FLORIDA FOOTBALL: Scrimmage #2 Notes and Observations

The Gators held their second fall scrimmage on Friday just 13 days ahead of their season Florida enters game preparation mode and moves its full attention to game-planning for the Utes.

Fall Practice 8.18.23

While media was not allowed to watch the actual scrimmage, here are some notes and observations from the day:

Cam Carroll Carted Off with Injury

The biggest note coming out of the scrimmage was yet another lower-body injury. This time, it was transfer running back Cam Carroll who was forced to be carted off. There is no other update involving the injury.

Billy Napier will meet with media on Saturday and should be able to provide some form of update on the seriousness and ensuing timeline.

Mertz is Definitely a Leader

Friday's scrimmage was the first following the announcement of Mertz as QB1. And while many had believed he would win the job, it was obvious that he has adapted well to the role with his new team, especially in a leadership sense.

Following a full-team stretch/workout session, Mertz set the tone as the team gathered on the Gators logo at midfield.

"Has anybody seen the Florida Gators defense?" he yelled. To which the defensive players emphatically responded with loud cheers. "Has anybody seen the Florida Gators offense?" he continued. Observers made the case that the offense responded even louder.

They said it was really encouraging to see the newly-named starting quarterback leading the team, building the energy and gaining support for the program as a whole. Florida then split into a group drills.

Des Watson is BIG

Not that this needed to be clarified, but Big Des is just that: BIG!

The junior defensive lineman is listed at 439 pounds on floridagators.com and looks every bit of it. A major focal point over the offseason was to bring his weight down and increase his stamina, which has been an issue throughout his career.

Watson dropped 10 pounds in the offseason, but maintaining that weight remains something that the Florida football staff will be addressing over this season. Nonetheless, he is a daunting presence on the defensive line for any opponent.

Despite Injuries, the EDGE Looks Solid

The first scrimmage dealt a crushing blow to the Gators defense as Justus Boone tore his ACL towards the end of practice. Combine that with Antwuan Powell-Ryland transferring at the end of the spring, and the once deep EDGE position has been left scrambling a little bit.

However, several names have stepped up to fill Boone's absence and fill the EDGE roll opposite Princely Umanmielen. Jack Pyburn has been receiving a lot of positive feedback from the coaching staff and appears that he is the frontrunner to step into the starting spot. He is extremely disciplined on and off the field and has taken major strides (jump roping, doing yoga, deleting social media) to improve physically and mentally.

Another name to keep an eye on is Tyreak Sapp, who recently shifted over to take reps with the EDGE group after the Boone injury.

Non-Contact Players

Only a few players outside of the quarterbacks were wearing non-contact injuries on Friday. Those players included LB Shemar James, LB Scooby Williams, DL Andre Morris and OL Kamryn Waites.

Billy Napier noted that James should be cleared in the next week to 10 days. Waites is returning from an achilles tear that he suffered roughly eight months ago. His timeline is still in the air as he works back from the injury but getting him back to practice is a major first step.

The Energy is Super High

Overall, the entire team and coaching staff had a lot of energy in The Swamp on Friday. Music was blaring, coaches were vocal and lively and the team was responding well.

In between drills, players and coaches alike were dancing to music blaring over the speakers in the stadium and getting each other hyped up.

The overall thought: These guys are itching to get to Aug 31.