Florida's defensive line exceeded expectations this spring, providing coach Jon Sumrall newfound confidence for the upcoming season.
Florida head coach Jon Sumrall is trying to turn around a program that went 4-8 last season.
Based on the number of Gators being looked at in the pre-draft process, that team had plenty of talent, but couldn't get that talent to win enough games in the SEC.
Sumrall has a pretty talented roster in Gainesville, and has better resources than he had at Tulane, when he made the College Football Playoff last season.
During his news conference on Thursday, Sumrall talked about units that he feels better about after 13 practices of spring football. He noted that the defensive line is better than he expected.
Sumrall was worried that the defensive line wouldn't be able to hold up in the SEC. He thinks that’s possible now.
"Yeah, I'd say the D line is one that I didn't know if I felt like we were good enough to play winning football in the league," Sumrall said, via USA Today. "I think we can. How's that look?
"We still have to figure out the rotations and the patterns and the subpackages and those groupings. But that's one that I feel better about. The receiving group, I think, one through five, I probably feel pretty good... but yeah, the d line would probably be the one that I've developed the most confidence in for the last month."
The trenches are going to be important for the Gators to develop in training camp. Coming into spring football, the best units on the team were at running back and wide receiver.
To win in the SEC, Florida needs its offensive line and defensive line capable of winning the line of scrimmage.
Sumrall thinks the defensive line looks a little ahead of the offensive line at this point.
"I think the depth of our D line is showing at times," Sumrall said.
"I think the first, you know, if you call it grouping a half of the O line, is kind of where we're trying to figure out who's in the right seats and who's where and what's the right mixture of players to put our best foot forward."
Florida will need its offensive line to come together before the start of SEC play. While the running backs are a strength of the team, they'll struggle to generate much of anything if the Gators can't run block.
Not to forget, whoever wins the quarterback battle will need to be protected.