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Minutes ago, Will Muschamp released Florida's two-deep depth chart for the Gators' 2013 season opener on Saturday against Toledo through GatorZone. And it doesn't have many surprises in store for the plugged-in Florida fan.
Offensive Depth Chart
Position | First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
---|---|---|---|
Quarterback | Jeff Driskel | Tyler Murphy | |
Running back | Mack Brown | Mark Herndon | Valdez Showers |
Fullback | Hunter Joyer | Gideon Ajagbe | |
X receiver | Quinton Dunbar | Demarcus Robinson | |
Z receiver | Solomon Patton | Ahmad Fulwood | Chris Thompson |
Tight end | Clay Burton | Tevin Westbrook | Colin Thompson |
F receiver | Trey Burton | Latroy Pittman | Mike McNeely |
Left tackle | D.J. Humphries | Max Garcia | |
Left guard | Max Garcia | Trip Thurman | |
Center | Jonotthan Harrison | Kyle Koehne | |
Right guard | Kyle Koehne | Ian Silberman | |
Right tackle | Tyler Moore | Trenton Brown |
Defensive Depth Chart
Position | First Team | Second Team |
---|---|---|
End | Jonathan Bullard | Bryan Cox, Jr. |
Nose | Leon Orr | Damien Jacobs |
Tackle | Dominique Easley | Darious Cummings |
Buck | Dante Fowler, Jr. | Alex McCalister |
Sam | Ronald Powell | Daniel McMillian |
Mike | Michael Taylor | Darrin Kitchens |
Will | Neiron Ball | Darrin Kitchens |
RCB | Jaylen Watkins | OR Loucheiz Purifoy |
LCB | Marcus Roberson | Vernon Hargreaves III |
Safety | Marcus Maye | Keanu Neal |
Safety | Cody Riggs | Jabari Gorman |
Nickel | Brian Poole | Vernon Hargreaves III |
Dime | Marcus Maye | Cody Riggs |
Special Teams Depth Chart
Position | First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
---|---|---|---|
Kicker | Austin Hardin | Brad Phillips | |
Punter | Kyle Christy | Justin Vogel | |
Kick returner | Solomon Patton | Valdez Showers | |
Punt returner | Marcus Roberson | Trey Burton | Brian Poole |
Holder | Tyler Murphy | Kyle Crofoot | |
Long snapper | Drew Ferris | Kyle Crofoot |
The biggest shock is the absence of Chaz Green, Florida's right tackle for much of 2012, who Muschamp announced at his Monday press conference is out for the year with a torn labrum. Tyler Moore is listed as the first-teamer at right tackle after spending much of fall camp at right guard, which should be Jon Halapio's spot when he returns from injury, and Trenton Brown is listed as the second-teamer.
Beyond that, and the surprises that had played out in slow motion during fall camp — Mack Brown being elevated to the starter at running back by Matt Jones's illness, former walk-on Mark Herndon playing his way into the second spot on the running back chart, and converted defensive back Valdez Showers moving into the mix chief among them — there's just not a lot of intrigue here. (And Jones is likely to return for the Miami game.) Demarcus Robinson being a second-stringer at the X receiver position doesn't mean he won't get more targets than first-string Z receiver Solomon Patton, I don't think. Kent Taylor and Kelvin Taylor not being listed at all feels more like a motivational than anything else.
The defense is a lot more straightforward than Florida's still-in-flux offense, too. All the usual suspects are around, and though Dominique Easley's listed as a tackle, he'll be playing off gaps away from the center, not as a nose tackle. Mike Taylor gets to keep Antonio Morrison's seat warm at middle linebacker, and Neiron Ball has emerged as Florida's best weakside linebacker, which is a good thing, because his coverage skills may be the best of this linebacking corps at the moment.
Vernon Hargreaves III is the only non-early enrollee true freshman to dent the defensive depth chart, showing up as the backup to Marcus Roberson at RCB, which is likely to serve as Florida's boundary cornerback position, and nickel corner. He also gets twice as many slots as Loucheiz Purifoy, listed as a co-starter with Jaylen Watkins at the LCB spot I suspect will be Florida's field corner position, though I doubt highly that Purifoy won't be starting for and figuring heavily into Florida's secondary.
The special teams portion finds Austin Hardin on top of the heap at kicker for now, and Trey Burton in the mix at punt returner, which seems like a thing that I am destined to hate even if I can understand it as an attempt to stress ball security.
We'll have much more analysis of it on Tuesday, but for now, what do you think of Florida's depth chart? Are there any players in positions you didn't think they would be in, and any players you think are missing? Let's discuss it in the comments.
Andy Hutchins is Alligator Army's managing editor. Follow Alligator Army on Twitter and Facebook.