Notebook: Day 13 of Gators Fall Camp
Photo: Anthony Richardson; Credit: Alex Shepherd
Scores of Gators from the past and the present took the practice field for day 13 of Florida's 2022 fall camp, as the current team prepared for its second scrimmage of camp on Saturday with members of previous squads watching and checking out the new Heavener Football Training Center with an invitation to practice from head coach Billy Napier.
You can find AllGators' observations from the media viewing portion of practice below, as well as our notebooks for each day of camp so far this year.
We've covered every position on the team individually this fall— aside from the specialists, who don't conduct drills during the viewing window — which you can find linked below. Given the Thursday evening news of quarterback Jack Miller III's thumb surgery, we decided to circle back to the signal-callers on Friday.
- Day one - offense
- Day two - defense
- Day three - wide receivers
- Day four - linebackers
- Day five - running backs
- Day six - defensive line
- Day seven - offensive line
- Day eight - cornerbacks
- Day nine - quarterbacks
- Day 10 - edge rushers
- Day 11 - tight ends
- Day 12 - safeties
Focusing on the quarterbacks, again
We know good and well that Anthony Richardson is set to start at quarterback for the Gators in 2022. But given his numerous injuries that derailed his rotational, near-starting role last year, Florida would sleep much more soundly knowing it had a ready-to-play passer behind him in the event that Richardson gets hurt.
Miller, although his playing experience is limited, has been expected to man that job, as he's been in a college system for two years after signing with Ohio State in the class of 2020. But now that Miller will be out for the foreseeable future, someone is going to have to fill in as Richardson's primary backup.
The Gators' options for the gig are redshirt freshman Jalen Kitna and true freshman Max Brown, as well as redshirt sophomore walk-ons Kyle Engel and Jack Anders. The throwing order in Friday's drills was typically Richardson, Engel, Brown, Kitna then Anders.
Engel's placement in the order, although it may not mean much if anything in individual drills, comes after Napier was highly complimentary of the passer on Aug, 9, sharing that the Fort Lauderdale native earned scholarships for the spring and summer semesters.
"He's obviously a walk-on player that actually got awarded a scholarship for the spring and summer semester, you know, as a result of his work," said Napier. "He’s provided some depth there and really has a good understanding. A smart, intelligent player that's got character and that brings a lot to our team and locker room."
Brown being above Kitna, despite the latter having one year of experience at UF while the former arrived this summer, perhaps could have been expected. Kitna was sidelined in the media viewing window from day four through 11 while recovering from what Napier described as a "small procedure" earlier in camp. He was inconsistently seen in the facility during that stretch with several bandages on his knee when he was in the building.
The Gators identified Brown just before the end of the 2022 recruiting cycle, a late-bloomer with only two years of high school experience playing quarterback as he had focused on baseball during his childhood. As expected, Brown has needed some time to gain comfort in a college offense and Florida has aimed to develop his game slowly.
Brown has impressed with a lot of natural arm talent and mobility in fall camp, though, and while his processing speed and timing chemistry with receivers still needs work, UF may be forced to speed up his maturation and depend on his inherent skill-set should he take over QB2 duties as a result of Miller's injury and Kitna's relative inactivity this fall.
The true freshman is featured in our clip of the day below.
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. This list does not include the quarterbacks as they are required to wear no-contact jerseys at all times.
- WR Ricky Pearsall*
- WR Justin Shorter*
- WR Ja'Markis Weston
- TE Arlis Boardingham*
- OL Ethan White
- EDGE Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr.*
- LB Ventrell Miller
- CB Jason Marshall Jr.*
Additionally, Miller and offensive tackle David Conner were not observed during the media viewing window of practice. Cornerback Jaydon Hill continued to work with trainers and his injured teammates to the side of the field without pads while recovering from an undisclosed offseason injury.
Shorter was the only true addition to the participation report on Friday, as he has taken part in all 12 practices prior to day 13. The reason for Conner's absence is currently unknown, however, he wore a no-contact jersey on day six of practice and had since been seen working out with his right hand stabilized and wrapped in tape.
Most of the participation report, otherwise, remains the same, as Pearsall, Boardingham, Powell-Ryland and Marshall have worked off to the side for a varying strength of numerous practices due to separate injuries. White returned to drills in a no-contact jersey after being absent on Thursday.
It should be noted, however, that Pearsall took part in some individual drills for the first time since suffering bone bruises in his foot during practice on day six. He did not run routes on air, though, and returned to working with trainers before media exited the workout.
Clip of the day
One of the deeper throws the quarterbacks made during the media viewing period was a deep corner when the receivers ran two-route concepts on air. Brown made the best throw of the group, hitting redshirt freshman wide receiver Marcus Burke in stride with a pass from the opposite hash.
Stay tuned to AllGators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @SI_AllGators on Twitter and Florida Gators on Sports Illustrated on Facebook.
