring, Watson will need to shed some weight to last for consistent snaps in the SEC after finishing with 11 tackles, one sack and two quarterback hurries last season. Lyons, at 6-5 and 298 pounds, showed…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-football-defensive-line-generate-080431094.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-07-23 08:04:31
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