Florida Football: 5 fixes Gators must make for the 2019 season

2. Expectations, especially on defense, must be met

You know what comes after winning 10 games, including a New Year’s Six victory at the Peach Bowl? Expectations, that’s what.

Now, we have seen how Dan Mullen can take a team that honestly isn’t even his in terms of the players that are currently there and bring them to a successful season. What we haven’t seen is how he will live up to the expectations that he has now created for himself.

This is a team that beat Michigan to end the season and not just beat them, but absolutely dismantled them. They took on on of the bigger and better defenses in the nation and picked them apart with an offense that hasn’t exactly been all that consistent throughout the season. We will discuss that in a minute though.

The group with the biggest expectations though is the defense. That unit was one of the best on the field for the Gators, no questions asked. There are a few that will be leaving for the draft and such, so there will be holes that have to be filled. All things considered though, the defense has to live up to the expectations that they have created all by themselves.

1. Feleipe Franks and his offense have to get better

The Florida Gators’ quarterback Feleipe Franks is pretty decent, but he isn’t exactly what Dan Mullen would have chosen at the position had he been the one recruiting. He has struggled up and down since starting his career in Gainesville.

Of course, 2018 was a big improvement over what he put up in 2017. Let us all remember that Franks threw half as many touchdowns in game one in 2018 than he did all of 2017. That is a big upswing from a quarterback who seemed dead on arrival.

It is more important than anything to have a consistent quarterback in a conference that is so defense oriented like the Southeastern Conference is. In 2019, he will have to really step up and be the leader this offense needs. We saw a lot of good things in the Peach Bowl against Michigan, including Franks getting the ball out quickly and taking off rushing when necessary.

In summary, this team is pretty much on the straight and narrow when it comes to the 2019 season. That being said though, they still have some things to fix.

The Gators need to grow in recruiting and consistency, they need to live up to expectations and most of all- their quarterback needs to become the leader that this team needs to win the SEC East and maybe even the SEC Championship.