Thoughts of the Day: June 22, 2025

Florida's experienced offensive line will be opening plenty of holes for Jadan Baugh (13) in 2025 (Photo by Chris Spears)

A few thoughts to jump start your Sunday morning:

One of the chief reasons the Florida Gators will start the 2025 football season ranked inside the top 25 is the return of four starters on the offensive line – LT Austin Barber; LG Knijeah Harris; All-American C Jake Slaughter and RG Dameion George Jr. The fifth starter at right tackle is slated to be redshirt sophomore Bryce Lovett who made a strong showing in the spring.

This group is the most highly regarded of any O-line at Florida in recent years. Slaughter made first team All-America at center last year when the Gators cut their sacks allowed total in half from 2023. The 2023 Gators allowed 39 sacks in 12 games while the 2024 unit gave up 20 in 13 games. The Gators ran for 161.23 yards per game last season, an improvement from the 149.83 of 2023.

Statistically, the Gators took a slight step backward last season, going from 28.4 points and 409.1 yards per game in 2023 to 28.3 points and 386.9 yards per game, but the 2023 team went 5-7 while last season the Gators won their final four games and finished 8-5. It was the first winning record since 2020.

The combination of four returning starters on the offensive line to go with quarterback DJ Lagway (12 TDP), who went 6-1 as a starter after taking over for the injured Graham Mertz last year, plus experienced running backs Jadan Baugh (673 yards, 7 TD) and Ja’Kobi Jackson (509 yards, 7 TD) and the fastest, deepest group of receivers in years is why there is so much optimism for 2025. Even with a schedule that will rank among the top two or three toughest in the country, the Gators are expected to win eight or nine games during the regular season.

Former Alabama QB Greg McElroy and former Auburn center Cole Cubelic, who do a radio show together in Birmingham when they aren’t working for ESPN as game analysts, rank Florida’s O-line No. 3 nationally on the Always College Football podcast last week. McElroy said the Gators under Billy Napier will be committed to run the football, called Rob Sale “one of the best offensive line coaches in the country” and had high praise for Slaughter. Cubelic said he is impressed with how Napier’s offense can neutralize opposing defensive lines.

Athlon ranks Florida No. 2 in the SEC and No. 5 nationally. The Gators are outside the top ten but No. 3 in the SEC according to Lindy’s.

Greg McElroy/Cole Cubelic top ten OL in the country: 1. Notre Dame; 2. Texas A&M; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Alabama; 5. Utah; 6. Miami; 7. Penn State; 8. Auburn; 9. Clemson; 10. Oregon

Athlon top ten OL in the country: 1. Notre Dame; 2. Penn State; 3. Texas A&M; 4. Miami; 5. FLORIDA; 6. Alabama; 7. Clemson; 8. Texas; 9. Ohio State; 10. Iowa

Lindy’s top ten OL in the country: 1. Alabama; 2. Penn State; 3. Texas A&M; 4. Illinois; 5. Utah; 6. Wisconsin; 7. Oregon; 8. Clemson; 9. Iowa State; 10. Notre Dame

Athlon SEC offensive lines: 1. Texas A&M; 2. FLORIDA; 3. Alabama; 4. Texas; 5. Georgia; 6. Auburn; 7. LSU; 8. Tennessee; 9. Oklahoma; 10. Missouri; 11. Ole Miss; 12. South Carolina; 13. Arkansas; 14. Kentucky; 15. Mississippi State; 16. Vanderbilt

Lindy’s SEC offensive lines: 1. Alabama; 2. Texas A&M; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Georgia; 5. Texas; 6. Missouri; 7. South Carolina; 8. Auburn; 9. Ole Miss; 10. Oklahoma; 11. Vanderbilt; 12. Tennessee; 13. Arkansas; 14. LSU; 15. Mississippi State; 16. Kentucky

FIRST COMMITMENT FROM THE “GRILLE IN THE VILLE”

Tramond Collins (6-2, 185, Cottondale, FL), a 4-star wide receiver and one of the Gators’ top 2027 targets, became the first to commit to Florida from the “Grille in the Ville” recruiting event in Gainesville this weekend. As a sophomore last season, Collins had 13 catches for 402 yards (30.9 yards per catch) and 661 rushing yards (21.3 per carry) while scoring 15 touchdowns. Auburn, Tennessee, Kentucky and Louisville all extended offers to Collins. Collins is Florida’s first commitment to the 2027 recruiting class.

IF TODD GOLDEN WAS AN NBA GM …

The NBA will hold its annual draft this week, the first round taking place Wednesday with the second going on Thursday. Nearly every mock draft has Florida All-American Walter Clayton Jr. going first round. Some recent mock drafts include Alijah Martin in the second round and Will Richard, ranked the No. 71 draft eligible athlete by ESPN, going in the second.

