Lack of depth chart for Florida Football is largely semantics
![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier talks with a sidelines official during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 7, 2024 against the Samford Bulldogs. The Gators lead 14-0 at the half. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1134,h_637,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F213%2F01j7k5r9kvq3b5p40vst.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier talks with a sidelines official during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 7, 2024 against the Samford Bulldogs. The Gators lead 14-0 at the half. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
It's no secret that Florida Football has a QB controversy on its hands. Billy Napier hasn't explicitly said who he is starting on Saturday between Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway, but all indications when reading between the lines is that Mertz is going to trot out on the field first against Texas A&M.
It's that backdrop that has fans pondering why Florida is opting not to release a depth chart ahead of its game on Saturday.
If we are being fair and honest, whether or not Napier released one would be semantics anyway.
Florida Football: Names On A List
New SEC rules this year dictate that teams have to release an "Availability Reports" on Wednesdays and the list of injured players for the Gators is extensive. Ten Gators are listed as out for Saturday, including Asa Turner and Ja'Keem Jackson.
Tre Wilson and Devin More are listed as questionable, and Mertz and Joey Slackman are not on the report at all.
More notable is that Napier is opting not to release a depth chart, something that has been a standard release on Wednesdays.
"We're just going to produce an availability report from this point forward. And then you piece together the depth chart based off of that, much like you're describing. In the past, we've produced a depth chart. But now we're just going to give you the availability report."
- Billy Napier
Whether this was the plan all along or Napier is trying to avoid headlines regarding his starting QB for Saturday, the truth is that Napier's depth charts were never 100% accurate to begin with. As a small example, Amir Jackson was listed ahead of Tony Livingston for backup tight end against Samford, yet it was Livingston getting ten snaps while Jackson had none on offense. Taylor Spierto wasn't even on the depth chart but wound up with more snaps than Tank Hawkins and Marcus Burke.
And it's not like Napier is alone in not releasing a depth chart. Miami, for example, didn't put one out prior to the game against Florida.
There are plenty of reasons to be concerned heading into Saturday, but the lack of a depth chart isn't one of them.
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