2/14/2016 football Edit

10 things to love about Florida's 2016 roster

Cornerback Jalen Tabor (31) celebrates with linebacker Jarrad Davis (40)

Landon Watnick

Senior Writer

It's Valentine's Day, and love is in the air.

So today, Inside the Gators helps spread some of those positive vibes by taking a look at 10 aspects of Florida's current 2016 roster that fans should adore before the team begins spring practices in a few weeks.

1. More options at quarterback: Regardless of whether Treon Harris' pending move to wide receiver is finalized, Florida has a lot more quarterbacks to choose from on its roster than it did midseason in 2015 after Will Grier saw his season end at the hands of a PEDs suspension. Luke Del Rio, an Oregon State transfer, is finally eligible, and he'll be expected to compete with Purdue transfer quarterback Austin Appleby for the starting job. This past recruiting cycle, the Gators also added early enrollees Feleipe Franks (who many expect to be the future at QB down the road for Florida) and Kyle Trask. All four of those options are ultimately better nature fits for Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier's pro-style system than Harris ever was, so be happy about that. There really aren't very many FBS quarterbacks who struggled as badly as Harris did down the stretch last season, so it won't take much for overall improvement at this position in 2016.

2. Antonio Callaway: How much more can we write about Callaway that hasn't been written already? The dynamic wideout became a household name as a true freshman in 2015, finishing the year with a team-best 678 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 35 catches to go along with two punt return touchdowns. No play this year perhaps was bigger than Callaway's late 63-yard touchdown catch on 4th and 14 to beat Tennessee in The Swamp - a moment that will go down forever in the UF history books. After such a strong debut campaign for Callaway, the future only looks bright for the Miami native.

3. More experienced offensive line: Entering last season, Florida wasn't all too deep or experienced along the O-line. In fact, the group combined for 10 career starts entering 2015, which all came from Trip Thurman. Now, that's no longer the case. David Sharpe, Cameron Dillard and Antonio Riles all gained valuable experience this past season, while Martez Ivey, Tyler Jordan and Fred Johnson each benefitted from being thrown into the fire as true freshmen. With another offseason, this group (and the other true or redshirt freshmen who could contribute in 2016) will have more time to improve and physically mature.

4. New infusion of talent at wide receiver: Although Demarcus Robinson was on the roster last season, he proved too inconsistent and unreliable on a game-to-game basis for Florida. Overall, Callaway didn't get much help last season. But this past recruiting cycle Florida added a load of young and promising talent at wideout - five four-star 2016 signees, in fact: Tyrie Cleveland, Josh Hammond, Dre Massey, Freddie Swain and Rick Wells. Hammond, Massey and Swain are all early enrollees and should benefit greatly from spring practices. There are certainly more weapons for UF to choose from now, and who knows - maybe some of its veterans who have underachieved on offense up to this point in their careers (Ahmad Fulwood, Alvin Bailey, Chris Thompson, C.J. Worton, etc.) could step up in 2016.

5. A new kicker is in town, plus punter Johnny Townsend is back: Florida fans were on the verge of destroying their television sets during a 2015 campaign where Austin Hardin converted on only five of his 14 field goal attempts. His 35.7% accuracy was dead last of kickers in the FBS. It got so bad, that the day after the SEC Championship Game against Alabama, McElwain spent his Sunday eating Cuban sandwiches with top JUCO kicker Eddy Pineiro. Gators fans have to be high on Pineiro's prospects at Florida, especially after seeing field goal tries from him on social media like this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. Oh, and Townsend (known in these parts as "Puntman") returns after a dynamic redshirt sophomore season where he averaged 45.4 yards per punt with 30 landing inside the 20, 26 fair caught and 29 going for 50-plus yards.

6. Jalen Tabor: Vernon Hargreaves turned pro, but the argument could be made that Tabor overall had a better 2015 campaign. The 6-foot, 191-pound cornerback was one of the most dynamic playmakers on either side of the ball, racking up four interceptions, 14 pass breakups, a sack and four TFL. Although there's a very good chance that this could be Tabor's final season at Florida given his promising NFL Draft stock for 2017, he and Quincy Wilson should make for a strong duo at cornerback this upcoming season.

7. Key returning players on defense in Jarrad Davis, Marcus Maye and Caleb Brantley: During the month after the SEC title game, Florida received plenty of good news when the trio announced separately that they plan to return to school next season. All three now should be expected to serve as leaders for their respective units coming off of strong seasons. Brantley was disruptive along the interior of the defensive line, finishing with 6.5 TFL and three sacks. Following a sophomore slump in 2014, Davis filled up the stat sheet as a junior linebacker with 98 tackles, 11 TFL, 3.5 sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, seven quarterback hurries and four pass breakups. Maye was also an integral contributor at safety, notching 82 tackles, 1.5 TFL, two interceptions, six pass breakups and an SEC-leading five forced fumbles.

8. A still very deep defensive line: Florida lost Jonathan Bullard to graduation and Alex McCalister to the draft, but still returns plenty of talent along the defensive line in 2016. A starting defensive front consisting of Brantley, Joey Ivie, Bryan Cox Jr. and CeCe Jefferson, with Jordan Sherit, Taven Bryan, Khairi Clark, Keivonnis Davis, Jabari Zuniga, and others playing key roles projects to be one of the Gators' greatest strengths next year. UF also adds three freshmen to the position, including five-star rush end Antonneous Clayton, who should see a role as a true freshman.

9. Depth at running back: The Gators saw their first 1,000-yard rusher since Mike Gillislee in 2012 - and only their second since Ciatrick Fason in 2004 - leave school to turn pro in Kelvin Taylor. However, UF addressed the position well this recruiting cycle, adding top JUCO tailback Mark Thompson, who enrolled early, and four-star signee Lamical Perine. Both backups from last year, Jordan Cronkrite and Jordan Scarlett, each now have a year of experience under their belts and should be expected to contribute as well.

10. The promising tight end duo of DeAndre Goolsby and C'yontai Lewis: Jake McGee is gone, and certainly that's a blow to Florida's offense. Still, at tight end, UF has two very intriguing talents in third-year players Goolsby and Lewis. Goolsby proved quite effective this past season as a pass-catcher - especially running the wheel route - finishing with 277 yards and a touchdown on 17 catches. Lewis' 2016 season was mostly derailed by a hand injury that kept him sidelined for a good chunk of time, but before that injury he was impressing many with his athleticism during fall camp. If both can continue to improve as blockers, Florida will have a dangerous duo with those two.

----

REDSHIRT REPORTS:

Jabari Zuniga

Luke Ancrum

2016 PARTING THOUGHTS:

Josh Grady Parting Thoughts: I | II | III

Anthony Harrell Parting Thoughts: I | II

• 10 top out-of-state targets for the 2017 recruiting cycle

• Class of 2016 Great Eight Signees

• Signing Class Positional Grades - Offense

• Signing Class Positional Grades - Defense

• Impact Analysis: What Treon Harris moving to wide receiver would mean