Florida 2023 Spring Camp Notebook: Observations From Day 4
Photo: OL Richie Leonard IV and DL Chris McClellan; Credit: Zach Goodall
Florida is back on the practice field, with 2023 spring camp underway ahead of head coach Billy Napier's second season with the Gators.
All Gators serves up its notes and observations from the fourth day of spring camp below, with our focus on the defensive line.
Check out our previous 2023 spring camp notebooks:
Eyes on the defensive line
All Gators observed Florida's defensive linemen during Saturday's practice. The unit was split into several groups during individual drills, primarily splitting up the edge rushers/lighter defensive ends and the interior defensive linemen.
Keep in mind, Florida tends to move its defensive linemen around based on formation and certain schemes. A player's involvement with a certain group does not mean they are locked into that one position moving forward.
We primarily watched the defensive and nose tackles, groups consisting of transfers Cam'Ron Jackson and Caleb Banks, returning talents in Chris McClellan, Desmond Watson, Jamari Lyons and Jaelin Humphries and true freshman Will Norman alongside several walk-ons. Defensive line coach Sean Spencer oversaw their drills with analyst Kali James and other assistants.
Jackson can be viewed in the clip above, going through a two-on-one block-shedding drill during defensive line individuals. A springy 6-foot-6, 355 pounds, Jackson managed to split his blockers by getting his hands on each of their inside shoulders in one fluid movement out of his stance.
Most of the defensive tackles took part in the chute and bag drill during the media viewing period. The linemen would have their height restricted by the chute as they launched from their stance toward the offensive line dummy, which they would strike with both hands at the point of attack. The objective of the drill is to ensure the linemen explode forward, not up, to maximize their leverage against blockers.
Banks particularly excelled in the chute and bag drill, and his rep is featured in our clip of the day at the bottom of this story. Norman also displayed quick and powerful hands upon striking the dummy.
McClellan produced one of the better one-on-one plays of the day among defensive linemen, going up against guard Richie Leonard IV after the unit went into the indoor practice facility.
Bursting out of his four-point, McClellan immediately popped Leonard in the chest and shoulder area and was able to stand the blocker straight up. McClellan locked out his arms to create space for a second rush move, disengaged his left arm and then offered Leonard a second pop to the side, obtaining complete outside leverage and winning the rep.
Assistant Kali James let out a roar of excitement for McClellan's performance on the play.
Former Florida defensive lineman and soon-to-be 2023 NFL Draft pick Gervon Dexter, a teammate of McClellan's last season, was just as excited as James about the rep and let it be known on social media.
Participation report
Below are the players that were seen wearing no-contact jerseys throughout the media viewing portion of practice. An asterisk indicates that the player worked off to the side or watched practice instead of being on the field during the media viewing period. Quarterbacks will only be noted if they did not participate in drills, as they wear no-contact jerseys traditionally.
- RB Cam Carroll
- WR Zak Sedaros*
- OL Jalen Farmer
- LB Mannie Nunnery*
- CB Ethan Pouncey*
- CB Aaron Gates*
- CB Devin Moore
- S Kamari Wilson
- S Cahron Rackley*
Among scholarship members of the roster, Nunnery is the newest addition to the participation report as he wore a no-contact jersey and worked off to the side with his recovering teammates during the media viewing period on Saturday.
Linebacker Derek Wingo remained unseen in the media viewing period as he has been throughout the week, as he has been limited in activity following two offseason surgical procedures. Whereas, Gates returned to the practice field after not being witnessed during Thursday's viewing window, although he has yet to return to drills and worked off to the side of the field.
Carroll, Farmer and Wilson continued to participate in drills despite wearing no-contact jerseys. While he also continues to sport a no-contact jersey, Moore's participation level was upgraded as he took part in drills with his fellow defensive backs on Saturday.
Clip of the day
From interior defensive line drills, our clip of the day features Banks going through the chute and bag drill where his explosion out of his stance, ability to maintain good pad level and the power of his punch were tested.
The 6-foot-6, 315-pound Banks passed the examination with flying colors, earning praise from Spencer for his rep.
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