Jason Marshall 'exuding confidence' among Florida's revamped secondary

There are a lot of areas that Florida football can improve after going 5-7 in 2023, but one of the biggest ones is fixing the secondary. And if senior cornerback Jason Marshall is any indication, that might be just what is happening.

GatorsOnline reporter Zach Abolverdi joined the Andy Staples On3 show to discuss fall camp and immediately pointed out that Marshall is a whole new person this fall.

“I think with Jason, look, I’ve covered that guy since he was a recruit, I remember him coming in as a freshman, he’s done media availability every year at Florida, he’s been a regular,” Abolverdi said. “It’s not like he doesn’t like doing media, it’s just something was different about him the past week when he took the podium. The guy was just exuding confidence. He was telling great stories on the mic, like he was smiling. He was different and you could just tell that something was different about him.”

Jason Marshall was projected by many as a potential first-round pick after both his freshman and sophomore seasons. His junior year ended that kind of talk and led to Marshall returning for a senior season.

So if Marshall wasn’t quite himself after all that, it’s to be understood.

“He said during his presser that he’s got his confidence back, and that he lost it last year,” Abolverdi said. “He couldn’t really pinpoint when, but he was like, ‘It’s obvious, you could see it on tape.’

“I think early on in the year he had some things not go his way and some plays he gave up. I still remember the one against Utah, the first play of the game and the guy got tripped. It was just like bad luck that he was tripped and then can’t make a touchdown-saving tackle, and then he had three or four more plays like that.”

But the good news for Florida fans is that Jason Marshall’s feeling a renewed sense of confidence. And there’s a bonus reason why.

Asa Turner adds some secondary insurance

One problem for Jason Marshall in 2023? The rest of the secondary wasn’t very good.

“I think one thing that he had to worry about, which I didn’t really consider until I’d seen the guys that they brought in at safety, is he knew last year if he gave up a busted coverage or let a guy get behind him it could go for six, because Florida had two true freshman safeties back there starting, and that was just where they were at as a secondary,” Abolverdi said.

“Now one of those guys, Jordan Castell is back as a sophomore. Much more experienced. He earned ESPN All-American honors last year, led the team in tackles.”

There’s another addition, though, one that might be even more meaningful. Washington veteran Asa Turner transferred in this offseason.

“Now you’ve got Asa Turner that is probably going to start next to him from Washington,” Abolverdi explained. “Florida’s so lucky they have this guy on the roster. He should be out of eligibility, but only played in four regular-season games, didn’t play toward the whole back half of the regular season and then played in conference title game and in both College Football Playoff games for Washington. Those three didn’t count against his eligibility, so he was able to go redshirt last year, have a redshirt year, transfer to Florida and now he’s starting as a sixth-year senior.

“And he is making a huge difference. I mean his tackle grade last year at Washington was 72, I think, something in that range, which is way higher than every other Florida safety not named Jordan Castell.”

Put it all together and Jason Marshall and Florida might just be a little better in the secondary this fall.