Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If the University of Florida's 2017 preseason defensive depth chart had to be printed today (and it doesn't, which means the following text is rooted greatly in speculation) there would be a bevy of "and's" and "or's." 
 
In other words, question marks. 
 
Such are the circumstances following Wednesday's news that fifth-year senior and starting safety Marcell Harris, who led UF in tackles last season with 73, suffered a torn right Achilles tendon on Wednesday during team run activities. Harris represented the Gators at SEC Media Days last week in Hoover, Ala., and was one of the sure things about a defensive unit looking to replace seven players selected in the NFL Draft. 
 
Harris stepped into the starting free safety spot last year when Marcus Maye suffered a broken arm and figured to be there when Florida opened its season Sept. 2 against Michigan in Arlington, Texas. Harris was at the forefront of two of the biggest plays of the 2016 season: the epic goal-line stand on the final play at LSU to clinch the Southeastern Conference East Division, plus another goal-line denial against Iowa in the Outback Bowl. 
 

So, now what? 
 

we got you big bruh !

— Shhhhh ! (@JSavvvy) July 20, 2017

The injury to Harris leaves a pair of seniors, strong safety Nick Washington (38 games) and cornerback Duke Dawson (37 games), as UF's most experienced players returning in the secondary. Sophomore Chauncey Gardner, Jr., the Most Valuable Player of the Outback Bowl after intercepting a pair of passes and returning one for a touchdown, is next and definitely in the frontline mix. 
 
Those three figure to be on the field with the first-team defense when practice starts next month, though the Florida coaching staff may take its time figuring where they'll line up. Gardner spent the entire spring working at the corner opposite Dawson, but his MVP performance in the bowl game came while playing safety after Washington missed the final three games with an ankle injury. Dawson, who played safety as a freshman in 2014, could be in conversations for the safety spot. 
 
After those three, a handful of Gator defensive backs will have to grow up quickly. 
 
Sophomore Jeawon Taylor appeared in 10 games last season, but almost all on special teams before his season ended with an injury against FSU that kept him out of spring practice. Senior Joseph Putu had a similar experience to Taylor, playing almost exclusively on special teams, but without the injury. Quincy Lenton spent his true freshman season redshirting, while classmate C.J. McWilliams suffered a knee injury last summer, spent the fall rehabbing and missed the spring. 
 
Unless Gardner or Dawson move to safety, that's a lot of inexperience on the back end. Then again, is that any better than inexperience in man coverage on the corner? Pick your poison.
 
 

UF had no defensive backs report as early enrollees in January, but four true freshmen are here and working out, led by promising Marco Wilson, the brother of standout Quincy Wilson, who was drafted in Round 2 by the Indianapolis Colts. He's joined in the fall rookie class by CJ Henderson, Shawn Davis and Donovan Stiner, with the latter signed as a true safety. 

There's also the matter of nickelback, which takes the depth issue even, well, deeper. For context, anyone remember who played nickel for the Gators in the bowl game last season? Answer: linebacker Daniel McMillian, who's gone, too.

So from that bunch, unfamiliar as they are to the Florida fan base, the Gators will have to find a secondary.  
 
And they will.