Five freezing cold takes about the 2023 Florida Football season

Before the start of the 2023 season, we here at Hail Florida Hail ran a piece titled "Five Bold Predictions" and a later piece titled "Five Mild Predictions." For the record, some of those predictions came true:

• Max Brown wound up taking meaningful snaps.
• Billy Napier did not get fired in 2023.
• Graham Mertz was better than advertised
• A specific running back now in Athens is entering the 2025 season on NFL Draft watchlists (which is technically true even if it isn't with the Gators).

But some of the takes we gave didn't age well as Florida stumbled to a 5-7 campaign. The following are five predictions we made before the 2023 season that did not come to fruition.

Gators will have a top-five defense in the SEC

We had a ton of hope for Austin Armstrong and his ability to revitalize the defense after having to suffer through the Patrick Toney led unit from the year before.

Armstrong came to Gainesville with an attack-minded defense, but a lack of tackling combined with the inability to cover anyone, combined with a couple of key injuries resulted in Florida giving up the 4th most points per game and the 4th most yards per game in the SEC.

Heading into 2024, Billy Napier has revamped the coaching staff on the defensive side, and there really isn't anywhere to go but up.

A Gators’ RB will be in the top-ten Heisman votes

To be fair, both Montrell Johnson and that other guy who left for Georgia had solid seasons. Both averaged over five yards per carry, and neither were seen as the main reason why the Gators went 5-7.

Poor offensive line play combined with an overall lack of explosive runs prevented either from entering the elite category in 2023.

So, while three running backs around the country did wind up in the top ten among Heisman votes, neither Gator running back was even close to being in the conversation.

Jason Marshall Jr. will be a Thorpe Award finalist

Of the "bold" takes, this felt like he had one of the better chances to actually happen. Jason Marshall was seen as a potential first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Thorpe Award, given to the best defensive back in the country, is based as much on reputation as it is on-field play.

Instead, Marshall had a poor front half of the season that was plagued by blown coverages and poor tackling. There is a reason why Marshall is back for another season with the Gators instead of getting ready for an NFL season.

Gators will be top 25 in the country in sacks

We had put this under our "mild" takes category because Armstrong came to Gainesville with the allure of being someone who was going to attack the QB. During the 2022 season with Southern Mississippi, Armstrong led a defense that was top ten in sacks per game and in sack percentage (number of sacks divided by number of opponent passing dropbacks).

But the sack party never came. Part of it was due to the injury to Justus Boone, but also part of it was due to the inability of anyone besides the guy who transferred to Ole Miss to get to the QB.

Gators will keep a top-five recruiting class

Honestly, we felt good about this one, even heading into the bye week before Georgia. At 5-2 it felt like Florida had plenty of momentum and bolstered the group even further when LJ McCray announced his commitment.

Five straight losses and an overhaul of the defensive coaching staff later, Florida's class of 2024 fell apart. It wasn't all bad as Florida did hang onto McCray and DJ Lagway and were able to add Jameer Grimsley and

Jason Zandamela, who count as transfers in the rankings but might as well be part of the class of 2024.

But considering the Gators were pushing for the top spot at one point, it wound up being a major let down.