Florida Football: Offensive line still in limbo after Waites injury

Billy Napier’s efforts to rebuild the roster for the 2023 season have at times felt underwhelming. Florida football has added seven new players via the portal but given the number of holes, Napier has to fill it feels like he should have grabbed more.

One area Napier seemed to seal up was the offensive line after grabbing two linemen out of the portal. But news of a torn achilles to Kamryn Waites will require Napier to head back to the drawing board.

Florida Football: Waites and see

Waites started in the Las Vegas Bowl and while it wasn’t a great performance, there was reason to believe with a full offseason of training that he could step up and fill the guard spot left open by O’Cyrus Torrance heading into the NFL Draft.

Center Kingsley Eguakun is the only returning starter for Florida football, but the emergence of Austin Barber last year gave the Gators the makings of a competitive offensive line. Napier hit the portal to grab Micah Mazzccua from Baylor and Damieon George from Alabama and all of a sudden Florida football had an offensive line that looked like a real SEC line:

LT – George – 6-6, 339 pounds

LG – Mazzccua – 6-5, 331 pounds

C – Eguakun – 6-3, 301 pounds

RG – Waites – 6-8, 373 pounds

RT – Barber – 6-6, 312 pounds

There is more to being a lineman than just size, but there is enough to work with here that offensive line wasn’t going to be a primary concern coming into 2023.

Then news broke over the weekend that Waites tore his achilles tendon doing off-season workouts.

Oops.

The problem is that an offensive line that, on paper, didn’t have a lot of depth to it is already having to think about using that depth. Achilles tears can range from six months to an entire year, and it is unknown what the severity of the tear is. If Waites is unable to play in 2023 or is a shell of himself because he is at least prone to miss all of the off-season workouts, there isn’t an obvious plan B at RG.

There are large bodies listed on the roster for Florida football, such as Jordan Herman (6-8, 370 pounds), Christian Williams (6-4, 319 pounds), and Mark Pitts (6-6, 313 pounds), but these guys have seen any significant playing time and until they do they are just names on a roster.

The Gators have three incoming freshmen at linemen (Knijeah Harris, Bryce Lovett, and Caden Jones), but none are projected to be starters right away.

The actual solution may come in the form of another transfer portal candidate. Kiyaunta Goodwin from Kentucky was on campus over the weekend. Listed at 6-8, 350 pounds, Goodwin becomes a high-priority target in the wake of Waites injury.

And, with Ethan White now officially heading off to Southern Cal, Napier will need to continue to bolster the offensive line to give the Gators hope for 2023.