PH DPD: Meet Your 2015 Florida Gators

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Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	AWR	THP	THA
QB	Ben Lewis	Florida	Sr	85	61	71	91	90
QB	Nick Jude	Florida	FrRS	77	66	70	88	79
QB	CJ Bozeman	Florida	SoRS	77	68	70	82	83

After transferring in as a JUCO, QB Ben Lewis won the starting job in 2014 and improved upon the success of previous QB Joey Jones as Lewis threw for 3969 yards with 32 TDs completing 62% of his passes but threw 21 Ints. After attending the Manning Passing Academy in the offseason, he has improved dramatically and should be a top-tier QB in 2015. Waiting in the wings is Redshirt Freshman Nick Jude who will watch and learn for another season before likely taking over in 2016.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	STA	INJ	BTK	TRK	ELU	STF	SPM	JKM	CAR	BCV	PBK	RBK
HB	Michael Swan	Florida	JrRS	75	87	56	94	90	85	82	70	76	86	82	87	88	67	83	43	50
HB	Joel Wilson	Florida	JrRS	75	89	60	71	79	81	85	83	69	72	77	77	73	71	75	43	43
HB	Stephen Stewart	Florida	SoRS	74	88	60	79	84	81	86	70	77	80	79	78	78	72	84	42	42
HB	Dwight Butler	Florida	So	71	93	55	85	84	81	69	64	74	88	78	80	80	69	77	54	54

HB Randall Williams graduated after the 2014 season and while the coaches thought they had signed his successor, a 25th hour sway saw him signing to Texas instead. In his place, HB Michael Swan will get the starting job after redshirting in 2014. Swan isn't exciting but he is very solid, particularly his first step and ability to change directions quickly. Look for Swan to be used as a back to move the chains, particularly in the passing game.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	BTK	TRK	ELU	STF	SPM	JKM	CAR	BCV	PBK	RBK	CTH
FB	Will Gunn	Florida	SrRS	78	85	70	79	84	77	79	77	72	71	70	82	72	73	71	71

With the departure of HB Williams, FB Will Gunn will likely see a larger role as a running back, particularly in short yardage situations and also as a blocking back in passing situations.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	JMP	CTH	SPC	CIT	RTE	REL
WRX	Donald Boone	Florida	FrRS	73	85	46	73	80	87	72	80	80	85	79
WRX	John Jefferson	Florida	JrRS	73	88	43	83	88	75	70	60	68	77	77
WRX	Nate Stallings	Florida	Fr	66	87	49	70	73	84	73	67	75	70	68
WRY	Travis Clifford	Florida	Jr	76	92	43	83	86	75	78	60	66	79	66
WRY	Tyler Pittman	Florida	Sr	72	95	50	80	86	83	65	73	62	75	71
WRY	Dustin Burch	Florida	Fr	70	94	49	72	84	78	57	69	77	89	76
WRZ	Mark Chambers	Florida	Sr	77	84	48	75	77	87	87	72	82	77	71
WRZ	Trent Holmes	Florida	JrRS	74	91	44	80	85	82	69	64	67	83	66
WRZ	Calvin Butler	Florida	So	73	90	45	81	88	76	73	54	62	71	65

After back-to-back 1000+ yard receiving years, WR Travis Anderson graduated and left a big hole in the Gator's receiving core. Taking his place as the primary receiver will be Mark Chambers who tallied 58 catches for 678 yards and 4 TDs. Alongside Chambers will be redshirt Freshman Donald Boone. Boone worked on his receiving in the offseason and looks to make a splash. At the slot receiver will be a combination of Travis Clifford (38 for 631) and Tyler Pittman (46 for 672). Clifford offers good hands and nice speed but Pittman offers an extra burst needed for sweeps and screens.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	JMP	BTK	TRK	ELU	STF	PBK	RBK	CTH	SPC	CIT	RTE
TE	Avery Smiley	Florida	So	69	71	75	63	86	64	66	79	60	80	66	69	79	72	84	51
TE	T.J. Bush	Florida	So	72	75	73	62	76	63	79	82	68	71	75	67	64	64	80	75
TE	Josh Johnson	Florida	SrRS	55	68	52	57	70	63	58	65	55	61	54	59	84	55	68	68

