![Florida Gators inside linebacker Aaron Chiles (8) runs a drill during Fall practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, August 1, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3864,h_2173/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01j5b2sm1cpkwpqt2xpv.jpg "Florida Gators inside linebacker Aaron Chiles (8) runs a drill during Fall practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, August 1, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
Linebacker depth was a massive problem for Florida Football in 2023. Once Shemar James went down with his season-ending knee injury thanks to the Rent-A-Center turf in Jacksonville, the Gators didn't have any great answers to serve as his replacement.
As we chronicled earlier this week, James is back and should be a mainstay in the defense this season. But another linebacker who keeps having his name pop up during camp might be one of the more "under the radar" top 100 prospects the Gators have had in a long time.
Florida Football: Out Of This World
Aaron Chiles was considered a consensus top 10 linebacker nationally from the class of 2024 and was a top 75 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking. Typically, a prospect like this would get a ton of headlines leading into the season and would be high on the list of players fans are itching to see.
But the buzz for Chiles before training camp has been overshadowed by fellow top 100 overall linebacker Myles Graham. Given that Chiles didn't enroll early and didn't play in the spring game, combined with Graham being a legacy prospect, most headlines have felt like "Florida has Myles Graham and also this other guy."
That other guy keeps turning heads in camp, and the buzz surrounding him grows day by day. He has already earned the nickname "Alien" from strength coach Tyler Miles and is already topping 315 pounds for a power clean.
On the field, teammates are already singing their praises, and linebacker coach Ron Roberts feels extremely comfortable with the depth Chiles and Graham are providing the group.
"It's going to be a fierce competition as we go through fall camp, but I feel really comfortable that we're sitting there six, eight guys that are all big, fast, can run, physical."Ron Roberts
With James, Derek Wingo, and Pup Howard also in the mix for 2024, the reality is that either Chiles or Graham will probably be relegated to mop up duty this season barring an injury.
But as we learned last year, it's a long year that will probably require all hands on deck by the end of it. And if camp is any indication, Florida has an Alien who will be ready to step up and be the leader.