Florida football: Pre-Season Gators’ defensive depth chart
By Ty Butler
Defensive Tackle
Todd Grantham is returning two experienced players in TJ Slaton and Kyree Campbell at defensive tackle.
Both seniors will be looking to leave their mark on Florida football and perform well enough to boost their draft stock.
Despite losing Adam Shuler and Luke Ancrum, the Gators will have more guys to turn to in 2020.
Elijah Conliffe will be returning after coming off an injury, and Marlon Dunlap will be included into the deep mix of defensive tackles.
Both Conliffe and Dunlap provide experience to an already experienced group of guys.
Now, the learning curve is a thing of the past, and it’s time to perform.
Ultimately, we will be looking at Slaton and Campbell to haul most of the production; however, the coaching staff struggled to maintain Slaton’s focus throughout most of last season so we may see rotation if the trend continues.
Nonetheless, Slaton eventually picked up the slack at the end of 2019, but he must carry over the momentum if he wants to become a major weapon on the interior line in 2020.
Florida football would also like to see more pressure on the quarterback from these two after accounting for only three sacks last year.
The coaching staff will be looking for a guy that doesn’t take plays off and appreciates each snap. The dynamic of having a high-motor player at defensive tackle is game-changing.
Let’s hope that Slaton can leave his skeletons in the closet and take a step forward to better the team.
However, it should be noted that size is not an issue for Slaton at an impressive 6’5, 358 pounds. He should have no issues filling up space and forcing running backs to the outside.
Projection
1- Kyree Campbell (nose tackle)
2- Elijah Conliffe (nose tackle)
1- TJ Slaton (three-technique tackle)
2- Marlon Dunlap (three-technique tackle)