After a great Freshman year for Smiley catching 60 passes for 642 yards and 11 TDs, he returns to again claim the starting role in the Gator's offense. With the second best hands on the team, expect Smiley to catch a lot of passes over the middle and in short yardage situations again this season.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	AWR	PBK	RBK
LT	Brandon Marquardt	Florida	So	74	60	82	64	82	71	83	75
LT	Joe Jones	Florida	Fr	67	57	79	64	84	46	79	73
LG	Cory Phillips	Florida	So	71	55	86	60	92	54	72	82
C	Cedric Myers	Florida	Fr	70	59	81	58	83	46	76	75
C	Kirk Ford	Florida	Jr	73	64	76	65	80	49	80	79
RG	John Archer	Florida	So	72	58	85	60	87	58	72	84
RG	Matt Johnson	Florida	So	71	68	80	57	83	45	78	80
RT	Anthony Mills	Florida	So	77	64	87	62	91	65	77	85

With a rebuilt offensive line in 2014, the 2015 line looks mostly the same. At LT is Marquardt who has good pass blocking skills to protect the blindside. At LG is Phillips who can create a good push up the middle and help Marquardt in run blocking on the left side. In the middle at Center is Freshman Cedric Myers who takes over for Matt Johnson. At the RG is John Archer who like Phillips, can create a good push in the run game up the middle. Outside at RT is the best overall lineman in Anthony Mills. Behind the starters is very shallow but reliable depth if it's needed with Matt Johnson being the first man off the bench and the ability to play at any position on the line.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	TKL	HPW	PUR	PRC	PMV	FMV	BSH
LE	Nick Martin	Florida	Sr	76	72	71	70	87	81	76	88	88	74
LE	Phillip Brewer	Florida	JrRS	73	63	71	79	80	81	72	84	71	81
LE	Shelton Howard	Florida	Fr	68	71	77	67	79	80	63	72	79	72
RE	Eric Kerr	Florida	So	76	69	81	78	75	75	79	78	77	79
RE	Maurice Harvey	Florida	Jr	76	72	72	71	87	79	74	78	80	80
RE	Terry Bullock	Florida	Jr	73	73	74	75	84	71	75	75	65	81

At Defensive End, Nick Martin and Eric Kerr will start and compliment each other very nicely. While Martin doesn't have the same strength as Kerr, he does have exceptional ability to get off a block and get after the ball carrier. Whereas Kerr is a brawler on the outside holding blocks allowing the Linebackers behind him to make a play. Backing them up is a lot of inexperienced players with Brewer the first man off the bench behind Martin and Howard backing up Kerr.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	TKL	HPW	PUR	PRC	PMV	FMV	BSH
DT	Scott Dixon	Florida	So	80	54	86	77	82	79	80	83	80	83
DT	Mike Ford	Florida	Jr	71	52	79	70	74	72	76	81	76	80
DT	Rodney Smith	Florida	Jr	53	46	76	70	67	44	49	60	45	71
DT	Brendan Owen	Florida	Fr	80	60	83	81	77	79	78	85	77	81

Sophomore Scott Dixon returns as the man in the middle after recording 19 tackles, 12 for loss including 7 sacks in 2014. With great strength and good ability to get off blocks, he can get into the backfield to cause chaos, just don't expect him to run down any ball carriers from behind. Freshman Brendan Owen had high expectations in 2015 but due to academic ineligibility, he'll have to sit his first year on the team and redshirt. Due to that and the inexperience behind Dixon, the Gators will likely run with a 3-4 base defense and rely on their Linebackers to make more plays.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	TKL	HPW	PUR	PRC	PMV	FMV	BSH	MCV	ZCV
LOLB	David Douglas	Florida	Fr	69	88	76	72	86	73	70	67	68	67	62	73	67	64
LOLB	Obadiah Moody	Florida	Jr	69	80	69	64	85	75	77	77	74	62	58	71	70	72
MLB	Demetrius Stewart	Florida	Sr	88	85	86	65	76	87	84	80	88	81	80	83	77	77
MLB	Jason Mitchell	Florida	So	82	83	80	61	87	87	82	78	85	64	62	79	72	72
MLB	Travis Woodard	Florida	Fr	70	77	81	62	70	78	74	72	74	76	76	66	66	67
ROLB	Scott Robinson	Florida	SrRS	84	80	77	77	99	77	99	92	85	77	81	80	79	73
ROLB	Trey Martinez	Florida	So	72	77	74	74	94	77	75	69	76	65	75	68	71	74
ROLB	Damon Baker	Florida	Fr	67	86	80	62	95	72	60	61	76	55	59	61	62	64

