Three areas for Florida Football's offense that are still a concern

The big headline for Florida Football on Saturday was DJ Lagway. Anyone looking at the Gators from afar will focus on Lagway’s Florida freshman record for passing yards and whether or not he should supplant Graham Mertz as the starter.

But as dynamic as Lagway was, an array of concerns from the game contributed to Florida's only scoring 14 points in the first half against Samford. As a reference point, West Georgia scored 26 points in the first half the previous week against Samford.

The following are three concerns moving forward, regardless of who the Gators' quarterback is.

Getting The Playcall In On Time

Prior to the game against Samford, we had said there were four things we wanted to see: DJ Lagway with 150 air yards, zero special teams gaffes, 50 or fewer yards after catch on defense, and zero delay of game penalties and/or timeouts to prevent a delay of game.

The first two were a success and Florida didn't hit the third one but did hold Samford to 132 total yards receiving.

But for the second straight week, Billy Napier had to take a time out coming out of a time out. Coming out to start the fourth quarter, Florida looked lost and had to time a time-out.

This knack Napier has to take at least one time out per game to prevent a delay of game is a symptom of not getting play calls in on time as a whole.

The Right Tackle Situation

Last week we wrote 700 words dedicated to the right tackle situation for the Gators. Florida started Kamryn Waites against Miami and it did not go well. Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson looked better but was far from elite.

More confounding is that Florida is insistent on rotating Austin Barber with Devon Manuel at left tackle.

We mused out loud why Manuel, who took over 400 snaps with Arkansas last year, isn't being considered at right tackle when it is a glaring hole.

On Saturday Crenshaw-Dickson took 35 snaps while Waites took 28. Manuel meanwhile took 24 snaps behind the 30 snaps Barber took.

If you are keeping score at home, Waites, who gave up a pressure and a hurry, took just two fewer snaps than Barber.

Getting Tre Wilson downfield

One of the frustrations at halftime was Tre Wilson having a goose egg in the box score. Florida tried to get him the ball on a crossing route right before halftime, and Wilson was seen visibly frustrated heading into the locker room.

In the second half Florida did get him the ball more and Wilson torched Samford in the second half for 141 yards on six catches, including an 85 yard end around for a touchdown.

But the concern moving forward is that in a game where Elijhah Badger, Tank Hawkins, Aidan Mizell, and even Hayden Hansen found ways to catch the ball deep downfield, Wilson is still being relegated to short passes at the line of scrimmage, which Miami shut down.

We highlighted coming into the year that Wilson had the shortest Average Depth of Target in the country in 2023, AKA how far down the field a receiver is when they get targeted with a pass.

Wilson had an ADOT of 6.6 yards on Saturday and has an average ADOT of 4.9 yards on the season.

Of the 199 receivers around the country who have at least ten targets through two weeks, Wilson has the 12th shortest depth of target in the country.

Napier had talked about trying to get more explosive plays with Wilson down the field in 2024. Two games into the 2024 campaign that is still a work in progress.