Five personnel changes Florida Football should consider ahead of Samford
![Florida Gators wide receiver Aidan Mizell (11) makes a catch during fall football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4264,h_2398,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F213%2F01j6w26s3knbcdhxsqtf.jpg "Florida Gators wide receiver Aidan Mizell (11) makes a catch during fall football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
Now that we have written our fair share of vitriol the past couple of days about what went wrong against Miami, it's time to start looking ahead and muse aloud about realistic fixes to salvage the season.
Do we think any of these will turn the ship around by themselves?
No.
But based on what we saw Saturday, these are five personnel changes we would like to see Billy Napier explore before their game against Samford.
Roderick Kearney for Damieon George
On passing plays, the metrics would tell you Damieon George was fine and didn't allow a single pressure. The problem is his run-blocking was atrocious. We highlighted yesterday that Florida ran the ball to the right between the tackle and center six times, the area George is responsible for clearing out. Florida averaged 3.5 yards per carry on those runs. Last year, Florida averaged 5.8 yards when running through that same gap.
Worse, George went viral for his lack of effort trying to chase down a Miami player following a Graham Mertz interception.
Roderick Kearney is a former highly rated four-star prospect who is expected to be Florida's center down the road, but rumblings from camp had him challenging for guard.
Would he be better than George? No one actually knows, but it couldn't be worse than what we saw Saturday.