Senior Bowl Director: Florida Gators Safety Trio ‘One of the Nation’s Best’

Reviews for the Florida Gators' safety room from the 2019 season were all over the place, for better or worse, but one well-respected football mind sees loads of talent on Florida's backend.

Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy, who has emerged as a usual suspect for hyping up the talent across Florida's roster, tweeted that he believes the Gators' safety unit is "one of the nation's best" entering the scheduled 2020 season.

.@GatorsFB secondary might’ve lost No. 9 overall pick C.J Henderson but there’s plenty of talent returning. Safety trio of Shawn Davis, Donovan Stiner, and Brad Stewart Jr. Is one of nation’s best. Odd man out for a starting job could still get drafted.
.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE pic.twitter.com/r7JTZyw4LD
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) July 24, 2020

"[Gators] secondary might’ve lost No. 9 overall pick [cornerback] C.J Henderson but there’s plenty of talent returning," said Nagy "Safety trio of Shawn Davis, Donovan Stiner, and Brad Stewart Jr. is one of nation’s best. Odd man out for a starting job could still get drafted."

All three of these safeties carry talent and upside, but it has yet to all come together to make Florida's safety unit as good as it can be. In 2019, safeties coach Ron English rotated Davis, Stiner, Stewart, and senior Jeawon Taylor relatively evenly between the two safety positions on the field, which kept his players fresh but led to inconsistent performances.

Davis emerged as the team's most dependable safety, starting nine games, tallying a unit-leading 494 snaps, and recording 51 total tackles, three interceptions, three defended passes, and a year-long passer rating allowed in coverage of 37.2, according to Pro Football Focus. As a prospect, Davis' 5-foot-11, 185 lb. frame may be of some concern, which led to tackling inconsistencies as he missed seven tackles through the first seven games, across 246 snaps.

Stiner started his year a bit slow with five missed tackles in seven games (190 snaps, per PFF), and some struggles in deep coverage. However, he emerged as the room's leader in interceptions with four, and saw a consistent increase in snaps across UF's final four games of the season. Stiner finished the season with 29 total tackles and a defended pass to go with his turnovers, across 396 snaps.

Stewart missed the first two games of the 2019 season due to a suspension and finished with the fewest snaps (295) of the rotating four. When he found the field, Stewart's performance in coverage left something to be desired, as he allowed 10 completions across 14 targets (PFF). However, he was Florida's most-sound tackling safety, recording 28 in total while only missing three. In his sophomore season, Stewart had a knack for clutch turnovers, including a game-sealing pick-six against LSU.

Florida's safety unit certainly carries talent, it just needs more consistency. You won't often find a school sending three safeties to the NFL Draft and all three end up being selected, but Florida has made use of the Senior Bowl to accomplish similar feats in the past.

This past year, the Gators sent wide receivers Van Jefferson and Tyrie Cleveland to the Senior Bowl - both heard their names called in April's draft, along with fellow receiver Freddie Swain. Josh Hammond, who also split time with the three seniors and several underclassmen pass-catchers, signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent. In total, four Gators wide receivers found NFL homes after graduating this offseason, despite being a part of the deepest wide receiver NFL Draft class in history.

Nagy has previously tweeted praise for Gators quarterback Kyle Trask, wide receivers Trevon Grimes and Kadarius Toney, and BUCK rush end Jeremiah Moon.

Should there be a 2020 season, each prospect would need to take the next step in their game in order for all three to be selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. However, it certainly isn't impossible, if recent Gators history suggests anything.