Florida Football: Will Gators take another step forward in 2019?

As usual, the defense is impressive

If not for the dominant and even historic performances from past Gator defenses, the last decade of football in Gainesville would have been even more bleak. Yes, offense has been a constant struggle for the Gators since the departure of Tim Tebow; the defense, however, has been a whole different, more successful story.

Under the aggressive leadership of Todd Grantham, the Gators continued their defensive supremacy by flat-out terrorized opposing quarterbacks in 2018, racking up nearly three sacks per game. Whether the Gators can maintain that sack-pace is an important question heading into 2019.

Florida lost several important contributors from last year’s team, including sack leader Jachai Polite. Even with the loss of talented playmakers, Florida expect to replace that lost production with as talented, if not more talented, players.

Jon Greenard – a Louisville transfer who previous played under Grantham – expects to be the next Gator to rack up a double-digit sack total. Jeremiah Moon will add a potent one-two punch from the buck position.

Behind the leadership of the always-steady David Reese, the linebacker unit projects to be not only a run-stopping force, but with the speed added by Amari Burney, a good pass-defense unit.

And as always, expect the cornerbacks to dominate with C.J. Henderson and healthy-again Marco Wilson anchoring the sidelines.

The Gators do have two concerns, though.

First is the safeties. Even though safety might be the deepest position in the secondary, no one player has shown himself to be the eraser desired at the position. The Gators need two guys to show-out when the season begins.

Another concern is the lack of depth on defense. Florida’s first unit on defense is as talented as any in the country, but the unit a team takes into the first week is rarely the unit it takes into the final few weeks of the long SEC season. Depth in the secondary is razor-thin thanks to unexpected departures, and Florida will need to rely on unproven freshmen to take important snaps if the injury bug bites.

If they can stay healthy and if the offense can keep them in games, expect Florida’s defense to create plenty of havoc and be considered a top unit in the SEC and the country.