![Florida head coach Jon Sumrall and the team blasts out onto the field before the Orange and Blue game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 11, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2713,h_1526/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kp405vmz25jm9er42j.jpg "Florida head coach Jon Sumrall and the team blasts out onto the field before the Orange and Blue game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 11, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Florida’s spring game was a mostly productive afternoon that saw the guys who needed to flash go on and flash. For the most part, things felt crisp enough, and fans in attendance at The Swamp walked away feeling like it was a positive step forward for the 2026 edition of the Gators.
But even before the spring game, Jon Sumrall had been highlighting his concern with Florida’s offensive line. And now that everyone got to see the unit first hand, Sumrall didn’t try to hide after the game some of the struggles the unit had on Saturday.
Florida’s offensive line is still a work in progress
As is the classic spring game conundrum, if the defense for Florida does something good, that means the offense for Florida did something bad. The defensive line in particular flashed at times, and guys like KJ Ford and LJ McCray looked like they are ready to step up and join Jayden Woods and Kamran James along the EDGE to be one of the more productive units in the SEC in 2026.
But that also meant that Florida’s tackles got beaten like a drum all afternoon long. The problem is that this is a unit that had question marks surrounding it long before the first spring practice even took place.
Florida is trying to work in guys like Eagan Boyer, a transfer from Penn State, Emeka Ugorji, a transfer from Stanford, along with returners Caden Jones and Tavaris Dice. For the most part, these guys all gained experience last season, but none of them have actually proven production at the college level.
Sumrall alluded to his offensive line multiple times during his post-game press conference, but the line that stood out the most that matched the feelings of most Gator fans was:
“Those guys have to have a freaking great summer, or we got no chance. Like, no chance. I think we have a chance. We got guys in that room that can do it, but there's got to be a lot of growth that continues to happen. And it will. I mean, it's going to happen. But we're nowhere near settled in that room.”
The positive news for Florida fans is that Phil Trautwein is in charge of the unit, and if there is anyone who can get this group to where it needs to be, it’s Trautwein.
It should also be noted that despite Florida’s offensive line getting pushed back all afternoon long, Florida's QBs still managed to combine for four touchdowns in the first half, and that was without the benefit of Jadan Baugh going all out in the game, as Baugh had just four carries on the afternoon.
But this is going to be a storyline that lingers into the fall as Florida fans are left to hope this unit makes a drastic leap in the next four months.