Florida football: Jaydon Hill is quietly having an elite season

Florida football has had a lot of young guys come in and make an immediate impact, which we’ve chronicled many times as the Gators’ youth movement.

But all of the underclassmen performing well doesn’t mean that the older guys are slacking off and not getting it done on the field.

One guy who’s having a quiet but effective campaign thus far is redshirt junior Jaydon Hill, who’s started all four games at the STAR position for the Gators.

While all the young guys get their shine, and deservedly so, Hill has been one of Florida’s best defenders.

Florida football: Locking down his assignment

The reason that Hill has had such a quiet year is that offenses are almost never throwing to his side of the field.

From @JBudDavis on Twitter, he’s allowed just one completion on three targets across 68 routes that he’s covered and has played the fourth most snaps of any UF defensive back with 117.

He also ranked second among Florida DBs with nine tackles, which is tied with Miguel Mitchell even though he’s played 47 fewer snaps than Mitchell has.

Perhaps the most impressive thing Jaydon has done is that he hasn’t missed a single tackle yet. Having that reliability in the secondary is a major boost toward limiting explosive plays, which is something the Gators have struggled with all season.

Hill was ranked as a top-20 corner in the country as a recruit in the 2019 class, and after battling with some injuries early in his career it’s great to see him shine.

It seems that the entire secondary has benefited from Austin Armstrong’s aggressive approach this season. With more havoc being caused upfront, it’s taking the pressure off of the DBs to cover for a long time.

If Hill keeps up his stellar play and the young guns stay hot, this Florida secondary will look a lot like what it did under Will Muschamp.