Defensive Line = A- Very good overall. The pass rush has been noticeably better than it was last year and UF has been able to get pressure without blitzing. The DL has dominated the line of scrimmage in every game but the Tennessee and LSU games.
Linebackers = B+ Despite the injury to Alex Anzalone, this unit has performed fairly well overall thanks to Morrison recovering faster than anybody expected from his knee injury and thanks to Jared Davis stepping up his play bigtime. Depth is a concern but as of now what everybody thought would be the weakest link on the Defense has performed fairly well. Sloppy tackling in the Tennessee game and a lack of penetration and solo tackling in the LSU game as well as shaky pass coverage in the East Carolina game are the things bringing down the grade.
Secondary = A- Very good overall yet somewhat disappointing based on preseason expectations. This unit is utterly loaded with future NFLers and has clearly been a strength overall. The negatives are the first half performance against LSU, shaky coverage vs East Carolina in the 2nd half and getting burned on a couple trick plays vs Tennessee.
Defense overall = A-. The LSU and Tennessee game performances were less than stellar. The performances vs Kentucky and Missouri and Ole Miss were outstanding.
Special Teams overall = C Johnny Townshend’s punting has been outstanding. The Punt Return unit has been very good. Kickoff return has been disappointingly average. Kicking has been atrocious.
Offensive Line = D The unit is clearly getting better. The pass protection has become decent. Run blocking is nonexistent and UF can only run when it has the element of surprise…..ie this OL cannot overpower anybody in conference games. Considering everybody expected this unit to be an F- entering the season, a grade of “D” is a pleasant surprise.
Running backs = C Kelvin Taylor has stepped up his play and has performed as well as can be expected given the lack of blocking. The two Jordans have talent and have run hard but both struggle in pass protection and ball security which has severely limited their carries.
Quarterbacks = B+ Both Grier and Harris have done a great job limiting turnovers. Both have had issues going through their progressions before taking off and taking their checkdowns before either getting sacked or throwing the ball away but given the complete lack of a credible ground game, the performance of both has been good which is better than anybody expected at this point in their careers.
WR/TE = A- For the first time since 2008 UF actually has a receiver corps. Powell and Callaway have been huge pleasant surprises while Robinson and McGee have played up to the most optimistic projections. Goolsby has done a credible job in the 2nd TE role. There aren’t any receivers that are trusted by the coaching staff beyond the 3 listed – as evidenced by the fact that those 3 are the only ones who get significant playing time.
Offense overall = C Looking at the numbers and the overall performance, this Offense is just average. That represents a staggering improvement over anything UF has had since 2009 given the dumpster fire the Offense has been the last 5 years.
Coaching = A+ It is difficult to imagine any coaching staff anywhere doing more than this staff has done with what we had entering the season. Defense has held serve, the Offense has been surprisingly good and the team got through a dangerous trap game at Missouri, fought back after being down to Tennessee and put up a very tough fight against LSU despite losing the starting QB a few days before. The future looks very bright.
Linebackers = B+ Despite the injury to Alex Anzalone, this unit has performed fairly well overall thanks to Morrison recovering faster than anybody expected from his knee injury and thanks to Jared Davis stepping up his play bigtime. Depth is a concern but as of now what everybody thought would be the weakest link on the Defense has performed fairly well. Sloppy tackling in the Tennessee game and a lack of penetration and solo tackling in the LSU game as well as shaky pass coverage in the East Carolina game are the things bringing down the grade.
Secondary = A- Very good overall yet somewhat disappointing based on preseason expectations. This unit is utterly loaded with future NFLers and has clearly been a strength overall. The negatives are the first half performance against LSU, shaky coverage vs East Carolina in the 2nd half and getting burned on a couple trick plays vs Tennessee.
Defense overall = A-. The LSU and Tennessee game performances were less than stellar. The performances vs Kentucky and Missouri and Ole Miss were outstanding.
Special Teams overall = C Johnny Townshend’s punting has been outstanding. The Punt Return unit has been very good. Kickoff return has been disappointingly average. Kicking has been atrocious.
Offensive Line = D The unit is clearly getting better. The pass protection has become decent. Run blocking is nonexistent and UF can only run when it has the element of surprise…..ie this OL cannot overpower anybody in conference games. Considering everybody expected this unit to be an F- entering the season, a grade of “D” is a pleasant surprise.
Running backs = C Kelvin Taylor has stepped up his play and has performed as well as can be expected given the lack of blocking. The two Jordans have talent and have run hard but both struggle in pass protection and ball security which has severely limited their carries.
Quarterbacks = B+ Both Grier and Harris have done a great job limiting turnovers. Both have had issues going through their progressions before taking off and taking their checkdowns before either getting sacked or throwing the ball away but given the complete lack of a credible ground game, the performance of both has been good which is better than anybody expected at this point in their careers.
WR/TE = A- For the first time since 2008 UF actually has a receiver corps. Powell and Callaway have been huge pleasant surprises while Robinson and McGee have played up to the most optimistic projections. Goolsby has done a credible job in the 2nd TE role. There aren’t any receivers that are trusted by the coaching staff beyond the 3 listed – as evidenced by the fact that those 3 are the only ones who get significant playing time.
Offense overall = C Looking at the numbers and the overall performance, this Offense is just average. That represents a staggering improvement over anything UF has had since 2009 given the dumpster fire the Offense has been the last 5 years.
Coaching = A+ It is difficult to imagine any coaching staff anywhere doing more than this staff has done with what we had entering the season. Defense has held serve, the Offense has been surprisingly good and the team got through a dangerous trap game at Missouri, fought back after being down to Tennessee and put up a very tough fight against LSU despite losing the starting QB a few days before. The future looks very bright.
