Spring Review: Gators’ cornerbacks showed promise
by Bob Redman, aka “Hollywood Bob”
The Florida Gators lost first-round NFL pick Kaiir Elam from the cornerback room for the 2022 season. They did however hire what most would consider the best cornerback coach in all of college football when Corey Raymond decided to make the move from LSU after 10 years of working at the school. The position had many questions as the spring started, but many of those seemed to be answered in the 15 practices that culminated in the spring game on April 14.
Elam went in the first round to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday. He had a strong career at Florida and there is no doubt that his talent will be hard to replace. But the play at the position must go on and Florida likely feels pretty good about where they finished with the group that they do have at the conclusion of spring drills.
When talking about the players on hand at the cornerback position for 2022, Jason Marshall should be the first name mentioned. The true sophomore from Miami arrived last year ready for action and saw plenty of it in his rookie campaign in Gainesville. He would go on to play in all 13 games, while starting six times. He was targeted frequently when Elam was healthy and they were both on the field. Like the rest of the defense, Marshall didn’t net many turnovers, but he did finish with an interception and four defended passes.
The big word from spring camp was that Marshall was pretty elite with his coverage.
“I recruited him when he was at the school he was at in Miami,” Coach Raymond said earlier in the spring about Marshall. “I thought he was one of the top guys coming out. He decided to come to Florida. It’s just came full circle when I came here. Everything works for a reason.”
“He has a chance to be really good. He’s buying in. He’s a good kid. He’s doing everything that he’s supposed to do to get better. Just cleaning up all those little bitty things, just learning the position – learning how to be out there as a corner in different scenarios.”
“I like that he can be physical but also he can play the finesse game too despite his size. He’s about 195. He can play his game with a physical receiver but also he could play with a smaller receiver, too.”
If Marshall is playing elite ball in 2022, he can take away one side of the field in pass coverage. But that means the other corner has to be strong and will be targeted a great deal. This spring, a big, strong Avery Helm was that guy for the defense. At 6-foot-1 and 174 pounds, the sophomore has the length to play with any receiver he is matched up. He showed a good deal of aggressiveness in the spring which reflected how comfortable he was on the field.
Florida made a move in the transfer portal in January and brought in redshirt sophomore Jalen Kimber who left rival Georgia to come to Florida. Kimber was banged up early in spring, but did what he could do on the practice field and learned. Kimber was the star of the show in the spring game at corner playing for the winning blue team that shut out the orange. He was second on the blue with six tackles and had an interception and also two pass break ups
“Kimber’s coming off an injury,” Raymond said back near the start of spring. “He’s doing well. He’s been in this type of system. You just see that he’s going to be really good.”
Jaydon Hill was also in the same boat in terms of health this spring. The redshirt sophomore was really limited for most of it while recovering from ACL surgery, but he did get out on the field late and did see time in the spring game. Hill was picking things up late in spring.
“Jaydon Hill, he’s doing well. I like his progression,” Raymond said. “I like him as a player. He’s getting better every day. I think he has a chance to be good, too.”
There were a couple of others at the position we didn’t hear about until late in the spring. Redshirt freshman Jordan Young was relatively quiet and then was moved temporarily to the STAR or nickel spot for the spring game due to lack of numbers and he finished with six tackles in the game from that position. He should move back in the fall but showed his versatility. Freshman Devin Moore showed up on campus in January fresh out of high school. He was pretty quiet but then in the second scrimmage, near the conclusion of spring drills, Moore intercepted a pass and took it back for a touchdown. He finished the spring game with four tackles.
Sophomore Ethan Pouncey has had to deal with injuries since he arrived on campus back in 2020. He was healthy this spring, but we didn’t hear much from him. He did finish with three tackles in the spring game.
The corners look to be a solid bunch with at least one star in Marshall and also the best teacher they could hope for. The expectation is for this group to be immensely better than it was last year, despite losing a first round pick.