Florida coach Todd Golden believes Clayton is going to bring real value to any team that takes him. In so many of the mock drafts, Clayton is going anywhere from No. 13 to the Atlanta Hawks to No. 29 to the Pheonix Suns. Golden is of the opinion that Clayton should go in the top echelons of the first round.

"I've gotten great reports from different NBA teams that have worked out Walt,” Golden said last week. “Obviously, I don't know where he'll end up going. Personally, I think he should be close to, like, 10, you know, 12, if I was a NBA GM, but I'm not. We'll see. But whoever picks him is going to get an incredible value, and then in two years, people are gonna be, 'How did Walter Clayton drop to that. Why did he go there?' I'm just telling you right now that's what's gonna happen," Golden said. "Because you look at guys like Fred VanVleet, Damian Lillard, like he's in that bucket. I'm not saying he's gonna get there right away. But, the guy just had the most incredible senior season tournament run, whatever you want to say. He's got real size, [is an] incredible athlete, elite shooter. I mean, what doesn't he do? And he just wins all the games, and that matters to some teams, and a team will pick him, and he'll end up killing it, and people will be like, 'Why wasn't he higher?' I'm just telling you right now that's going to happen."

URBAN MEYER SAID IT

On the Triple Option podcast, Meyer was asked if Michigan’s sign stealing was as big a deal as it’s being made out to be.

Meyer said, “Is it a run or a pass? Is that significant? Hell yeah it is — it’s a tremendous advantage. It changes the entire technique of your defensive front, linebackers. The second everybody knows it’s a pass, that’s a completely different story. And then the whole right or left, if they know it’s a run to the right or run to the left. And that’s why I understand what the advantages are.”

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT

Florida will finish seventh in the annual Learfield Director’s Cup standings, just six points behind Tennessee and 183.25 behind national champion Texas. Texas won the Director’s Cup by 1.5 points over Southern Cal. Stanford, which typically picks up huge blocks of points in sports like field hockey, water polo and other non-revenue points, will finish third, the first time in 31 years its athletic program has finished outside the top two.

It's rare that the Gators finish outside the top five in the Director’s Cup standings, the Gators didn’t miss by much. North Carolina, which finished fourth, outscored the Gators by 123.25 points and fifth place UCLA had a scant 77 point lead.

Considering the rash of injuries that proved costly to multiple sports, Florida’s seventh place finish is quite remarkable. Gymnastics, baseball, softball and both the men’s and women’s track and field teams left points on the table largely because the injury bug hit hard. Additionally, women’s basketball, women’s tennis and soccer collectively produced zero points.

Gymnastics, which regularly makes the final four and battles Oklahoma down to the last athlete in the last event, won its regional and made the championships in Fort Worth, but didn’t make the final four. With a healthy Kayla DiCello, Skye Blakely and Sloan Blakely, the Gators might have won the national championship but certainly would have had final four points. The Gators scored 73 points but a third or fourth place finish would have pushed the Gators past Tennessee.

Baseball, which was forced to play with a patchwork lineup down the stretch due to injuries to All-SEC catcher Luke Heyman, shortstop Colby Shelton and second baseman Cade Kurland, didn’t get out of the region. Put those three in the lineup along with gold glove center fielder Kyle Jones and give lefty Pierce Coppola the two months he missed in the middle of the year, and it’s not a stretch to think the Gators might have at least been a regional host and made a super regional. With one regional win the Gators scored 37.5 points. Had they won their regional they would have scored 64.

Softball got to the Women’s College World Series but once there was two and through because of blisters on the pitching hand of ace Keagan Rothrock. The Gators scored 73 points but would have scored 78 with one win at the WCWS, 83 for a third or fourth place finish, 90 for second place.  

Mike Holloway’s men’s track and field team, winners of the last three outdoor national championships and third place finishers at the previous two indoor NCAA meets, scored only a single point at the indoor championships for a 56th place finish, and eighth outdoors with 22 points. Florida scored 0 Director’s Cup points indoors and 49 outdoors. A fourth place finish, would have been worth an additional 31 Director’s Cup points. The women’s team, which won both the indoor and outdoor national championship in 2022 and finished top two indoors and top three outdoors in the previous two championships, finished 31st indoors with seven points and 15th outdoors with 18 points. The outdoor finish was good for 14 Director’s Cup points. Injuries to sprint sensation Wanya McCoy cost the Gators a top 10 finish indoors and quite possibly a top three finish outdoors. Injuries derailed a top ten finish outdoors for the women. Tenth indoors for the men and tenth outdoors for the women would have each been worth 34 points.

It doesn’t take a math major to see the Gators could have easily finished at least fourth and possibly could have challenged Stanford for third. All things considered, however, the seventh place finish under the circumstances is a sure sign of a healthy athletic program.