NFL Draft Tracker: Who is Staying, Who is Leaving Early?

NFL Draft Tracker: Who is Staying, Who is Leaving Early?

Friday, January 13, 2017 | Football

Florida has lost 11 starters from last season including five seniors, five underclassmen and one transfer.

By: Will Pantages

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – - Florida has lost 11 starters from last season not because it had a lot of seniors, but because the Gators had so many talented underclassmen. Five seniors, five underclassmen and one transfer make up for UF's 11 starters lost.

Five underclassmen declaring for the NFL Draft (Alex Anzalone, Caleb Brantley, David Sharpe, Teez Tabor, Quincy Wilson) is tied for the highest number in program history (2015, 2010, 2003).

The NFL Draft is scheduled April 27-29 in Philadelphia.

In addition, center Cam Dillard announced he will transfer to play his final year of eligibility elsewhere.

Despite losing these key 2016 contributors, Florida received good news on cornerback Duke Dawson, safety Marcell Harris and punter Johnny Townsend as all three will be returning for their senior seasons.

32639 — Duke Dawson is back for his senior season and will be one of Florida's leaders on defense.

In addition to these three, Florida's 2017 senior class includes starters WR Brandon Powell, TE DeAndre Goolsby, WR Dre Massey, DL Jordan Sherit, RB Mark Thompson, DB Nick Washington.

Offensive Outlook
Florida's offense returns all but one starter (Sharpe) and will look to use that continuity to its advantage in 2017. The Gators will have a three-way quarterback competition this offense between Luke Del Rio, Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask.

Del Rio started six contests a season ago but battled multiple injuries, which kept him out of the lineup.

The return of Massey, who missed all but one game during the 2016 season due to injury, will bolster a talented group of wide receivers that includes, Powell, Antonio Callaway, Tyrie Cleveland, Josh Hammond and Freddie Swain.

That quintet of receivers accounted for 135 catches, 1,701 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

33024 — Freddie Swain caught a pair of touchdown passes during the 2016 season.

Not to mention, the Gators return both its tight ends, Goolsby and C'yontai Lewis, who recorded a combined 56 receptions, 526 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

In the backfield, Florida returns its top three running backs from the 2016 season, Thompson, Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett. That group helped Florida rush for 225-plus yards against Kentucky, North Texas and Missouri, marking only the second time since 2010 that the Gators accomplished that feat.

Up front, UF returns 63 starts on its offensive line between Martez Ivey (20), Jawaan Taylor (12), Fred Johnson (10), Tyler Jordan (10), Antonio Riles (6), T.J. McCoy (4) and Kavaris Harkless (1).

Coach McElwain talked about his offensive line becoming more physical next season following Florida's 30-3 win over Iowa in the Outback Bowl. That process begins now, in the offseason.

Defensive Outlook
Florida's loses eight starters (Bryan Cox, Jr., Joey Ivie, Marcus Maye, Jarrad Davis, Anzalone, Brantley, Tabor, Wilson) off a defense that ranked fifth nationally and second in the SEC. However, the Gators did have a lot of young players get experience at the end of the 2016 season due to key injuries.

In the secondary, Florida will rely on the return of Duke Dawson, Marcell Harris and Nick Washington as well as the emergence of Chauncey Gardner to continue its DBU tradition. Florida will also look for Joseph Putu, Chris Williamson and Quincy Lenton to take a step forward and be contributors next fall.

35991 — Chauncey Gardner captured Outback Bowl MVP honors after recording a pair of intercpetions.

At linebacker, David Reese and Kylan Johnson recorded a combined 10 starts last season once Davis and Anzalone went down with injuries. Despite their lack of experience and limited reps early in the season, both of them played at a high level and ended the season as Florida's fourth (35) and sixth (20) leading tacklers.

In addition, look for Jeremiah Moon and Vosean Joseph to play huge roles at linebacker in 2017. Moon was hampered by injuries during his freshman season, while, Joseph was an excellent special teams player for the Gators and began to play more on defense as the injury big continued to bite the Gators.

In the Outback Bowl against Iowa, Joseph recorded his first-career start and totaled six tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one pass breakup in UF's blowout win.

On the Gators defensive line, Florida will lean on Sherit and veteran Cece Jefferson to anchor a unit that is key to Florida's entire defense.

The defensive lines job is to get after the quarterback and no one did that better in 2016 than Jabari Zuniga. The Marietta, Ga. native became first UF freshman to accrue five sacks since Huey Richardson in 1987.

Along with those three, look for Taven Bryan, Khairi Clark, Keivonnis Davis, Jachai Polite and Antonneous Clayton to play huge roles up front for the Gators in 2017.

35215 — Taven Bryan and Marcell Harris were credited with the stop on
Florida's goal-line stand at LSU on Nov. 19.

Special Teams Outlook
With the return on Townsend and Pinero, Florida will have perhaps the best kicking tandem in the country.

Townsend averaged 47.89 yards per punt last season, which is the highest average among all FBS punters and in the conference. In addition, his 47.89 average set the all-time in program record, passing Kyle Christy's mark of 45.8 yards per punt set in 2012.

Overall, Townsend placed 27 punts inside the 20 and had 29 boots over 50 yards.

Pineiro handled the kicking duties in 2016 after only playing seven games in his high school career. He made three
field goals over 50 yards and 11 over 40 yards. The last time a kicker made three 50-yarders in a season was Caleb Sturgis in 2012.

In addition to his work in the kicking game, Pineiro ranked first in kickoff average (64.79) and seventh in touchback
percentage (72.73%) nationally.