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Florida Football has edge over Miami in three out of five defensive position groups

The Hurricanes only have one clear advantage compared to Florida on defense

By Benjamin Henderson

Florida safety Jordan Castell (14) celebrates after making a play during a football game between Tennessee and Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023.
Florida safety Jordan Castell (14) celebrates after making a play during a football game between Tennessee and Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Both Florida Football and Miami will be heading into Saturday's contest with some great unknowns along the defensive side of the ball. The Gators are counting on guys within the program to step up, while Miami will potentially have six of their starters be guys they grabbed in the transfer portal.

The following is a position-by-position breakdown on defense to see who has the overall edge at 3:30 in The Swamp

Defensive End

EDGE is one of the key question marks for the Gators heading into 2024. With a player who shall not be named at Ole Miss now, Florida will be leaning on Justus Boone, T.J. Searcy, and Tyreak Sapp as the main guys to get to the QB. Boone is coming off an ACL tear, while Searcy had just one sack and six hurries off 258 snaps.

Miami, meanwhile, has Rueben Bain as their headliner, who is coming off a nine-sack season. He will probably get paired with Elijah Alston, a transfer from Marshall who had five sacks and 22 hurries in 2023.

Edge - Miami

Defensive Tackle

Florida feels better about this group with Cam Jackson in the middle, who had 28 tackles in 2023. Joey Slackman is the wildcard and we will see if the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year gets in ahead of Caleb Banks for snaps.

Miami's interior is two transfers. C.J. Clark had 10 tackles with NC State, while Simeon Barrow had 19 tackles with Michigan State. Both did have more hurries on the QB than Jackson in 2023, but we do like Florida's upside.

Edge - Florida

Linebackers

If there is one group we have a lot of hope for in 2024, it's Florida's linebackers. Shemar James is back after missing the back half of 2023 due to Jacksonville's turf. He is going to be paired with Pup Howard, the transfer from South Carolina who played 221 snaps as a true freshman and didn't have a single missed tackle.

Miami's two main linebackers, Wesley Bissainthe and Francisco Mauigoa, had a combined 1142 snaps in 2023, and both had a missed tackle rate of under 12%.

Edge - Push

Cornerbacks

A wildcard group for Florida with a ton of upside. Jason Marshall has the potential to be a Day 2 NFL Draft pick if he can put it all together. Even last year, which was considered a down year, he only gave up 17 receptions. Devin Moore took 194 snaps last year, giving up five receptions, and Shariff Denson is expected to join the rotation after a solid game against FSU to close out 2023.

Miami has the edge in the experience department with Dyoni Hill, Daryl Porter, and Mishael Powell, but the underlying metrics are not great for the trio.

Porter was solid last year and only allowed 12 receptions. Hill, a transfer from Marshall, gave up 34 receptions for 517 yards. Powell, a transfer from Washington, gave up 50 receptions last year, the 5th most in the country.

Miami has one solid corner with a lot of question marks to answer behind him.

Edge - Florida

Safeties

Jordan Castell is back after a freshman All-American season. He had a missed tackle rate last year of just 10%. He will be joined by Washington transfer Asa Turner. Turner has 1,789 career snaps with 50 receptions allowed in his career.

Miami is going to be breaking in two unproven safeties. Isaiah Taylor is a transfer from Arizona who played 146 snaps in 2023. Markeith Williams only took 75 snaps last year but is a four-star from the class of 2022.

Edge - Florida

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