At the Linebacker position, the Gators have a good mix of experience and leadership combined with youth and raw talent. Leading the way at Middle Linebacker will be Demetrius Stewart who recorded 61 tackles, 17 behind the line of scrimmage including 3 sacks. Alongside him in the middle will be Sophomore Jason Mitchell who possesses similar, yet under-developed traits as Stewart. On the outside, Scott Robinson is another stud ready to make plays after recording 50 tackles with 13 behind the line of scrimmage. He has a knack for recognizing the play early, chasing down the ball carrier, and then punishing him with a tackle. Opposite Robinson is still to be determined as the Gators have some young talent that they want to experiment with. David Douglas comes in as a speedster with good strength and Travis Woodard is his near polar opposite with slower speed but a good ability to get off blocks when rushing the backfield. Look for both to spend some time at the LOLB position early in the season.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	AGI	ACC	JMP	TKL	HPW	PUR	PRC	MCV	ZCV	PRS
CB	Jonathan White	Florida	Sr	80	89	81	88	88	62	75	81	80	92	89	87
CB	Casey Jenkins	Florida	So	78	93	92	86	85	66	67	79	83	88	85	69
CB	Brian Jones	Florida	Jr	78	92	85	86	84	70	72	79	71	87	85	77
CB	Bernard Johnson	Florida	JrRS	76	87	86	93	85	59	62	80	70	90	86	77
CB	Charles Moore	Florida	Fr	67	91	90	87	84	60	61	67	70	75	72	77
CB	Greg Nixon	Florida	Fr	66	84	88	86	84	61	60	63	63	80	75	76

At the Cornerback position returns both starters from a season ago. Jonathan White is the proven veteran with very good coverage abilities as well as the ability to jam the WR at the line. Opposite him is the speedster Casey Jenkins who also is very reliable in coverage but can get blown off the line when trying to jam. Behind those two are also very reliable corners, however coaches are contemplating redshirting Brian Jones to give him another season under his belt so he can take over for White after this season. If that comes to be, look for FS Jermaine Grant or John Bell to play the Dime position.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	JMP	TKL	HPW	PUR	PRC	MCV	ZCV
FS	Jermaine Grant	Florida	Fr	76	93	50	90	90	88	64	62	73	72	79	80
FS	John Bell	Florida	Sr	76	94	45	87	88	81	59	65	75	76	72	81
FS	Fred Meyers	Florida	SoRS	73	78	77	68	81	86	63	87	92	71	69	75

Free Safety is one of the very few positions this season where an incoming player will replace the incumbent. FS Jermaine Grant joins the team with great abilities that the coaches can't ignore. With great speed, agility, acceleration and jumping abilities, plus good coverage, Grant will start instead of John Bell. However, after recording 53 Tackles and 2 Ints in 2014, expect that Bell will see lots of time especially when the Gators go to a Dime look and Grant moves up closer to the line.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	SPD	STR	AGI	ACC	JMP	TKL	HPW	PUR	PRC	PMV	FMV	BSH	MCV	ZCV	PRS
SS	Tye Gray	Florida	Jr	84	93	67	90	95	91	80	70	79	75	56	64	74	72	83	84
SS	Oliver Willis	Florida	Sr	80	96	70	72	90	70	94	87	81	60	51	60	77	67	65	90
SS	Justin Carter	Florida	So	73	90	70	89	91	74	76	71	74	62	56	58	65	68	71	80

After leading the team in tackles in 2014 with 68, Gray is will return as the SS starter and leader in the secondary. Behind him is Willis who will still see plenty of playing time in 4-2-5/3-3-5 looks as well as in Nickel, particularly against a good receiving Tight End. Both posses great speed and pursuit abilities but Willis shines with his ability to wrap up and punish the ball carrier. Behind them is newcomer Justin Carter who has very good abilities himself, but looks to redshirt a year to develop before taking over for Willis in 2016.

Pos	Name	TeamName	Year	OVR	AWR	KPW	KAC
K	Marcus Fields	Florida	Sr	94	71	91	99
P	Richard Hooper	Florida	Jr	70	54	77	64

Kicker Marcus Fields returns as the starter in 2015 and is better than ever. After missing two kicks in 2014, mostly due to poor coaching, Fields attended as many kicking camps as he could to improve his accuracy. He comes in as the most accurate kicker in the country with a very good leg to boot... look for a much better Senior season in 2015.
At the Punter returns Richard Hooper who isn't asked to do too much and manages to at least accomplish that.