Florida Football held its eighth practice of fall camp Friday afternoon at Sanders Practice Fields.
Altogether, the Florida alligators will hold 17 practices over a 22-day period to prepare for the 2024 season, which begins Aug. 31 at The Swamp against Miami.
UF will hold its first intrasquad scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday at The Swamp, which is closed to the general public.
Florida football coach Billy Napier said performance in both fall scrimmages will factor into decisions made on the depth chart.
“The friendly match is an opportunity to get on the field and really play straight,” Napier said. “It challenges the situational awareness, the football intelligence of the player, I mean, we’re playing the downs as they unfold, right, so I think that part, the actual interaction with the team, with your teammates, without coaches on the field, and then you have to play the game as it unfolds.
“You have the opportunity to gain some experience. Typically, experience sometimes helps itself, but yes, it’s a really great opportunity for every part of the organization, video equipment for the headset team, offense, defense, special teams , every part of our team will have a little simulation in a game.”
Here are three observations from the open portion of Friday’s practice:
S Jordan Castell continues leader of Florida football secondary
Napier said sophomore free safety Jordan Castell picked up where he left off last season, when he started 11 games as a true freshman last year and led the Gators in tackles (60).
“Jordan made a big play (Tuesday) night,” Napier said. “He’s in the post, we throw an inside fade to the slot, he comes out of the post, puts both feet on the sideline and makes the catch.
“He’s playing faster. He has better system coverage, he’s communicating better. You see him yelling and I think he would probably say the veteran safeties we added to the team have made him a better player.”
Castell also had an interception and three pass breakups last season and Florida is counting on him to make more big plays in the secondary in 2024.
Florida football QBs go through passing drills with RBs
Florida’s quarterbacks went through passing drills with running backs on Friday with the goal of getting them more involved in the passing game.
Sophomore running back Treyaun Webb and freshman running back KD Daniels both made great catches on wheel routes. Starting running back Montrell Johnson Jr. (knee) remains sidelined and was not on the field on Friday.
Florida football offensive line starting to take shape
Florida football’s offensive lineman continued to practice Friday, with Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson and Dameion George Jr. working together on the right side at tackle and guard, with Knijeah Harris and Austin Barber working on the left side. They project as starters to open the season with Jake Slaughter at center, although former Under Armor All-American Rod Kearney has also worked at right guard. Kearney is also working at center behind Slaughter.
“We’re all pushing each other,” Barber said. “I mean, it’s competitive out there and I love it. It’s great to have guys who try and work hard.”
This article originally appeared in The Gainesville Sun: Three takeaways from Florida football’s fall practice on Friday
