Billy Napier discusses improved depth through fall camp

As Billy Napier heads into his first season as the Florida head coach, one of his main focuses is on developing the roster. While the Gators are certainly not starved for talent, Napier knows they still have a gap to bridge to reach the top tier of the conference.

Just eight months and some change into his Florida tenure, Napier is pleased with the progress of his football team. From players with games under their belt to guys with no experience, Napier thinks a lot of the Gators have gotten better.

“But I do believe that we’ve made progress. I think we’ve got players that have proven over time that they are loyal. That we can — we see consistency from them. They are responsible, they are dependable,” Napier said on Wednesday. “We need more players that can play winning football. We have some that are in the middle of that process. But I do think that we’ve developed some players that maybe have not played a significant role for the Gators in the past.”

Napier rattled off a few names of younger, less experienced players moving up — Tyreak Sapp, Austin Barber and true freshman Shemar James — who he thinks are ready for game action in some capacity for Florida.

“A few off the top of my head would be Tyreak Sapp, Austin Barber, those are two in particular that stand out to me that I think are, they’re starters in my mind. They might not be a starter, they may or may not be a starter on game day, but they’re going to play,” Napier said. “There are other players that I think fit in to that. Some of the rookies that fit in that category. Shemar James is an exceptional player. There’s a number of young players that I think, their role will grow as we continue to compete. But we developed some of the players on our team that have minimal experience and I think they’re ready for the show.”

Looking ready for game action and doing well in game action are entirely different things, Napier acknowledged. But he added that sometimes going out and taking some early lumps is how a player learns best.

With the Gators hosting No. 7 Utah in primetime on Sept. 3 to start the season, there will be ample opportunity to find out who is fully up to the task.

“Now, how are they gonna prepare the week of the game or 10 days out from the game? We officially turn the page today,” Napier said on Aug. 24. “So, I think that development in football, sometimes you gotta go out there and learn. You think you understand what it’s going to be like out there, to play in a game setting — but I think that’s one of the exciting things to me about this team, is we got a lot of players that have minimal experience that I think are gonna grow as the season goes.”