Greg McElroy high on Gators but says schedule is a major hurdle
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy released his preseason Top 25 last week and he has Billy Napier’s Florida Gators at No. 16. On his Always College Football show, the former Alabama QB spoke at length about UF.
What does McElroy like best about the 2025 Gators?
Well, his primary praise went to the offensive and defensive lines.
“The thing that makes them special this year is potentially the scrimmage play,” McElroy said. “Their line of scrimmage play.”
The Florida offensive line, not that long ago viewed as a team weakness, enters the 2025 season as an expected strength. For good reason.
“On offense, they bring back four starters from an offensive line that was really, really good,” McElroy said. “Jake Slaughter was an All-American last year at center. You’ve got [Austin] Barber back. You’ve got Knijeah Harris back at guard. Damieon George is back from tackle to guard. You have one opening at right tackle but you’re filling with a guy [Bryce Lovett] that played multiple games last year.
The offensive line should be a real position of strength and knowing how Billy Napier calls the offense, they are going to lean on that offensive line, lean on that run game. Everybody wants to talk about their quarterback and no one is going to deny the talent that’s in DJ Lagway’s body. But it’s the run game that is going to make this engine go and make Florida a difficult team to defend on a week-to-week basis.”
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The Florida Gators also could be stout up front on defense
Meanwhile, McElroy also is bullish on the UF defensive front.
“Not to be overshadowed is what they have coming back on the defensive line,” he said. “I don’t think many people anticipated Florida getting back both defensive tackle Caleb Banks and defensive end Tyreak Sapp. Banks was incredible in the game against Ole Miss. He was also ridiculously disruptive in the game against LSU.
If you look at Tyreak Sapp, he had seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss. So those two guys being back is massive. You also have [EDGE] George Gumbs. You also have LJ McCray. You also have a former top 150 player in [EDGE] Kamran James. They should be in a really good spot if you take into account [nose] Jamari Lyons being back into a starting spot as well. So I think defensively, they might have the most impactful defensive tackle in the SEC arguably in Caleb Banks.”
What concerns McElroy most with UF? Well, it’s probably the same concern most have.
“Those that are not high on Florida will cite the schedule,” McElroy said. “And understandably so. It’s an absolute gauntlet for the Gators. You look at their team, their players, their personnel, their identity, their toughness, their returning production along the line of scrimmage, their growth potentially at quarterback—their team is absolutely a top 16, 15, 14 team. The schedule softens the expectation because if you’re expecting them to run through that gauntlet unscathed I think you’re expecting an awful lot from a team that still is en route to getting back to the perennial powers in college football.”
The Florida Gators, who went 8-5 last season, open the season Aug. 30 at home vs. Long Island University.
