Here's what Dan Mullen had to say about Florida's defense in his update

The Florida football team had its two starters at corner almost set in stone at the beginning of fall camp with juniors Kaiir Elam and Jaydon Hill manning both positions. The Gators should have Elam’s name written in Sharpie as a starter because he’s been that strong for them during his two seasons so far. But Hill suffered a torn ACL a week into fall camp and will miss the entire 2021 season. Coach Dan Mullen and defensive coordinator have been tasked with finding another corner that will pair best beside Elam.

For Florida, it doesn’t have many options behind Hill that have experience playing for the Orange and Blue. Redshirt senior Patrick Moorer and redshirt freshman Avery Helm are the only players who have seen live game action for the Gators. However, they have Elijah Blades who just transferred and enrolled at Florida. He started six games for Texas A&M in 2019. He then opted out of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida also has junior college and former Missouri transfer Jadarrius Perkins who has some SEC experience.

Mullen refused to acknowledge that any of these players had the advantage for the other starting spot Monday.

“I don’t know it’s not Sept. 4,” he said, according to The Alligator. “They all get the same reps right now.”

Mullen and Grantham need to feel the urgency to find the best fit quickly because Florida only has two games to find its answer before its conference opener versus Alabama. He said that he’s willing to put some of his younger players in so that they can get valuable game experience.

He added that the cornerbacks are competing for playing time and not starting spots because he will rotate different players in. Mullen says that fans should be more invested in who finishes the game rather than who starts it.

“We play a lot of guys,” he said. “When the game’s on the line in the fourth quarter, who’s going to be on the field, that’s probably more important than who is playing the actual first play of the game.”

Even with the inexperience behind Elam, Mullen said he’s happy with how he has stepped up to be a leader and thinks the experience the safeties have will benefit the Gators’ young corners.

In other news, Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel reported that according to athletic director Scott Stricklin that the football team has achieved a 90% vaccination rate.

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By: Zachary Huber
Title: Here's what Dan Mullen had to say about Florida's defense in his update
Sourced From: gatorswire.usatoday.com/2021/08/23/florida-football-dan-mullen-defense-update/
Published Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2021 22:16:08 +0000

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