It’s talking season, and expectations for Florida football entering the 2024 aren’t high.
USA Today picked the Florida Gators to finish 12th out of 16 teams in the SEC in its preseason poll this week.
Even though Florida returns 14 starters, the prevailing thought is the Gators still don’t have the talent and depth to hang with the elite teams in the conference. Florida has gone 11-14 in their first two seasons under head coach Billy Napier, including 6-10 in league. There’s also a daunting schedule for UF to face, ranked the most difficult in the country per ESPN Football Power Index.
“Florida knows what Florida has,” Florida starting quarterback Graham Mertz said in an SEC Network interview. “I think that in that locker room, in that building, we all trust each other, we all love each other. We know what we’ve got.”
Not everyone thinks the Gators will struggle. Here’s what some SEC Network analysts think about UF’s chances heading into the 2024 season:
Greg McElroy on Florida football
McElroy referred to Florida as “the most disrespected program in the SEC” this season.
“It’s still Florida,” McElroy said. “It’s still one of the richest states in terms of high school football talent, and Florida is still getting top 10 to 12 classes. They went young the last few years, and now they are getting older …
“It’s a difficult schedule. Vegas has them at 4.5 wins. I think they will be closer to 7 wins than they will be to four.”
Jordan Rodgers on Florida football
Rodgers is bullish on the return of Mertz as starting quarterback for a second straight season, He also noted that Florida was a missed field goal against Arkansas and a 4th-and-17 failed stop against Missouri away from being a 7-5 team last season.
“That tells you that they are close,” Rodgers said. “On the outside there is a perception that they are a bad team because…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/sec-football-network-analysts-think-080646698.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-07-18 08:06:46
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