Florida Football: 2017 season preview, predictions

Defense

Florida had one of the best defenses in the country last season, but will have to move forward by replacing nine starters. In fact, the entire secondary has departed, along with one senior being lost for the season with injury, and the front-seven has a whole new look.

Starting with the line, Jordan Sherit is the only returning starter in the front-seven, but the defensive end is projected as a backup. He had 38 tackles, five for loss and 3.5 sacks last season and looks to have a big role regardless. Cece Jefferson, Taven Bryan, Khairi Clark and Jabari Zuniga are presumed starters, but can they replace an entire starting unit?

As for the linebackers, sophomore David Reese has breakout star potential in the middle, finishing with 49 tackles last season, but replacing Jarrad Davis will be tough. Fellow sophomores Kylan Johnson and Vosean Joseph will be joining him as the outside backers.

Replacing a talented secondary

Losing most of the 2016 secondary that ranked No. 2 in the country against the pass won’t be an easy task. Gone are Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson at the two cornerback spots, but they will be replaced by a senior with starting experience, Duke Dawson, as well as a rising sophomore in Chauncey Gardner.

Here comes the hard part, though. The safety spots looked to be anchored by a pair of senior leaders in Nick Washington and Marcell Harris, but the latter tore his Achilles this offseason and has been ruled out for the year.

Basically, that means Florida has to replace an entire elite secondary before the first week and it’s unclear whether the first-year starters can duplicate what their predecessors did. There will be some major growing pains in the secondary this season — at least early on.