Orange & Blue Draft

Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators

• Initial Impression: Transfers
• Initial Impression: Freshmen
• Take Five: Spring Preview
• Projected Starting Lineup: Pre-Spring
• Pre-Spring Ranking of Florida position-by-position
• Grading the Gators: New Additions
• Tulane player goes in-depth on Sumrall

Before the real Orange & Blue kicks off on Saturday in the Swamp, Cam Parker of Gators Illustrated joined Mark Wheeler of Inside the Gators to draft our own squads.

We were drafting to fill out a 22-man starting roster, and the player had to have played the position in a game or at one of the spring practices. So, for example, if one of us picked Aaron Philo to be the quarterback, that means the other one of us was under no pressure to take our quarterback until the end of the draft, because you can only have one quarterback per team. Someone like Bryce Lovett or TJ Shanahan Jr. has played several spots in the line, so they can be kicked at those spots, but you can’t ‘project’ someone to a position they haven’t played (such as Jason Zandamela to right tackle).

THE DRAFT

THE TEAMS

OFFENSE

DEFENSE

MAKING THE CASE FOR TEAM ORANGE

I decided, because of the question marks at offensive line and what we’ve heard at press conferences and from the scrimmages about the defensive line, to prioritize that first with Jayden Woods, arguably the top player on the team besides Jadan Baugh, and Brendan Bett, who has garnered praise for being a spark for energy on defense. Emmanuel Oyebadejo was also hard to pass up despite other options available because of his size and his ceiling, and DK Kalu has been a pleasant surprise with Gerald Chatman highlighting his play in camp on multiple occasions.

I will give Mark credit for his receivers, and ceeding him Vernell Brown III, Eric Singleton Jr., and Micah Mays may not be my wisest decision, but I think I balanced that well with Ben Hanks III, who has arguably been Florida’s top corner in camp, and veteran players in corner Dijon Johnson and safeties Bryce Thornton and Cam Dooley.

Because I have Jadan Baugh and because of my lack of established deep-threat receivers, I decided to prioritize speed, yards after catch, and the rushing game. Bailey Stockton and Davian Groce give Florida versatile options, while Aaron Philo reportedly had a strong rushing performance in the second scrimmage. It also helps that established veteran Knijeah Harris, system-familiar center Harrison Moore, and guard TJ Shanahan Jr., who has also been praised for his aggressiveness, are leading my interior line. – Cam Parker

MAKING THE CASE FOR TEAM BLUE

First off, I’ll give Cam credit for building one of the stronger rosters over the 6-8 times I’ve held this draft. There were at least three occasions where he picked the player I intended to take with my next pick.

Good job!

These two teams were being picked to play one game, and then disbanded. So, we are living in the here and now – and not overly concerned with upside or down the road potential.

This is a what have you done for me lately type of draft.

That is why I looked for positional value.

For example, I took Kanye Clark in the seventh round. Is Clark one of the 14 best players on the squad? Maybe not. But he is the only Star that Jon Sumrall has praised several times. The dropoff from him to the other two makes him more valuable and definitely sets him apart from the other two Stars.

The same for wide receivers. Just this week, the coaches have talked about four or five being ready to play. I think I got the top three.

Orange squad’s Ben Hanks III may have had the best spring of the cornerbacks, but he is but one player. That means we are going to see Bryce Thornton and/or Dylan Purter matched up against one of my top three. I like my chances there.

In what probably looks like the biggest shock, since Orange took Aaron Philo, I could wait around and select my quarterback last. My options were Tramell Jones Jr. and Will Griffin. Jones Jr. has a year of experience on Griffin, but they both have had the same amount of time in this offense. Plus, I like Griffin more as a runner to move around or take off to avoid Woods. – Mark Wheeler

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