Florida football: Tyreak Sapp changes positions to fill injury gap

Florida football has a hole to fill on their defensive line following Justus Boone’s season-ending injury earlier this week.

We talked about some potential replacements for him, but another exciting young guy just switched positions, and perhaps is the new front-runner for the EDGE job.

Tyreak Sapp, a redshirt sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, has switched his position from defensive tackler to EDGE in order to fill the gap in Boone’s absence.

Now, Gator fans should get used to Tyreak ASAP so they know what to expect across from Princely Umanmielen.

Florida football: Where he always belonged

Sapp played at EDGE for St. Thomas Aquinas where he totaled over 100 tackles, 21.5 sacks, and five fumble recoveries over his career.

He was lined up on the interior of the defensive line for the Gators after putting on some weight but was still a bit undersized for that spot. EDGE seems to be a much better fit for him.

He played in all 13 games for the Gators last season, racking up 20 tackles in limited action. But that was at DT. Now he’s back at his original position.

Sapp has always been quick and great with his hands. He’s a true athlete off the edge and will quickly turn into a great rusher.

Now Tyreak isn’t walking into a free job. T.J. Searcy and Jack Pybrun are on the EDGE depth chart and both have the capability to play that position.

But given the speed at which the Gators made the move to put Sapp at EDGE, it’s pretty clear that they really like the idea of him taking that spot alongside Umanmielen.

The theme this offseason has been Billy Napier trying to find new faces to contribute to the team and bring the program back up to their standard.

A young guy like Sapp is exactly who the Gators need.