![Florida s Ron Roberts will serve as executive head coach, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Roberts was coaching drills Saturday. The Florida Gators held their second Spring football practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, March 9, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3887,h_2186/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jy992jwngphfn1a5bt.jpg "Florida s Ron Roberts will serve as executive head coach, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Roberts was coaching drills Saturday. The Florida Gators held their second Spring football practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, March 9, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
The Florida Gators have had a significant amount of momentum in recruiting this summer, largely due to the four-game winning streak they achieved to close the 2024 season. Florida pulled off upsets over LSU and Ole Miss before dispatching FSU and Tulane to finish the year 8-5.
But while DJ Lagway got the bulk of the headlines during that winning streak, it was the defense for the Gators that kept the ship steady and took over in those games. It was one unit in particular that stepped up during those games that also has some question marks heading into 2025.
Florida Football must prove it can get to the QB in 2025
One of the very real reasons the Gators were sitting at 4-5 after getting drubbed by Texas was the fact they weren't getting enough pressure on the QB. Through nine games, Florida had just 20 sacks total.
When Florida went on its four-game winning streak, the Gators generated 20 tacks in just those four games, including seven against LSU and eight against FSU.
So one of the grand question marks for Florida heading into 2025 is whether that four-game stretch from the defensive line was unlocking their full potential or whether it was a mirage.
Most people seem confident with Florida's EDGE rushers. Tyreak Sapp is back, along with Georgia Gumbs, Kamran James, and former five-star LJ McCray. The latter three will need to take a step forward, but there aren't too many alarm bells going off with this unit just yet.
The interior of the defensive line, however, has a ton of alarm bells going off prior to 2025. Caleb Banks is back, and he was as instrumental as anyone during Florida's win streak.
But Florida graduated a ton of defensive tackles, had D'Antre Robinson transfer in the spring, and just kicked freshman Stephon Shivers off the team.
If this unit turns into a turnstile, there is a real possibility that all the progress the defense made at the end of 2024 could go out the window in a flash.