Florida football depth chart, injuries: What depth? What chart? Gators wounded entering Texas A&M game

Football

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Image Credit: Ashley Ray, UAA

Every game-week Wednesday since he took over the Florida Gators football program, head coach Billy Napier has released the team’s depth chart, provided injury updates and offered a final press conference ahead of kickoff. This week, Napier announced depth charts will no longer be provided, and if it was not for a new SEC rule mandating injury reports for conference games, it’s likely that would have gone by the wayside, too.

“The depth charts, we’re anticipating that [the media] can put the puzzle together based off of the availability report,” Napier said. “We’re just going to produce an availability report from this point forward.”

Napier did not say as much, of course, but generally coaches only take such steps when there might be a level of controversy created by a list of names in order of those most likely to play. (He claims it is to give UF an advantage against TAMU and future opponents. If that was truly the case, no team would release a depth chart unless required.) Florida is dealing with such a situation now given the level of play exhibited by freshman quarterback DJ Lagway filling in for redshirt senior Graham Mertz last Saturday in a dominant 45-7 over Samford.

Lagway set a freshman passing record and threw for the ninth-most yards by a player in program history during his first career start. If he was allowed to play the fourth quarter, he likely would have broken Tim Tebow’s all-time passing mark, which was just 28 yards away. Lagway was certainly not tested against Samford like he would have been against an SEC opponent — he got away with a lot and obviously has improvements to make — but there was no denying the electricity he added to the offense and the thirsty Ben Hill Griffin Stadium crowd.

Mertz is out of concussion protocol and back in line to start Saturday against Texas A&M. (More to come on that in Florida Football Friday Final ahead of kickoff.) So, yes, if a depth chart had been released, it would have looked like this without an “OR” designation in sight:

QB: Graham Mertz, DJ Lagway

But hey, now that it’s not officially printed on paper or available on a PDF, surely we will stop talking about it.

Walking wounded

The official SEC injury report filed Wednesday listed four scholarship players as out for Saturday’s game (not counting two already out for the season): senior WR Ja’Quavion Fraziars, sophomore cornerback Ja’Keem Jackson, redshirt senior tight end Keon Zipperer and redshirt senior DB Asa Turner. Jackson and Turner both started games through two weeks.

Five others were questionable, including four more who started games this season: sophomore DB Sharif Denson, sophomore WR Eugene Wilson III, redshirt freshman WR Andy Jean, sophomore DB Bryce Thornton, sophomore EDGE T.J. Searcy and junior CB Devin Moore.

In terms of what is wrong with each player, Napier is also keeping that close to the vest now given the SEC does not require any specific information other than player designations.

“Ultimately, we’re just trying not to give out information relative to injuries,” he said. “… [The SEC availability report] is all about gambling, right? It’s all about protecting the players, protecting the organization as a whole.”

Denson and Thornton have since been cleared to play, though the statuses of Wilson, Searcy and Moore remain concerning. If Moore is out alongside Jackson, the Gators will be down to a third-string cornerback in the second position. Should Searcy missing the game is problematic but less of an issue given the excellent play of redshirt junior EDGE George Gumbs Jr., who was named a captain this week in just his third game with the program.

OnlyGators.com learned Friday morning that Wilson returned to practice Thursday, moved well and is ultimately expected to suit up Saturday. Florida will absolutely need his threat offensively against a rebuilding Texas A&M defense with multiple familiar faces on the field and sideline.