Florida football: Grading Gators that had extra playing time against EWU

Generally speaking, matchups against FCS opponents provide little in the way of drama. The ball is kicked, and there we are wondering why we aren’t out watching some shooting stars. For some members of Florida football though, Sunday’s game against Eastern Washington was their one shining moment.

81 different players got into Sunday’s game and a decent chunk of them probably won’t see the field again until the Vanderbilt game and/or the bowl game.

Among those 81 players were some notable names that saw a significant increase in playing time, including some first-time starters. We hand out report card grades to some of the more notable members of Florida football.

Florida football: Grading guys that got a chance

With Trey Dean being out with a “lower-body injury,” freshman Kamari Wilson received the nod from Billy Napier to be the starting safety on Sunday. Wilson is the highly touted recruit that some might argue should be playing anyway ahead of Dean.

Wilson held up very well on the backend of Florida’s defense. Eastern Washington didn’t challenge Wilson vertically and there were no obvious coverage busts that plagued his predecessor last week.

Wilson was a competent tackler and delivered the boom when presented with the opportunity. If one were to nitpick, there were a couple of routes where Wilson seemed to be flat-footed like he was expecting the receiver to sit rather than go. As noted, EWU never challenged these routes so it’s hard to gauge what Wilson’s recovery speed would have been.

Wilson also tried to jump a route on EWU’s second touchdown, leaving a wide-open lane for the Eagles’ backup QB to run into the endzone. Florida football looked like it was in man coverage, so it’s hard to say if Wilson is to blame.