Early in the 2024 season for Florida Football, the defense was a mess, and the defensive line for the Gators was square in the crosshairs for part of the problem with the unit. A combination of injuries along with overall poor play set the stage for what looked like was going to be a long season in the trenches.
But by season's end, the unit emerged as one of the better units in the country and was a major catalyst in Florida's four-game winning streak. And the key cog of that unit is officially coming back for the 2025 season.
Florida Football: Sapp Attack
If you go back to the preseason literature about the Gators, much of the discussion when it came to EDGE was the rotation of Justus Boone and Tyreak Sapp. Boone had missed the 2023 season after an ACL tear, but he had a solid 2022 campaign and the hope was for him to recapture that form.
Sapp, meanwhile, had been a steady presence during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, taking nearly 300 snaps each year, but had just three career sacks to show for it coming into the 2024 season.
But even in the wake of the Miami loss, we noted after that game that Sapp was not one of the problems for Florida, and even though he only took 21 snaps in that game, he was still disruptive with those snaps.
Boone, meanwhile, just wasn't the same player, and as the year progressed, Sapp became entrenched as the starter while Boone got cycled out and eventually transferred.
Prior to Florida's four-game winning streak, Sapp had four sacks and seven QB hurries. Sapp doubled both of those metrics to finish with eight sacks and 14 quarterback hurries, which placed him on the NFL's radar.
But much like Caleb Banks, Sapp could benefit from parlaying his four-game surge into an entire season, and yesterday was the deadline for players from Florida to declare for the NFL Draft. Based upon reports from Gators Online and Swamp247, Sapp did not file paperwork to declare and so by default will be slated to return to Gainesville for the 2025 season.
His return is crucial, given the number of transfers the Gators have had among their defensive ends. George Gumbs will be back for 2025, but Kamran James is the only other returning EDGE who had at least three sacks in 2024.
Florida will also be hoping for a big step-up year from former five-star LJ McCray and has added Kofi Asare from the transfer portal.